Living the Fictional Dream

All the stories I have out on submission right now are ones that I sent out before NaNo last year. And some of these are ones that I sent out back last summer and have yet to hear back on — the kinds of submissions that you start to think you’re never going to hear back on.

This morning I actually heard back from one of those markets, and it was a real bummer. Well, rejections are always a bummer, but in this case more so than usual.

Why, you ask? (Or, if not, I’m going to tell you anyway!)

The market actually wanted to publish my story. It’s little ghost story that I wrote back when my writing group was doing the Story Every Day contest. I’ve liked this story since I first wrote it — it was my favorite thing I wrote during those two weeks of madness. Sadly, it has yet to find a home. And this time, it almost did!

The reason I hadn’t heard back yet was because they weren’t sure they were going to be able to continue publication of their ‘zine, so they didn’t want to have me sign a contract until they were sure. And, as luck would have it, it turns out they will not be able to continue publication. So, I got an apologetic “we liked it but…” rejection.

Now, there is some comfort in the fact that they liked it, don’t get me wrong. And I’m grateful to them for telling me what happened instead of just sending a form rejection after all this time. That was nice of them (though a little note a few months ago saying they were considering it or something would not have been amiss).

But ARG! How frustrating. I was so close to having it published, but due to bad timing it is not to be.

While I’m on vacation, one thing on my to-do list will have to be rounding up the most current drafts of all the stories that have been rejected since NaNo (and the ones that are out at markets who did not reply to my query notes!) and send them out to new places. Maybe I’ll be lucky and get a hit.

My little ghost story almost got a hit this time. Maybe the next market will be the one!

A few weeks ago, I got a rejection letter in my in-box. Not an uncommon event, but this particular rejection has a strange history.

The market in question deals solely in reprints, which is unusual enough, but on top of that my impression of this market is that a group of children/teens have a great deal to do with the running of the place. It is a Y/A market, by definition, and all the editorials, etc., I’ve experienced were done by younger people.

I sent a story into this market quite a while ago — last summer, actually. After two or three months with no response to my submission, I queried the market and asked if my story was still in their reading queue or if it had been lost in cyberspace, in which case I would be happy to re-send it. No response.

The months crept by. After a couple more months, I pondered sending them a note withdrawing my story from consideration, but it was a reprint, after all. It wasn’t like there was somewhere else this story needed to go. And there was still a chance that they reason it was taking so long was because they liked the story.

Then, approximately six months from the original submission date, I get the rejection note. One of the highlights of the note was that it addressed me as a Mr. instead of Ms. — maybe this is unfair of me, but that gaff makes me believe that someone more youthful wrote the response.

Basically, the note says that they liked my story and it sat in their maybe pile for quite a while, but because of the limited number of stories they produce per month (only 2), they eventually had to reject it.

Now, that is all fine and good. I am no stranger to rejection, and a story that was classified a maybe is way better than a story that is rejected flat out with a form letter. I’ve gotten some harsh rejections in my time, and, despite the gender-bending typo, this one was pretty nice.

Here are my problems with this situation, though. If this market wanted to be more professional, I think they need to make a few changes in their submission response system. First of all, if someone queries the status of their submission, they should reply, even if it is just a short response that says, “Your story was received and is still under consideration. Thank you, the Editors.” Second, if you’re going to tie up someone’s story by keeping it on your maybe pile, you should let them know. Most authors would be thrilled to have their story make it to the next round of consideration — just tell them about it and tell them how long you think you’ll need to make your final decision. Don’t leave them hanging out there with no news, wondering if the market has closed, if it didn’t actually recieve the story, or if they just don’t care.

Part of me really wants to reply to the rejection letter and, very calmly and professionally, give them the above advice. However, replying to a rejection letter is typically one of the biggest faux pas in this business. I’m torn… what would be the better course of action?

I guess, in the long run, I will just let it go. That’s probably the right choice. I think the reason I am so much more tempted to reply and give them this advice is because of the perception I have that they are all young. But that perception could be wrong — there could easily be adults behind the scenes, even if that would mean they aren’t very experienced adults.

I don’t know… what do you guys think? Would you reply, or would you leave it alone?

I saw the link to this article at Agent Kristen’s blog. Not a good sign if publishing houses are putting a stop on acquisitions. Might not matter if we all finish those NaNo novels, eh?

Here is a link to a PW blog on the subject.

And, while I’m glad that Border’s is not going to be sold (especially that it’s no longer talking about selling itself to B&N), the news that they are pruning their inventory is depressing.

Though, this article reports another publishing company doing so well that it’s giving out bonuses. So, maybe it just depends on who you talk to. Though, I noted the article’s mention of how it’s smarter right now to go with known authors.

And, finally, an article about how publishing companies are doing away with agent lunches.

It kind of makes me wonder… if book publishing (which has been the end-all, be-all for a while, or so it seems) is falling off, will short fiction make a come-back? Especially in online venues that are free to access?

