Okay, been away from the blogging for a bit, but not entirely away from writing.
As I posted back in April, I finally made my first story submission. Finding it difficult to judge my work against the standards and tastes of various publications, I threw caution to the wind, aimed high, and sent it off to a well-known pro-level publication. Two weeks later came the first rejection letter. I took it well, though, having both fully anticipated it and accepting it as a rite of passage. I couldn't quite tell if it was of the "personal" or "form" type, though...just that it was succinct and polite.
Quick turn-around from there to my second choice, also a pro level publication. Another rejection, but this one was most definitely personal. Hey, that counts for something, right? According to the Submission Grinder website, that publication was accepting at a rate of about 2% and only 8-9% got personal letters. Again, moral victory.
My next stop was in a slightly different direction. I sent it off to a brand new publication that was still gathering stories for its first issue. The pay was in the semi-pro range (really could care less...just using this as a proxy for judging the audience of the publications since I don't follow the markets very closely) but they were working on bringing it up to pro (and succeeded). I saw a post on their website saying they'd received something like 240+ submissions and were accepting 10, so it was long odds already, but the final selection deadline was fast approaching and I still hadn't gotten a rejection.
And then I got the email last night - they want to use my story. So - happy, excited, relieved, validated. Now I just have to wait for the contract, possible edits (if any), and then publication later this year. So excited to have reached this part of the process for the first time.
More details once the contract is signed and sealed.
In the meantime, the pressure is now on to clean up my most recent story and get it out for consideration.
