So this was April 2020

I’ve made 131 new submissions. 108 rejections. 8 acceptances. 1 withdrawn, 0 not received.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-

36 Hours In The Space Force sold to B Cubed Press, Jan 20th 2020.
My Summer Holiday, By Billy Mesner (Aged 5) sold to Trouble Among the Stars, Jan 20th 2020.
Fillers accepted by Again, Hazardous Imaginings, Feb 20th, 2020.
Mushnik’s Guitar sold to Aphotic Realm, Feb 21st, 2020.
The Shaming sold to Tell-Tale Press; Nebu Carnvale, 28th Feb, 2020.
For The Duty sold to Space Force; Building A Legacy, 22nd Mar, 2020.
The Scars Of War sold to Chrome Baby, 13th Apr, 2020.
The Dionesian Wave (reprint) sold to Tell-Tale Press, 24th Apr, 2020.

There are currently 32 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-

A Tooth Fairy Dreams… Aether And Ichor issue 5. Jan 1st, 2020.
It Takes A Dragon. Flash Fiction Magazine. Jan 12th, 2020.
My Summer Holiday, By Billy Mesner (Aged 5). Trouble Among The Stars issue 5. February 5th, 2020.
Super Fake. Future Syndicate II. February 6th, 2020.
Mushnik’s Guitar. Aphotic Realm Magazine #9, Interstellar. March 26th, 2020

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!

For The Duty will be released in Space Force; Building A Legacy, May 25th, 2020.
The Scars Of War will be published at Chrome Baby, May, 2020. (TBC)
Summer At Camp Long Drop will be released in Ghostlight, 2020. (DTBC)
Bastard Space will be released in Wordland 8 2020. (DTBC)
The Dionesian Wave will be published at Tell-Tale Press 2020. (DTBC)
The Shaming will be released in Tell-Tale Press; Nebu Carnvale, June 1st, 2020.
Detecting Rogue Time Travellers (Practical Exam) will be released in On Time, June 27th, 2020. (TBC)
36 Hours In The Space Force will be released in Tales From The Space Force 2020. (DTBC)

When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

As you can see, some of the dates I had for publication have now passed. Due to the pandemic, people have other priorities. Ghostlight did send me an email, but I stupidly deleted it before I had a chance to take the updated info off it. If I get any specific updates, I’ll announce them here & on my Twitter feed.

I haven’t got an exact date on Scars Of War but Chrome Baby were hopefully it’d be during May.

I’ve still got 4 stories left to hear back from the January Submission Challenge. There are also still 3 stories outstanding from the original September Challenge!
Tuck & Roll in Automobilia is still on-going.
Fillers won’t be appearing in Again, Hazardous Imaginings. I was asked to do a full rewrite which I wasn’t prepared to do, especially after being told “yours is the best thus far and the most fitting for the anthology’s theme.”

Setting goals & keeping focussed

Today I’m happy to have finished all my prep work for the May challenge.

That’s 31 stories & 2 spares to sub out. Spellchecked, a grammar pass, audioproofed (with a listen along, doing any edits) & layout.

It took about 5 days in total, including the time it took me to select all 33 of those stories. A lot of it is what I’d class as “invisible work”, or stuff the end reader will never know happened to the piece unless they follow this blog or my twitter feed.

I’m trying my to lift the curtain back on what I do “behind the scenes”, to bring a story to being able to submit it. The story needs to be absolutely the best condition, in terms of readability, grammar, no mistakes, consistancy and layout.

I want the editors where I’m sending these stories to have the best possible reading experience I as a writer can give them. Sure, it helps if the story is solid and enjoyable too, but all the niggly small things an editor might potentially reject your work for needs to be removed.

Then you’ve got a fighting chance at a sale.

The main problem with going through all these steps with so many different stories is it really takes it out of you, mentally and physically. It’s even tougher with being in lockdown, to the point where the last time I did this it took 3 days in total to do 38 stories. This time around it took almost a week, and I’m not in a hurry to be doing it again any time soon.

The main thing I found which helped me was to set a daily goal, to get a specific amount of stories done. I didn’t always achieve that goal, but I knew that with each piece I did, it was making my workload lighter for the next day.

It has been quite difficult to maintain focus on the stages of getting these stories fully polished and submission ready. Again, the daily goals have helped there, but I didn’t get to all of them. I don’t see that as a failure, more I over estimated my own ability or mental state at the time.

Never set yourself stupid targets you can’t possible reach. Goals should be sensible, reasonable, and within your grasp. Even if you fail to reach those goals, it’s still a helpful process as you’ve learned something about how you work as a writer, which will shape your future experiences.

I now have time to cooldown, to get myself and my mind ready for the challenge.

Challenge update

I’m pleased to say I have chosen my core 31 stories. I’ve picked 1 spare, so far, and I’m fairly sure I’ll be able to find at least 5 more as my extras.

EXTRAS:- Stories I’ll be submitting as additional pieces on days where I already have a piece selected. I don’t want to just send out 31 stories. 31 is a bare minimum. I managed over 60 last time, but a shit ton of markets were open at the time.

