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| Michael, standing at the ShortCon 2025 registration table moments before attendees arrived. |
“Banzai Pipeline,” published May 23 by Kelp Journal, is one of the stories I used during my presentation at ShortCon 2025 as an example of writing a story for an anthology submission call, but finishing well past the deadline.
At the conference, I presented “Writing for Anthologies: How to Slip Between the Covers,” which was an overview of the various types of anthologies, how they are conceived and assembled, things writers can do to improve the odds of acceptance, and what to do with stories that didn’t make the cut.
And I veered a bit off-track when I briefly discussed “Banzai Pipeline,” a story that exists because of an anthology’s open call for submissions but was never submitted to that anthology.
A while back there was a call for crime fiction short stories inspired by musical one-hit wonders, and I wondered what song with the fewest number of words in its lyrics could inspire a story. The answer was:
Two. Two words.
I chose The Safari’s “Wipe Out.”
(The Champs’s “Tequila,” with a single word repeated three times, might be an even greater challenge.)
The sound of a breaking surfboard, followed by a maniacal laugh and someone shouting, “Wipe Out,” provided both the setting and the inciting incident for my story.
Writing the opening proved easy enough. The surfer who wiped out dies, his girlfriend thinks he was murdered, and the private eye she hires to investigate knows nothing about surfing.
Then I wiped out. The wave of inspiration collapsed beneath me, I found myself floundering, and the file remained unfinished on my computer as I moved on to other projects.
One day, while falling into a research rabbit hole for another project, I discovered “Hawaii: Black Royalty in the Pacific,” and what I read upended everything I thought I knew about the ethnicity of our 50th state.
And I knew what my story was about, and knew it wasn’t just about investigating a possible murder.
I finished the story, changed the title from “Wipe Out” to “Banzai Pipeline” and submitted it to various publications until it found a home with Kelp Journal.
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| Michael, pontificating about anthologies at ShortCon 2025. |
Something similar happened with “Denim Mining” (AHMM, May/June 2023).
I had already begun writing “Denim Mining” when the 2019 Bouchercon in Dallas announced that the theme of their anthology was denim and diamonds. Incorporating diamonds into the story I had already begun was no problem. Unfortunately, as with “Banzai Pipeline,” the wave of inspiration collapsed when I ran into a problem.
The solution, in this case, wasn’t diving down a research rabbit hole, but help from fellow SleuthSayer Leigh Lundin. He provided a few suggestions as well as information about gunpowder that gave me what I needed to finish the story.
LESSONS LEARNED
The lesson I intended to impart at ShortCon when I shared the story of “Banzai Pipeline” is to never give up on a good story even if the inspiring project’s submission window ends before you finish writing.
And if you do finish your story in time, and it gets rejected, keep it circulating. That’s what fellow SleuthSayer Joseph Walker did with “Give or Take a Quarter of an Inch,” rejected from the same Boucheron anthology to which I had intended to submit “Demin Mining.” He placed it with Tough, it was selected for inclusion in The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, and then it was reprinted in The Saturday Evening Post.
So, how about you? Have you missed a submission deadline and still sold the resulting story? Or has a story rejected by the editor of a themed anthology later appeared in a better market or received recognition?
Great question. I had hoped to submit a story to Akashic's New Jersey Noir but wires got crossed and I never had the chance. The story I wanted to write for it was published by AHMM as "Shooting at Firemen."
ReplyDeleteMy story “Miss Rennie,” written for a themed anthology, was rejected by the editor and by another seven before finding a home—a much better paying market. The book came out in hardcover, and each story had its own full-page illustration. Perseverance pays.
ReplyDeleteEdward Lodi
I began to write “Two-Hour Vacation” for a getaway- themed anthology put out by the Guppy chapter of Sisters in Crime. Life, teaching, and other projects got in the way, and I missed the deadline. I returned to it last fall, finished it, and submitted it to another themed anthology. The editor preferred stories without dialect…and I feel my stories are inauthentic without it…so we respectfully agreed the story would not be a good fit. However, it was accepted by EQMM in March! Not sure when it will appear, but it will at some point…
ReplyDeleteAshley Bernier
"The Green Cross," my first story in what became the Mendoza Family Saga, set on Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria, was rejected for one of the Guppies anthologies, which always have a fish or water theme of some kind. One of the three judges was apparently uncomfortable with my protagonist Diego's 15th-century voice and considered the vocabulary difficult. By the time I got an email saying, "Maybe we can reconsider," I'd already sold the story to EQMM. Janet Hutchings liked my protagonist so much that she was still asking me for Diego stories long after I'd completed his character arc in two novels and turned to writing about his sister Rachel. I was sure Janet would love Rachel too if she read the novels, in which Rachel is first introduced as a spirited teen (vs the mature woman working in the Sultan's harem in the stories), but the editor of EQMM had way too many stories to read ever to consider reading a novel, much less two, for pleasure. So Rachel found a home at BCMM instead.
ReplyDeletedarn - lost the comment! I'll try it anonymously. My angst is directed toward being accepted for anthologies that - at the last minute - don't make it to print. I've never had this happen with crime anthologies, but other genres (hot romance) seem to go off the rails at the last minute. Bless you, Michael, for always being so professional! Melodie
ReplyDeleteI have at least five stories that were written for anthologies and were published elsewhere. Two ended up in Crimeucopia collections, two ended up in Black Cat Weekly, one ended up in a ghost story collection. This is why I always resubmit elsewhere after a rejection.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely always resubmit elsewhere after a rejection. I've got one ready to go out for the next chance I see...
ReplyDelete