Though, you know, no matter what happens with the recession and the publishing industry, I’ll still be writing stories. Even if the only people I share them with are family and friends, I’ll still be writing, because the characters have stories that need to be told. It gets to be part of your blood, and that’s something that never goes away.

On that note, happy Thanksgiving everyone. My husband and I are heading off to the cabin for the weekend (the land of no Internet), so probably no posting from me until Sunday, at least. Have to devote the rest of this week to the 20K remaining on my NaNo novel.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

I found this blog entry by Enchantment Inc. author Shanna Swendson very interesting. It’s all about how readers have the opportunity to get their favorite mid-list novels noticed — more so than, say, a struggling TV show. I’d never really thought about it this way before, so I thought I’d share it with all of you kind folks.

In other news, I finally broke 30K on my NaNo novel (did I already mention that here? I forget). Anyway, the month is ticking away quickly now, and I have 20K to write in about 5 days, but… you know… it’s vacation. I think I can do it!

We’ll be spending Thanksgiving at my parents’ cabin (a.k.a., the land of no Internet), so my only distractions will actually be seeing the family and going to dinner at my aunt’s house and such. There should be plenty of time for writing.

In case I don’t get a chance to post again before we leave, I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving! (And if you’re not in the U.S., I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week.)

I have two write-ins today — only three more write-in double-headers before Thanksgiving — and I’m going to kick this novel back into high gear. I have one short scene to write in the current chapter, and then I will start the next chapter in the next exciting phase of plot and move on from there. I have a plan, dagnabbit!

I was scrolling through my submission list the other day, and I realized how few stories I have out right now. I’ve received responses on quite a few in the last couple of months, both acceptances and rejections, but I haven’t been getting new ones out there. Too much NaNo and NaNo prep, I suppose, taking me away from the short fiction.

That will have to be my short-term December goal — write some short fiction and send it out! It will be perfect while I let my novel breathe for a few weeks. Then I can be refreshed and get back to revising it (assuming that I actually finish — that the 20Ks don’t chew up the novel and spit it out a mangled mess!).

I know everyone says that short fiction isn’t where it’s at, and it’s true that you can’t make a living from it. But I still like writing short fiction, dang it. And I think it has it’s uses. I know every time I have a story up on EDF or certain other markets that post links, my blog readership spikes. That’s gotta count for something. Plus, I mean… it’s having something published. I don’t care what or where, that is always awesome!

I’m looking forward to a few more stories coming out this fall. My next Every Day Fiction story, “A Million Faces,” goes live on 10/25 — less than a week to go. My latest superhero story, “Bridge Club,” will be in the next issue of A Thousand Faces, which, last I heard, goes live at the end of October. A literary flash piece, “Eyes in the Rearview Mirror,” will be live sometime soon in The Houston Literary Review. The September issue of the e-zine got delayed because of Hurricane Ike, but it’s supposed to be out this month. And in November, “Hair’s Breadth” will appear in the winter issue of Mirror Dance.

You’d think that, after a while, having a story appear somewhere would become routine, but that hasn’t happened yet. Each time it’s exciting! I’m looking forward to the rest of the fall. Of course, I’ll link the stories here when they actually appear.

It is so hard sometimes to know when it’s appropriate to query an editor. I’ve been around long enough to know the basics — when you submit a story, you can query if you haven’t heard anything in the amount of time specified in the submission guidelines. And, if there is no time frame in the submission guidelines, the best rule of thumb I’ve heard is to query after three months. Of course, those last few days ticking down to the expiration of the time limit can be excruciating!

What’s really killer is when you query after whatever timetable you think is appropriate and don’t hear anything back. It’s even worse when it’s a market that you really wanted to be involved with.

When I don’t hear anything after a few weeks to a month, I usually query one more time, but at that point I usually go ahead and start submitting the piece elsewhere. To me, if the non-repsonsive market still wants my work, they can always let me know, and if someone else accepts it in the interim, the first market was just too slow. I do always send a final email officially removing the story from their reading queue.

Though, sometimes, I don’t know how markets go through their emails, because I’ve officially withdrawn the rights to a story (in just this type of circumstance — I’d received no response on queries and someone else accepted it) and received a rejection (no mention of any of the other emails) on the story weeks later.

But, there are other query circumstances that boggle my mind. For instance, what if an ezine isn’t launched on schedule and you never hear from the editor about when it will actually be released, if ever? I’ve had markets fold after accepting my story before — it’s not a good feeling being in limbo. But how long do you give the market before withdrawing your story?

It’s probably a personal judgment call at that point. To me, as long as the editor is responding to emails, I’m OK with delay. It’s when there’s no response and no news that I’m tempted to start marketing that story again. And, of course, at this stage of the game, you’ve got to read your contract before you start marketing a story again. A lot of contracts do have clauses in them about how long the market has to publish before rights revert.

