That doesn’t mean acceptance is guaranteed or anything, but the moral of this story continues to be — it never hurts to query. The worst they can say is no, and you might end up with good results you never truly expected!

And, of course, in addition to my story, there are a slew of others. The anthology is speculative in nature, so you’ll find dragon stories that run the gamut from fantasy to sci-fi to mystery.

If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of this anthology, you can do so here. Click away!

The first story came out last weekend, and it’s a fun zombie romp writting by Stephanie. Even if you don’t like normal zombie stories, I bet you’ll like this one — it takes an unexpected point of view. It’s called “An Undead Day at the Spa.”

Second, Stephanie’s 2007 story from EDF, “Brimestone and Liars,” has been turned into an EDF podcast, so listen here.

Finally, Jens’s story “Socks and Banshees,” which was published on EDF in 2008, makes a reappearance as a podcast, as well.

Enjoy!

I just learned that the second annual print anthology from Every Day Fiction, titled The Best of Every Day Fiction Two, is now available to order. You can order it here, or it is my understanding that Amazon and other such places will have it available soon.

This anothology contains not just one, but four of my stories that were published at EDF during the 2008 - 2009 publication year, including “A Million Faces” and “The Care and Feeding of Your Sleeping Knight,” which were two of my favorites. Writing group mates Alex, Stephanie, and Jens, all have stories in it, as well, and so do other great writers like K.C., Gay, Kevin, and more.

If you like flash fiction… heck, if you like good fiction… you should definitely check this anthology out!

My darling sister and her significant other tied the knot last Saturday. We just finished a week of wedding festivities (bachelorette party — which I got sick and had to miss, bummer! – rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, bridesmaid mani/pedis, and of course the big day and all its hoop-la). I was the matron of honor and Hubby was the officiant, so we were very involved in all aspects of the ceremony.

The ceremony was beatuiful, the reception was fun (and she finally got her dancing!), and I even got through my toast without fainting (me and public speaking, not such a good combo).

Now that all the festivities are over, I need a holiday! How long until the next 3-day weekend? President’s Day in February. Whew!

The Preditors and Editors Reader’s Poll is live. It honors print and electronic publications that published in 2009. Click here to vote for your favorite ‘Zine.

There are a lot of good ones nominated this year. I had a hard time choosing! If you’re a fan of 10Flash, Residential Aliens, Everyday Fiction, or a score of other magazines, go over there and place a vote for your favorite.

To elminate ballot stuffing, you have to give your email address and click a confirmation link to make your vote valid, but that’s understandable. I hate polls where the same person can vote as many times as they want to.

Well, I have to run. The day job beckons, as do plans for my sister’s wedding. It is going to be a busy January at my house!

Later that same day, I got a reply that said they did not accept reprints. A bummer, sure, but understandable. Then, a few weeks later, I got another message inviting me to send my story in for consideration!

I still don’t know if they will like my story, but they obviously decided they liked the sentence description of it in my query enough to look at it. That’s something!

The lesson I learned — if in doubt, go ahead and query. The worst they can say is no, and you never know if something good will come out of it.

I believe this is her second publication, and it’s a fun read.

Some editors have said it’s not worth it to target for-the-love markets just to get a credit in your cover letter, because no credits are better than meaningless credits.

Personally, I’m not so sure about that. Time and time again, I’ve seen writers that I know get that first credit and, after that, the acceptances start flying in (at least in comparison to before that first credit).

It happened to me that way, too. I spent 10 months submitting story after story, all of which were flat out rejected. Finally, in November of 2007, my story was accepted into Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic.

Then, after I started sending out stories with that forthcoming publication in my cover letter, I got several more stories accepted in quick succession (A Thousand Faces and Every Day Fiction were the next two acceptances, though it took longer for my stories to appear in some markets than others.)

Maybe it is not the credit, but some kind of critical mass. Maybe the reason the first acceptance comes is because the writer has finally reached a publishable point in their growth as a writer. I wouldn’t disbelieve that notion.

Then again, maybe there is something about that first credit that marks you as serious about the work, even if it is just in an editor’s subconscious. Or maybe it’s a combination of the two.

Either way, I know that I’m happy to have credits with smaller ‘zines on my cover letter, and I think that I’ve learned a lot from the markets I’ve been published in. I’ve learned about relating to editors, editing my work, proofs, and standing up for my story when there are technical difficulties. In addition to all that, I’ve gotten to see my stories in print (both electronic and hard copy), and I’ve made writer friends who have taught me a lot in their own ways.

Over all, I’m happy. Sure, larger paychecks would be nice, but I never believed I would earn money doing this, so I’ve never been overly concerned about that.

The key, I think, to keep moving forward with your writing career is not to stay on the lower levels for too long. I do think you hit what you aim for, and the better paying markets are the ones with the most readers and the ones with the most prestige (which, to me, are more important than money). If you never aim for those markets, you can never be published there.

To quote one of my favorite movies, “Your odds go up when you file an application.”

As soon as I had a few small credits under my belt, I started targeting the larger professional markets with my stories. I still haven’t cracked one, but I continue to hope. And my rejections for some of them (as I mentioned in a previous entry) have gotten a little more personal, so I think I’m making progress.

If I were giving advice to a new writer starting out, I would say aim as high as you want. But, if the pro markets reject you at first, target some of the smaller ones until you get that first credit or two. Learn how things work. Earn a publishing credit or two. But never stop aiming high. If you only tarket token and for-the-love markets, that’s the only place you’ll ever be published. If you aim higher and you work on honing your craft, I think you have as good a shot as anyone else at getting there.

In lieu of our usual themed short story collection challenge (which was cancelled for lack of participation this year), we are going to try to work on writing stories for and submitting stories to the professional markets.

I’m really excited about the idea. I’ve been sending stories to some of the professional markets for a while now. I got a couple of personal rejections with compliments of my writing style from one market in that category (well, it’s a pro market if your story is under a certain word count… so it’s not one of the big three or anything), which was thrilling to me, but all the others have been the typical form rejections. It would be awesome if I could finally break into one of the bigger markets.

Not that I don’t love all of the smaller ‘zines that I’ve been a part of. I love each and every one of them. I’m grateful that they published my stories, and I’m happy to have been a part of them. The ones that have print versions, too, are in a special place on my bookshelf.

But, wouldn’t it be awesome to get both the larger paycheck and the larger readership that comes along with publishing in a professional market?

I hope that I have enough time to devote to this project over the next year, because, if it succeeds, I think it would take this hobby of mine to the next level. I wonder if Daddy will be willing to take on baby duty a little more often so I have time to write between coming home from work and bedtime…