Life After Clarion Rejection

The world didn’t stop turning; the seas did not boil; the chicken in my freezer didn’t even thaw.  Life goes on, both the real life and the writer life.

I got some well-timed good news from Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.  They are holding “Secondhand Rush” for potential publication.  For those not familiar with ASIM’s process, stories go through two rounds of approval before entering the holding pool.  I’ve had stories rejected in both rounds 1 and 2; this marks my first trip to the story pool.  This means they like my story well enough to publish it.  It does NOT mean they will buy it.

They say only 1 in 3 held stories will make it into print.  Editorship is passed around issue to issue among their editorial staff and one of them just has to pick my story and put it in the mag.  Stories are held for three months.  If no one picks my story in that time, it will be released back to me to submit elsewhere.  This story was my WotF Q3 story and earned an Honorable Mention.

ASIM is an Australian semi-pro magazine, but a well respected one with reasonable but not professional rates.  This story will pull in about $50 if it sells, adjusted for exchange rates.  Nowhere near what I’d pull down from a pro market and lightyears from the WotF prize money, but a lot better than the $1-5 I’ve pulled in for other stories.  And it would be the second biggest feather in my cap to date (after WotF, obviously).

In other topics, I need to figure out what to do with my summer now that it isn’t devoured by a workshop.  I may try to get into a one-week workshop (like OSC’s Boot Camp), but more likely I’ll save the money and write on my own.  I am looking into cons, as I said I would.  The most promising seems to be ConCarolinas in Charlotte.  I have a friend there I might even crash with to save on hotel money (maybe one night and crash at the hotel the other).  He might even go with me.  It’s the DeepSouthCon this year (roughly the equivalent of being the Monday Night Football game with increased hype and attention) and I think that has/will improve the guest list.  Jerry Pournelle is the guest of honor.  That alone is worth the trip.  I may get to meet him at WotF in August, too.

I think I’ll send an email to ConCarolinas expressing interest in being on a panel.  As a WotF winner, I should have the pedigree to slip into one.  It would be cool but intimidating.  It’ll be a large-ish con (not like DragonCon, which I intend to go to every year and have never made it), so I may or may not warrant a seat.  We’ll see.

I’ve never actually been to a con.  It will be an experience, to say the least.  I’m eager to give it a try.  It’s my consolation prize for not making Clarion.  It’s also something I should be doing as a writer.  There are contacts and friends to be made.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has offered me encouragement after the big Clarion West rejection.  I assure you all, I will continue writing and I’m trying hard not to let it get me down.  I’m just going to have to work other angles to get in the door.  I may try Clarion again, I may not.  I sure don’t expect it to be as big a deal as it was this year; I hope to get my career going on my own before it comes round again.