Markets have been tough to find, I want people to know that. I worked HARD. I mean crazy fucking hard sourcing places who paid & were open. I’ve done a lot of advertising, to entice other writers into joining in. I’ve no clue how many new people are going to join us this time around.

I’ll make a start on my prep tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who is and will be supporting me now & next month. It really means a lot to me.

So this was March 2020

I’ve made 120 new submissions. 95 rejections. 6 acceptances. 1 withdrawn, 0 not received.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-

36 Hours In The Space Force sold to B Cubed Press, Jan 20th 2020.
My Summer Holiday, By Billy Mesner (Aged 5) sold to Trouble Among the Stars, Jan 20th 2020.
Fillers was accepted by Again, Hazardous Imaginings, Feb 20th, 2020.
Mushnik’s Guitar sold to Aphotic Realm, Feb 21st, 2020.
The Shaming sold to Tell-Tale Press; Nebu Carnvale, 28th Feb, 2020.
A story was sold to a market on 22nd Mar, 2020. I can’t say any more yet.

There are currently 37 stories out in submission:-

Normally there would be a screengrab showing what’s out in submission here. Due to circumstances beyond my control, that won’t be happening this month. I actually wasn’t going to release an update blog at all this month because of that, but decided it wasn’t fair on my followers. My advice, also follow me on Twitter @RayDaleyWriter & you’ll always get the details of what has been rejected & when. I’m not saying you could use that info to work out which story I sold & where to, but you totally could.

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-

A Tooth Fairy Dreams… Aether And Ichor issue 5. Jan 1st, 2020.
It Takes A Dragon. Flash Fiction Magazine. Jan 12th, 2020.
My Summer Holiday, By Billy Mesner (Aged 5). Trouble Among The Stars issue 5. February 5th, 2020.
Super Fake. Future Syndicate II. February 6th, 2020.
Mushnik’s Guitar. Aphotic Realm Magazine #9, Interstellar. March 26th, 2020

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!

Summer At Camp Long Drop will be released in Ghostlight, April 2020. (TBC)
Bastard Space will be released in Wordland 8 possibly around Easter/April 2020. (TBC)
The Shaming will be released in Tell-Tale Press; Nebu Carnvale, May 1st 2020.
Detecting Rogue Time Travellers (Practical Exam) will be released in Transmundane Press On Time anthology June 27th, 2020. (TBC)

When I get more solid dates on the to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

I’ve still got 9 stories left to hear back from the January Submission Challenge. There are also still 4 stories outstanding from the original September Challenge!
Tuck & Roll in Automobilia is still on-going.
Fillers won’t be appearing in Again, Hazardous Imaginings. I was asked to do a full rewrite which I wasn’t prepared to do, especially after being told “yours is the best thus far and the most fitting for the anthology’s theme.”

As you can see, I did make a sale recently. I haven’t been given permission to announce it yet, this is why there’s no “out in submission” screenshot. Sorry about that. As I say, beyond my control. I have to respect the publishers wishes.

The State Of My Writing Address

COVID 19 exists. I do not believe I have it. I’ve had several different colds & flu strains. Yes, I am dying, but that is from a condition commonly known as LIFE. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, or are also a sufferer?

Nothing has changed for me. I was a shut-in before and I still am, going out when I absolutely have to, or I need chocolate. When writing calls open, I will respond if I have work which fits the market. I’ll continue to monitor & advertise up-coming calls. I’ll read/edit/proof my work & write when the muse takes me, which currently isn’t often.

If people want to interact with me, hey, the internet exists. Drop me a tweet @RayDaleyWriter
or leave a comment on my Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/raymond.daley.10

I’m happy to share my writing knowledge & experience, if you want to know about being rejected, I’m a fucking expert there. I can talk about acceptances, failed projects, publishing & what happens between being told yes & your story appearing online or in an anthology.

If for some crazy reason you want to know what it’s like to be a transvestite whilst actively serving in the UK military, I can talk about that too.

Those of us who are getting to get through this thing are the ones who make the most of the time & opportunities we’ve got between now & whatever normality is coming in the near to distant future. Right now, that shit is science fiction, so speak to a published science fiction writer.

I’m going to carry on with my life. Pretty much nothing has changed for me. If you need me, my markets, my experience or anything else, get in touch.

Strange Times, Indeed!

This month is shaping up to be an odd one, for sure.

There’s a ton of crazy shit going on around the world, most of the globe is gripped in the panic over the corona virus. Somehow though, my month is going well.

I’ve done final proofing for 3 stories due to be released.

Today I did proofs on Mushnik’s Guitar for Aphotic Realm’s Interstellar special. That has some nice art to go with my story.

Yesterday I proofed Bastard Space for Wordland 8; Time We Left. I’d forgotten a lot about that story, so it was nice to be reminded of it all again. I also sent Clarkesworld a pitch for a non-fiction article, I’ll let you know how that went if or when I hear back.

Signed contracts for The Shaming, due to appear in The Starship Logs, Volume 3: Nabu Carnevale.

I’ve written a new story, which went straight out to F&SF. I had to sub it fast, I wanted it to remain current and get that idea in before anyone else thought to try it.

