So this was January…

We’ve already reached the end of the first month of 2018. Doesn’t feel like five minutes ago that we were still in 2017, to be honest.

So what’s happened so far?

SALES:- I’ve made 2 sales so far, to Third Flatiron; “The Doomsday Machine Retires” for their Monstrosities anthology and to WolfSinger Publications; “Muse” for their Cat Tails anthology.

SUBMISSIONS:- I’ve already submitted 26 stories this year.

REJECTIONS:- I’ve had 25 rejections so far.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:- In the pipeline are the publications of “Uncle Ping’s Evening Farewell” from Insignia and “An Improper State Of Mind” from MindCandy. I haven’t got exact dates on either of those yet so I’ll try to update you when I know.

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I recently did an author interview

And you can read it here.

http://heatherweichtauthor.my-free.website/saturday-morning-author-interviews/author-ray-daley

Dealing with rejection as a writer

If you’re going to submit stories, you’re going to get rejected.
This is just a simple fact of probability & statistics.

So how do you deal with it?

1. Don’t take it personally. Your story was one of hundreds being read, the odds were against you.
2. Try to learn from the experience. If the rejection says why, take the advice on board.
3. Get back on the horse. Try to get another submission out as soon as possible.
4. Don’t dwell on it. Letting anything fester is a bad idea, it happened, move on.
5. Find another market. Try to research more suitable places for the story, submit there.
6. Accept it as part of the job. Success isn’t guarenteed. Even J.K. Rowling got shot down a ton of times before she sold Harry Potter. Now that little fecker’s everywhere you turn!

So just try to accept that there WILL be rejections. They aren’t aimed at you personally. So you didn’t float their particular boat, that’s fine. Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks.

My mindset is this:- When I submit, I EXPECT to fail. If I fail, it’s not a shock, it doesn’t upset me, I was prepared for it. If, on the other hand I get an acceptance, it’s a nice surprise.

Try to set your own coping mechanisms in place for rejection. New writers rarely sell well at the start.

Submit to markets that buy your genre, give yourself a fighting chance.
Read what they buy, try not to send exactly the same thing but your next best attempt.
If a market has a particular vibe, try to write within it.

Most of all, keep submitting. If you aren’t subbing, you can’t get acceptances.

What’s currently in submission in 2018 #1

As the last one was in early December 2017 I thought I’d update you.

These will now be coming on or around the 12th of each month.
And instead of just saying what’s in submission, I’ll also be mentioning rejections & acceptances too (if permissions are given to announce them).

What’s currently out in submission?

The Concentration Camp (subbed to Persistant Visions)
Even Stevens (subbed to AE)
Junkie (subbed to Blind Spot)
A Head Of Steam (subbed to Edge Onlines Fantastic Trains)
Summerland (subbed to Occult Detective Quarterly)
I Want Candy [subbed to Gathering Storm]
Witch Hunt (subbed to Weirdbook) [at their request]
Life In Small Places [subbed to Red Dashboard]
Follow Your Father (poem) [subbed to Red Dashboard]
Memories Of The Yakuza [subbed to Insignia anthology]
King For A Day [subbed to Pulp Literature]
Even Stevens [Subbed to Outlook Springs]
The Doomsday Machine Retires [subbed to Third Flatiron]
Travelling Without Moving [Subbed to The Book Smugglers]
Assessment [subbed to Intergalactic Medicine Show]
Green Fingers [subbed to Manawaker Studio Flash Fiction Podcast]
Welcome To Your New Home [Manawaker Studio Flash Fiction Podcast]
Lost Children [Manawaker Studio Flash Fiction Podcast]
My Kingdom [subbed to Spring Song Press]
Hell, Or Hemel Hempstead [subbed to Flash Fiction Magazine]
Even Stevens [subbed to Aphotic Realm]
Overground [subbed to StoryHack]
The Dragon Readers [subbed to The Arcanist]
Illegal Operator [subbed to Deep Magic]
The Perfect Copy [Subbed to Nature; Futures]
Remembering Little Betty [subbed to Apex Magazine]

Acceptances: 1, Muse [sold to WolfSinger Cat Tails anthology]
Rejections:- 4 , The Plan [subbed to Red Rabbit], The Parting [subbed to Liminal], My Best Friend Is A Bog Troll [subbed to cosmic roots & eldritch shores], Departure Date [subbed to Factor Four Magazine],.

25 stories & 1 poem now out there.

Always Be Writing (DON’T!)

The worst writing advice I keep seeing are “Always be writing!” or “A writer is always writing!”

Let me tell you. THIS IS BULLSHIT!

Not everyone has the same mindset, the same character, and the same background.
We’re all different.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to forward yourself as a writer.
But it doesn’t always have to involve the act of writing.

EXAMPLE:-

Yesterday, I sent three stories out in submission.
The day before that I wrote two new stories. (Unusual for me, normally one is my limit)
And the day before that, I was modifying my story archives to make it easier/faster for me to locate stories.

So, at no point was I always writing. I didn’t write yesterday.
Admittedly, I started out with the INTENTION to write. But that didn’t pan out.
So I submitted stuff to places I knew were open.

If you want to get published, you have to be submitting. That’s a truism I CAN stand behind.

If you want to write, do it on your terms, in your own time.
That’s not an excuse to procrastinate, however.
You can always find something that’s helping you move forward as a writer.

So if it’s not writing, do those things.

New Year, new ways

Welcome to 2018!

I’ve already had my 1st story rejection (subbed 3rd Dec 17).

So, as I’ve been subbing more stories and expect to sub more this year, I’ve decided on a new system to keep my archived subs in order of sending.

Before, I used an alphabetical letter system. I’ll now be using a numerical system as it’s easier to work out how much is out at one time then. System is in operation as of today.