What’s currently in submission in 2018 #8

As the last one was in August I thought I’d update you.

What’s currently out in submission?

Acceptances:- 1. Sold “The Girl On Platform Four” to Jouth Anthlogy.
Rejections:- Again, too many to count.
Publications:- Not According To Design is now out!
Withdrawals:- 1. From Kasma Magazine.

27 stories now out there.

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So This Was August…

We’ve already reached the end of the eighth month of 2018.

I’ll start with an apology. There was no “So This Was July…” because I was taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo (and absolutely destroying it!) which was my only priority. I’m sorry. I was dedicating myself to hitting a new goal of 60,000 words or more which I managed. We now return you to your normally programming.

So what’s happened so far?

SALES:- I’ve made 4 sales so far, to Third Flatiron; “The Doomsday Machine Retires” for their Monstrosities anthology, to WolfSinger Publications; “Muse” for their Cat Tails anthology, to Mythic Magazine; “Not According To Design” and most recently “The Girl On Platform Two” to Jouth Anthology.

SUBMISSIONS:- I’ve already submitted 187 stories this year.

REJECTIONS:- I’ve had 169 rejections so far.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:- Insignia Volume 5 is now on sale. “Not According To Design” will appear in issue #7 of Mythic Magazine, there’s no official date on that yet. I’ll update you as soon as I hear anything.

My latest credit will go up onto ISFDB once it’s released.

My total of new stories written this year so far is now 70. (Thanks, Camp Nano!)

I’m really pleased to have made my most recent sale, I was literally on the verge of burning my entire writing career to the ground and walking away forever. I’ve been pulled back from the brink, but I got incredibly close to that abyss this time.

I Took My Drama Somewhere Else. You May Live To Regret It.

Oh my lovely followers.

Prepare for a story of rudeness. And rage.

To provide full context, I have to start at the beginning.

4 April 2011 –  I submit my 1st story to Kasma Magazine. They look good, they pay money. I’m a noob to getting paid at this point. I assume it was rejected, I’ve deleted emails from that time so I have no actual record but I know it was a no sale.

20 September 2015 –  I submit my 2nd story to Kasma Magazine.
16 December 2015 – I receive an email telling me my story arrived.
31 October 2016 – I shitlist Kasma Magazine for the first time. Over the last few months I had sent them my story a total of 5 times. Eventually I got an email telling me they’d never received it, despite telling me they had. THIS IS YOUR FIRST ALARM.
2 YEARS PASS.
15 February 2018 – I submit another story to Kasma Magazine.
6 July 2018 – I query the story via twitter. THIS IS YOUR SECOND ALARM.
2 August 2018 – I email a query to Kasma. At this point I have been nothing if patient & professional.
22 August 2018 – I tweet the following:-

2nd Sept 2018 – Kasma send me the following tweet:-

How rude, right? Not very professional at all. I decide to maintain the high ground, and send this tweet:-

I then think, this is the end of the matter. I’ve been professional, broken off contact. Later I get this back:-

That’s my response at the end.

So I was asked to take my drama elsewhere. Oh look, I did.

These are tweets from an SF site who’ve been operating for over 10 years. Over those ten years I assume they’ve had submissions from all kinds of idiots, dickheads, cunts, wankers, twats, tossers and shitheads.

And then I submitted to them. And this is how they treated me.

Now. I could have gotten angry. Could have sworn at them. I’ve checked the submission and query emails I sent them. All very professional too. I’ll happily upload those too, to demonstrate how I’ve been nothing but patient & professional with Kasma Magazine.

I am a veteran. I served through 2 wars. I wasn’t even treated this badly during hostilities! I mean, there was that time where I was made to do shredding for 14 hrs of a 15 hr shift without any breaks but that was nothing.

If you think I’ve been treated badly, I ask only this of you.

Boycott Kasma Magazine, advise everyone you know not to read it either. Don’t visit their site, don’t buy their books.

Please don’t send them hate mail, or hate tweets. I am NOT about hate. Hate is not my thing.
I do not hate Kasma Magazine. If anything, I’m disappointed at them.

If you wish to show your support, just don’t use the Kasma Magazine site.

I’ve been called a nuisance. Fine, I’ll to accept that role. This post is how much a nuisance I can be.
I’ll be honest. I haven’t even got out of first gear yet.

I was asked to take my drama elsewhere. I’ve done that.