I also got a like for my novel during #PitMad, so the first 50 pages of that has gone off to a publisher. They cover the region my story is aimed at so I really hope they like it and want to read the whole thing. Again, I’ll let you know if or when anything happens.

It’s a whole lot of stuff happening in a short amount of time, so I haven’t got time to worry about my future – it’s literally stacking up right in front of me.

I just wanted to have a quick catch-up, just to let folks know things are still going on. Currently it’s mostly prep for the May Submission Challenge, trying to find those last few markets & staking out spares as well.

Sure, I have a minor case of the sniffles but it’s no biggy.

The next thing due out is Mushnik’s Guitar, which will be released in Aphotic Realm’s Interstellar, mid March 2020.

Now you know as much as I do.

May 2020 Submission Challenge update

All markets have now been checked. All are paying & open during May as far as I have been able to ascertain.

The rules are simple:- Try to sub a story to the market I’ve listed on the day I list it to be used. If you don’t wish to sub on that day or to that market, you don’t have to. In an ideal world, you’ll sub to all 31 markets and have (at least) 31 stories out. If you only want to sub 1 story during the month, that is totally fine! You don’t even have to use these markets, as long as you use a PAYING MARKET!

The private Facebook group was renamed, if you want an invite, message me via FB.

Feel free to get in touch with me on twitter @RayDaleyWriter if you are interested in taking part!

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01 – Kanstellation https://www.kanstellation.com/submissions.html (themed)
02 – Abyss & Apex (Flash only!) https://www.abyssapexzine.com/submissions/
03 – F&SF https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/glines.htm
04 – Clarkesworld http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/
05 – Strange Horizons http://strangehorizons.com/submit/fiction-submission-guidelines/
06 – Interzone http://ttapress.com/interzone/guidelines/
07 – Daily Science Fiction https://dailysciencefiction.com/submit
08 – 3 Lobed Burning Eye https://www.3lobedmag.com/submissions.html
09 – Vestal Review http://www.vestalreview.org/guidelines/
10 – The Arcanist https://thearcanist.io/tag/submission-guidelines/
11 – Asimov’s https://www.asimovs.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines/
12 – Every Day Fiction https://everydayfiction.com/submit-story/
13 – AGNI https://agnionline.bu.edu/submit
14 – Beneath Ceaseless Skies http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/submissions/
15 – Cast Of Wonders (Banned books week) https://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/
16 – Sirius Science Fiction https://siriussciencefiction.blogspot.com/
17 – Ordinary Mortals Anthology https://www.rogue-blades.com/RBE-Submissions
18 – The Drabblecast https://www.drabblecast.org/submissions/
19 – Electric Spec https://www.electricspec.com/Submissions.html
20 – Metaphorosis https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/guidelines/
21 – Flash Fiction Online http://flashfictiononline.com/main/submission-guidelines-flash-fiction/
22 – (Hybrid Ink) Future//Tense: Sex https://hybrid.ink/submit/anthologies/future-tense/sex/
23 – The Future Fire http://futurefire.net/guidelines/fiction.html
24 – Not One Of Us https://not-one-of-us.pub/about/guidelines/
25 – Chrome Baby http://robindunn.com/chrome-submit.html
26 – Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores https://cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/submissions/
27 – Nature; Futures http://blogs.nature.com/futureconditional/2015/04/19/how-to-write-for-nature-futures/
28 – Amazing Stories https://submission.amazingstoriesmag.com/guidelines/
29 – Bards & Sages Quarterly https://www.bardsandsages.com/contact_us/fiction_submission_guidelines
30 – The Dark Magazine http://thedarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines/ (Dark Fantasy)
31 – Shoreline of Infinity – https://www.shorelineofinfinity.com/submissions/

All the above links are verified as PAYING & OPEN DURING MAY. Do not bump any links, most are open for short periods only (those which aren’t “always open” markets). If you struggle to find somewhere open, please use F&SF, Asimov’s, Interzone or Clarkesworld.

Be aware Clarkesworld have a 7 day cool off period so you have to wait once you’ve received a rejection/acceptance there. F&SF, Interzone & Asimov’s, you can send to as soon as you’ve heard back.

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SPARES:- Weird Tales Magazine https://www.facebook.com/groups/Horrorwritersassoc/permalink/10156755935966581/ Subs end May 2nd Midnight PST
Cossmass Infinities https://www.cossmass.com/submit/ (Until May 14th)
Write Ahead/The Future Looms https://www.writeaheadthefuturelooms.com/submission-guidelines
The Centropic Oracle http://www.centropicoracle.com/mainpages/subguide.php (Currently Flash only)
Women of the Woods https://www.fabledcollective.com/anthology-submissions.html
Compelling Science Fiction http://compellingsciencefiction.com/guidelines.html
Andromeda Spaceways Magazine https://andromedaspaceways.com/submissions-manager/

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Horror links:- Black Static http://ttapress.com/blackstatic/guidelines/
No Sleep Podcast https://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/submissions
Occult Detective Magazine https://greydogtales.com/blog/occult-detective-magazine/