I’ve decided I need a post that illuminates my market list a little more. I’ve started it, but daggum, it’s going to take a while to do it the way I want it. So it’ll happen, but it may take a week or so, depending on how busy I am.
Month: October 2010
Shopping Sprees and Other Bad Habits
I went to the used bookstore yesterday. I love that place, but it’s not quite what it used to be. Not sure why, but their SF section seems like they washed it in hot water. I used to be able to find lots of Writers of the Future volumes there, but this time I found only volume 3 and a best-of edition. I bought both despite their not-quite-reduced-enough prices. I also picked up the third Star Wars short story collection in Kevin J. Anderson’s brilliant idea series (listen to him talk sometime — like at the Superstars of Writing Seminar in Utah — and he’ll tell you all about how they happened), Tales of the Bounty Hunters. I’ve been curious about his Mos Eisley/Jabba’s Palace/Bounty Hunter collection, so I was pleased to find one. I also nabbed Neil Gaiman’s Stardust (cute movie, better than anticipated), the newest copy of Analog I could find (this past May)…and I think that’s it. Maybe one other I can’t recall. Nothing I was dying to own, but all stuff I was happy to add to my collection. Just don’t tell my wife.
In other news, I finished my Codex Halloween Contest story in time to compete for no prize whatsoever. I’m fairly pleased with it, even if it does meander a bit. I’m hoping to get some insight from other members on how to tighten things up. I can’t read their comments until I vote, however, and I still have 7 or 8 left to read.
As I was recently asked in a comment, “How is the novel going?” The status bar has been telling the whole story…nowhere. I’ve come to the realization that my characters are the type my daughter plays with, with the clothing you put on them by folding down the little tabs. Remember those? Yeah, they were made out of cardboard, too. Thin cardboard. I need to do some serious character discovery before going further.
So now I’m going to take part in my favorite writer-hobby: novel jumping. I’m much happier with the development in my Naked Man story which has recently revealed to me it must be novel length. It’s a stand-alone novel set on another planet and focusing on a bizarre religious custom based on an actual Japanese custom. I’ve decided to work on this one as opposed to the YA SF novel…or the old YA fantasy novel…or the military SF novel…or the SF sports novel…or the other fantasy novel…(wow, lots of irons in the mental fire)…because it’s the most like my WotF winner. That’s pretty much it. But the similarities are good. Well-developed (at least mentally) milieu: society, planet, religion, and colony infrastructure are all pretty clear to me. The story centers on a few multi-facetted characters while the stereotypes get pulled in as minor players. The conflict grows in stages and builds to a very significant size, all while building the internal conflict in the protagonist. The conflict will affect multiple areas of the protag’s life: job, girlfriend, mother, brother, religious beliefs, self-image, view of society, and all in different ways. It’s a deep story that says a lot about my personal view of religion and health care in America while extrapolating it enough that even I have a hard time recognizing it. It’s ambitious in a way that will stand out from other novels. Whatever novel I finish first, I suspect this one will be my first sale. So it gets my attention. No more switching until it’s done. Maybe.
Ouch and Oucher.
Not a great day, Thursday. Got home to find a rejection from Analog. A single sentence, as formulaic as possible. No feedback. No compliments. Just no.
Nearly but not quite an hour later, I discovered an email from Apex magazine. Apparently the story I sent them had “some wonderful prose” but the editor “couldn’t get emotionally invested.” At least I had lovely prose. Not sure I’ve been told that before. That story is one of my older ones and had really only gotten a facelift, tummy tuck, and implants from the original scheme. (That is, tightened the wording, trimmed down some scenes, and added something to make the character more likable…not that implants make someone more likable…I’m going to stop now before I say something I’ll regret.) Anything particularly “lovely” must have been there all along, like an ugly duckling.
I’ll have those stories back out by Monday. I jut need to make a fix to the Analog story (TOL) and make sure I’m sending the right draft of the other (SR). These are, incidentally, the two stories that were held and released by ASIM. I must find them a home.
It Runs in the Family
My brother just made quarterfinalist in a screenwriting competition. Unlike WotF, this is a narrowed-down field that includes the upcoming winners. So his short film script may still be a semifinalist, finalist…maybe even a winner.
I’m not familiar with Champions Screen Writing Competition, but it certainly seems to be a significant accomplishment. The short film list is much shorter and I suspect that improves his odds of a prize. Congratz and good luck, bro!
Brainfail?
Maybe I’ve completely snapped. Or maybe some editor out there thinks I have. Or at least a webmaster. Allow me to explain. No, there is too much; let me sum up.
A couple weeks ago, I sent a submission status query to a magazine using their “Contact Us” page on their website. I never heard back, so I went to their website today to try again. I cannot find that contact page.
Have they changed the page? Maybe, especially if it wasn’t working. At least as likely is the possibility that I had six different sites up at once and sent the query to the wrong magazine.
Go ahead and say it: “Wow, that’s dumb.” Maybe your interior monologue was kinder than that. I suspect it was way harsher. Mine was.
For those who visit frequently, you know I am fairly open about my missteps in professionalism. In other words, when I screw up, I blog about it. Why? Because misery loves company. And to warn other writers of the little things that can go wrong when your brain is not functioning while corresponding with (other) professionals. And to let you kind folks feel a little less alone when you screw up (because you know it’s happened, though maybe not as often as I do). Or to give hope to people in the “If that idiot can do it than I can” tradition.
Anyway, I hope the message is properly disposed of by environmentally friendly means (such as the delete button).
Updated My Market List
If you look over to the right and probably down the page a bit, you find my market list. I mostly maintain this list for my own use, but it’s here for you to click, too. In the past, I reserved the list for markets I either submitted to often, really wanted to sell to, or had sold to in the past. Due to some nudging by an editor, I now want to include pretty much every magazine I submit to. I hadn’t realized that their lack of inclusion might make an editor feel like their zine was an afterthought.
Anyway I have some subs out to new markets (new to me, not to the world) and I tacked them onto the list. Two are audio markets, Escape Pod and Sniplits. I also added Shimmer, a semipro zine with a reputation for being tough to sell to. I still had somepro markets I hadn’t hit with GB (the story I sent them), but their guidelines were on the money for what I was looking for in a market for GB, right down to their mentioning that 5100 words is more than 5000. (I trimmed to fit, probably tightening the story.)
I also updated to include that Asimov’s and Writers of the Future are both now taking e-subs.
Scott W. Baker .net 