It’s probably also smart, in the above type of situation, not to bombard the editor with queries every day that it’s late. I always try to reign myself in and only query about a fourth of the times that I have the urge, if not less. I know my story isn’t utmost on any editor’s mind, even though it’s my primary concern. But waiting can be so hard!

So, queries can be a tricky business. We must walk that fine line between being professional and still standing up for our own rights.

Waiting is never fun, but right now it seems less fun than ever! A literary flash piece that I wrote a few months ago was accepted by a literary e-zine. It is supposed to be published in their September issue, but that issue still has not appeared on their website. I emailed the editors once to ask about the publication date and was told to expect it on September 15. That day has come and gone, but no new story for me to happily announce on my blog!

Anyway, I don’t mean to complain (at least not too much). I know that e-zines operate without much staff, basically depending on the efforts of the dedicated few who do all the work. I understand that there can be issues and delays.

But, dang it, I do want to see that story out in the world. I’m anxious to know what other people think of it! And, there is also the fear that the e-zine will fold without publishing my story. The last time I had a piece accepted by an e-zine that kept moving the publication date back, it folded and I had to start anew searching for a home for that story. This one took me longer to place the first time (sometimes I think mainstream/literary fiction is more subjective to editors than even genre fiction, but maybe that’s just because I specialize more in the genre fiction), and I would hate to have to start over.

Though, if the worst case scenario happened and I did have to start over, I did eventually re-place the story from the first time an e-zine went under on me. I’m sure I could do it again, if necessary.

Right now, though, I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope that the September issue of the literary e-zine publishing my story makes it out soon. I was impressed with some of the stories in their previous issue, so I would love to see what else they have to offer!

I recieved an interesting rejection today. The editor of a fairly prestigious e-zine said, “No to this, but please keep trying us?” Short, sweet, and to the point, but also a rejection with a grain of hope. And not a dreaded form rejection, either.

After I read the note, I stared at it for a while, trying to parse the appropriate meaning from that question mark at the end of the sentence. It seems a very deliberate punctuation choice. A period would be the norm, but a question mark means something else entirely.

This particular market has rejected quite a few of my stories. Perhaps the editor meant that question mark as an acknowledgement of that, and also hopes that I will continue to submit to them despite the number of rejections? If that’s it, if the editor actually remembers who I am and that I’ve sent stuff before, maybe that means that they really like my voice, and, as yet, I just haven’t sent them a story that quite fits with the e-zine? That I’m almost there…

That would definitely be a nice thing to believe! It’s a market I would particularly like to appear in, both because it pays better than a token payement and it is a fairly well-known market, at least in e-zine circles.

I probably shouldn’t overthink it. It’s just as possible that the question mark was a typo. That thought brings to mind Eats, Shoots and Leaves and the example of the difference between “the panda eats shoots and leaves” and “the panda eats, shoots, and leaves.” Gotta watch out for those gun-toting pandas, yeah?

Either way, the rejection leaves me inspired on two counts. First, I need to keep pressing on that particular story. There must be a home for it somewhere! And, second, I need to write more of the kind of story that this particular e-zine publishes so I can try them again.

Yesterday, I got the proofs for my story, “Bridge Club,” that will come out in the October issue of A Thousand Faces. I spent a few minutes reading the story all over again. It was actually more enjoyable reading it with a little distance between myself and it. A little like reading something new.

A lot of times, after a write a story, I grow to hate it. I guess it depends on how much time has passed since the writing, but after a while, I just can’t stand those old stories any more. Maybe it’s because of my growth as a writer, or maybe it’s just my hyper inner critic (I notice a lot of writers have one of those!), but it tends to happen. But “Bridge Club,” I still really like. (The same with “The Widow and the Stranger” — I don’t get tired of that one, as far as my own stories go.)

Anyway, back to my original topic, I love getting the proofs for a story that’s been accepted. It turns a nebulous acceptance into something real and concrete, like the story is actually going to happen. I’ve had around a dozen stories accepted now, and it never gets to be old hat. Maybe it’s not quite as earthshattering as it was the first couple of times, but I still get that “squee” feeling when the acceptance comes in the in-box. It’s not why I write, but it is why I send stuff out on submission — well, that and the “squee” that comes when I talk to other people who’ve actually read the stories.

I currently have three stories coming out this fall and a fourth slated to come out next March, so that should be a nice line-up of sqeeage for the upcoming months. As always, you can read about it here when they are available for public consumption!

Before I wind things up, I just want to shout out a quick congratulations to my writing group mate, Jens, who just had a story accepted by Every Day Fiction, too. It’s a quirky little piece staring his 19th century steampunk adventuring duo Blankenship and Dawes called “Chrono-Conundrum.” I’ll definitely link to that one here when it’s available.

Happy Friday, all! Here’s hoping we all get some good writing done over this holiday weekend!