Long ago I heard the following expression: Opportunities are like buses. You wait for ages for one to come along, and then three show up at the same time. Sort of like When it rains, it pours.
Lately, it seems I've been doing a lot of waiting, writingwise. Waiting for acceptances (or rejections) of my submitted stories, waiting for the publication of stories that have been accepted, waiting for places to come along that I might want to submit stories to. Alas, not much was there. Especially acceptances. On the rare occasions when I did submit stories, I was hearing "No" a lot. "Yes," not so much. My publication list, both recent and upcoming, had fallen dead as a dodo.
Then, several weeks ago, several bright spots (buses?) came along:
- New Myths published my flash fantasy/crime story "Jumpin' Jack."
- Black Cat Weekly published my 24th story there, "Sweet Loretta Morgan."
- Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine published "Moneyland," the eighth installment of a mystery series about southern sheriff Ray Douglas
- The Bouchercon 2026 anthology, The Lines We Cross, published a blackmail/murder story, "Garden Path"
- Umbra Magazine published my short mystery/crime/adventure story "Raibow's End."
- Crimeucopia: Objection! Overruled!! published "Nothing but the Truth," a fantasy/crime/courtroom story
Some of these publications were in new markets, some old; some were small, some large; some were magazines, some were anthologies; some paid well, some didn't; some of the stories were long, others short; most were lighthearted, a few were dark; most were original stories, two were reprints. On top of those six publications, two Josh Pachter-edited anthologies--Happiness Is a Warm Gun and The Great Filling Station Holdup--both of which contained my stories, were re-released with new covers and (in one of them) extra content.
All this spelled sweet relief to the literary drought I'd been going through. Some of my recent submissions even received YESes instead of NOs, including acceptances from EQMM, Strand Magazine, and a Santa Rage II anthology. The needle on my mood-meter finally moved up a bit. It had, for quite a while, been frozen at DISMAL.
Do you, if you're a fellow writer, occasionally go through these slumps?
I think they're to be expected. Most of us writers suffer self-doubt now and then--I certainly do--and sometimes it's justified; despite what your mother might think, not every single thing you produce is going to be a winner (ask George Lucas about Howard the Duck). But there are also other reasons for downturns. For one thing, especially for those of us who write short mystery fiction, there just aren't as many places out there anymore to send our stories to, certainly not many that pay well. (Even some of those that do pay well seem to have lowered their rates.) Plus, some of the existing markets take a very long time to respond, which discourages some writers from submitting to them at all. (We're dying of thirst here, Lord--we need some rain!)
The good news is, marketwise, several new magazines--at least new to me--have recently appeared. Some of those I heard about from other writers, some via internet searches, some via posts on the Short Mystery Fiction Society's message board. Also, at least one publication that was about to shut down has been given new life via new owners, and one has announced that it'll soon take on more readers of submissions in order to cut down their overlong response times. Last but not least in the Good News Department--though it's not really news--is the fact that slumps will always, eventually, end.
Once again, how about you? If you write short stories, are you finding enough places to submit them to? If so, how? Are you getting yes/no replies in a reasonable time? Are you being paid enough, or paid anything, for your work? Are you--yes, I must ask--just finding it difficult to write stories that please an editor? Do all these occasional obstacles get you down?
My answer to that is, don't let them--and don't stop trying. I know I'll keep trying, simply because I love writing these stories. I'll subscribe to the places I send stories to, I'll keep up with which markets are out there and what they need, I'll attempt to promote them--and my stories in them, I'll keep looking for new markets, and I'll try to write every story as well as I possibly can. I will also count my blessings that things still aren't as bad as they could be. I'll say it again: Dry spells don't last. My favorite observation on this subject, though I don't remember where I heard it, is this: A professional writer is just an amateur writer who didn't give up.
Don't give up.
Lordy, Lordy, John. You boarded that Streetcar named Desire. You're a literary one-man bus/train/airline depot. Congratulations and well done.
ReplyDeleteHey Leigh. Thank you--I've indeed had some good results lately. But I also spend a lot of time sitting there at the station. Hills and valleys . . .
DeleteWow! Congratulations on all those publications! YES!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I've been in a major slump before, where nothing happened, and then the lock would open and the water came through. 2022 I got six stories published... Nothing like it, is there?
You bet, Eve! I once heard that you can have a dozen rejections in a row, but if/when the 13th response is a sale, it wipes the slate clean. Those rejections no longer matter. The trick, I guess, is to remember the good times and not the bad!
DeleteCongratulations on the hot streak, John. It's encouraging to know that you have dry spells, too. It's not just me. I've had three stories pubbed in the last six weeks or so, with another due out next month, but I haven't written anything new in about two months. I think a lot of that is due to the long wait time.
