Friday, September 24, 2010

Your Short Fiction: Keep Your Chin Up!

We've had a productive week, haven't we?

You polished up your short fiction, found a market to fit the piece, sent it off with an awesome query letter and have logged all the info in your submissions tracking database. Now there's just one thing left to do...

Wait.

Yeah, it's one of the hardest parts of the job. Your creations have flown the coop and are being reviewed by editors... so now you have to be patient and wait to hear back from the markets you've contacted. Usually it's a matter of weeks... but it can be months before you hear back. And I'll be honest... often, you don't hear back with good news.

But if you keep trying, if you believe in yourself and your talent, if you refuse to give up... you'll get there, eventually.

Remind yourself, when you receive a rejection, that this is a huge numbers game. The more rejections you get, the closer you are to getting published. After all, they can't all say no. Take the criticisms and suggestions offered and review them carefully. Remember, if they took the time to give you the pointers, that means your story impressed them in some way. Don't give up, try again.

And then one day, you'll open that email that says "we really liked this story, and we want to publish it in our upcoming issue". What a party there will be! I better be invited!

In the meantime... You can do this. I believe in you!

If you'd like to discuss more about getting short fiction published, feel free to comment. Have a fantastic weekend, my friend!

6 comments:

Anne Gallagher said...

Thanks for all the info. I've some sections bookmarked for later. Great series.

Hannah said...

Thanks for this B! I've been planning on doing just this and now you've pretty much walked me through it! Awesome and thanks!! Have a great weekend!!

B. Miller said...

Thanks, ladies! I'm so glad this was a helpful series! Thanks for reading and commenting. It means a lot!

Hannah - if you need another horror enthusiast's opinion, just let me know! :)

And PW - yes ma'am I do live in SC! I think we're near each other!

Y'all have a fantastic weekend.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've a lot of short stories I need to revisit and consider.

Sarah Ahiers said...

i actually just received some mixed news on a piece i have out on submission. I'll be blogging about it later.
Thanks for the encouragment!

Arlee Bird said...

I really need to get on with this mission. I keep meaning to, but intentions are never as effective as actions.

Lee
Tossing It Out