ReplyDeleteI currently have 24 stories under submission, two of them since last year. One project that I was solicited to write seems to have been abandoned, and another publisher went under before publishing a story. Seven markets I've sold to have shut down in the past two years.
I'm trying several new markets, too, mostly from the markets list Joseph Walker updates regularly. One of the problems with new (small) markets is that they aren't open year-round, and they usually have a small staff, which leads to the long response time.
It's a good thing we're in this racket for the chicks and the glamour and not the money.
Steve, good for you! Not only for the recent publications, but for the fact that you're keeping so many stories out for submission at the same time. I'm falling short in that department--I have 11 stories accepted but not yet published, but I have only 10 that are out and awaiting a yes/no decision. Back when you and I first started talking about all this stuff (probably twenty years ago?) I always kept 40 stories out at any one time. When I got a response back from someplace, I sent another story or two out that same day. BUT back then there were a lot more places to submit our stories to. Big sigh.
DeleteYep, thank goodness for all the groupies and the celebrity status . . .
You continue to be an inspiration to us all, John! I'm spreading my niches around, writing some things that don't fit easily into the mystery world, so it's harder for me to find markets. I learned that another one shut down this morning. That's always frustrating. It's one reason I do indie-publish some of my work. I've been a "hybrid" author with my fiction form the get-go, so that helps and it feeds my scatter-brain. LOL. But yeah, "keep on keepin' on" is the motto!
ReplyDeleteBobbi, you are too kind, as always.
DeleteAs for your own career, what you said about your writing in other genres making it hard to find markets isn't necessarily a bad thing--What you're writing is exactly what you WANT to write instead of what's expected from the mystery-only markets. We've all agreed many times that there's a big audience out there for SF/fantasy and cross-genre writing, and that's part of what you've been targeting lately. And it's amazing to me what you're doing with re-writing and re-publishing a lot of your earlier and time-proven stories/novels. (Your reworked covers--all of them--look GREAT.)
Keep doing what you're doing! (And keep me posted.)
Thanks as always for the thoughts.
You've given me a lot of hope! I'm utterly dismayed that you've had a dry spell. I didn't know you had those! But I'm in one, for sure right now. My next known publication is coming out in 2028. But I'll knuckle down, spurred on by your spate of success, and carry on! THANKS!
ReplyDeleteKaye, sometimes I think if I didn't have dry spells I wouldn't have any spells. The pickin's have indeed been slim. But yes, I'm dead serious, spurts of unexpected acceptances and publications do happen, and yes, they do fire you up. Steve mentioned that some of these newly-discovered markets are poorly staffed and take a long time to respond, and he's right--but some of them DO respond quickly, and I've learned that it's possible to get quick acceptances AND quick publications out of some of those.
DeleteYour writing is too good for you NOT to carry on. Write new stories, send 'em out, and keep me informed.
Aw, you're very kind.
DeleteDry, wet, wet, dry. It certainly is all about climate change! Early summer I wondered if I'd ever get the big A again...but surprise, surprise, a few came my way. During the dry time, I wrote a lot...not for any publication in particular but for the need to get a story out that was haunting me.
ReplyDeleteWill I ever be as prolific as dear John F.? Unlikely but I do like being in the same publications.
Objection Overruled...what a fun venture. By the way, my story was created a few years past...but it fit Crimeucopia's theme so well. That being said--never get rid of a story, rain or shine. It will eventually find a home.
Yes yes yes--the thing to do during a slump is to write more stories! Good for you.
DeleteAs for Objection Overruled, those Crimeucopias are always fun, aren't they. (Is that you, Wil?) And you are so right: Never, ever, throw a story away. Take it out now and then and spruce it up, maybe, but don't get rid of it. I've mentioned this before, but I had one story that had been rejected two dozen times and I finally put it aside, and then, two years later, I revamped it for a big market that was looking for something specific, and was paid ten times what that story would've earned at most of those markets that rejected it years ago. Keep everything you write!
By the way, being alongside you in that current Crimeucopia is my honor. Take care!
Great attitude, John. Like Scarlett O'Hara said, "...tomorrow is another day." I've now been writing long enough that I can tolerate dry spells. I'm still getting used to what I call the occasional "Bloodbath Day." I had a recent Wednesday with not one, not two, but three rejections, all from different magazines for different stories. Ugh. But I remind myself of successes, sometimes stories that went to many editors before one finally said "Hey, I love this." And that kind of positivity seems to dwarf even the most bloodbath of days.
ReplyDelete