Category: Status Update

Cats and Dogs

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

Did I mention it pours?  Two more responses today, neither personalized, neither acceptances.  Analog and Strange Horizons, two very tough markets.  The story I sent to Analog (E.E.) had some rewrites that didn’t make it into the envelope because I am an idiot.  I’ll try it — wit the rewriten sections — at Asmiov’s next.  It’s fairly firm sf so it needs a rigorous home.  The Strange Horizons story (T.W.H.D.o.t.G.M.P) is on the other end of the spectrum, sci-fi humor.  Very funny stuff, a little longer than Ed Schubert at IGMS said he prefers his humor, but I may try there anyway.

I just sent S.R. to Daily Science Fiction like I said I would.  Their average response time at Duotrope is 9 days.  Yep, nine.  So I should hear from them soon.

I do still have stories out there.  ASIM is still holding T.O.L., but I’m doubting they’ll pick it up at this point.  Bull Spechas had T.R.M. for more than their average response time and well over their predicted response time.  I’m hoping the long wait is good news.  G.B. is still at Abyss & Apex, too; I’ll expect news from them in about a month.

But that’s it, folks.  I need to get these two back out so I can start waiting again.

Honestly, this has been a very good year for my story sales.  Yes, yes, the Writers of the Future win stands out above the rest, for sure, but it’s still been my most productive year to date.  Four stories will have made print in 2010.  (See my bibliography to know which.)  That’s twice what I had in 2009 and together that’s as much as I had in the eight or so years prior that I’ve been writing.  I need to keep things growing, though a novel would be worth a lot of shorts.  I’m pretty satisfied and I’ll keep at it.  Sewnd more, sell more.  That’s how it works.

When it rains, it pours

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

After a response drought I end up with two in my inbox in two days.  This one (S.H.) was a rejection from IGMS.  It never even made it to Ed the editor (nice guy, met him at ConCarolinas).  Too bad.  Now I need to select another market.  I may try Daily Science Fiction; other Codexians seem to be scoring there.  If not, their response time is only a notch or two slower than Lightspeed or Clarkesworld.

On a bigger note, I have received confirmation that Zero Gravity will be out later this summer.  A quick turnaround is an advantage of a small press, I guess.  It’ll be a trade paperback (size of a hardcover just without the hard cover).  It looks like it will sell at around $15 from Amazon based on Pill Hill Press’s previous anthologies.  I’ll link to it when it’s available.

Con Report: ConCarolinas: Days 1 & 2

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I arrived in time for the first panels and managed to meet J.F. Lewis, a fellow Codexian, right off the bat.  Nice guy; not quite my genre.  We’ve chatted a few times since.  I also met Edmund Schubert, editor of IGMS.  Super nice guy; talked to him for about twenty minutes today.

My first Con experience has been a little less intense than anticipated since I’m splitting time between it and hanging with old friends.  In fact, the hanging with old friends last night led to my missing all the morning panels today.  Head still doesn’t feel quite right…

Anyway, I have seen Klingons and zombies and Storm Troopers and Ghostbusters and furries and pirates and more zombies.  I’ve been to some good, writer-relevant panels.  I went to one panel on surviving the apocalypse (whatever form that might take) that was pretty insane, or rather the panelists were.  Enjoyed panels including Jerry Pournelle and John Ringo.  I’ll update more on the details of the panels later.

I need a good dinner and a good night’s sleep so I’ll be ready for Allen Wold’s two-hour writing workshop tomorrow morning.  And no extra-curriculars tonight.

I’m skipping out on the rest of tonight’s festivities.  I wanted to see the movie premier of Exhibit A7, but it’s been compared to Cloverfield in its execution and my constitution can’t take that right now.  More fun tomorrow.

Random Update

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

As I sit at my in-laws’ house, watching the rain fall from the sky in buckets, I feel the urge to update.  Not that so much has happened, just a need to start my week with a blog post.

First and foremost, in the words of Alice Cooper, School’s Out for Summer!  Yay.  Time to write, write WRITE!  My goal is to finish my novel before the WotF workshop.  Honestly, I need to finish it before August.  My hope is to finish my first draft by the end of June.  Much wok to be done, as you can see from the status bar, but not an unrealistic hope.  I’m working out a work schedule with my wife so I can consistently progress.

I got a rejection from Asimov’s today, a very nice personal-ish form letter.  Nice story, bad fit, look forward to your next.  I’ll send them E.E. once it’s rejected from Analog.

I assisted my wife yesterday (incidentally, my birthday) as she photographed a wedding.  It was stressful work.  I’m still wiped out from it.  On the upside, I “earned” enough to buy the new Prince of Persia video game, just in time to distract me from my novel endeavors.  No playing during scheduled writing time.

The rain is finally letting up, so I’ll be heading home soon.  Home to write.  Or play?  We’ll see.  Something will get done tonight.  🙂

Long Lists and Short Progress

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Found out this morning that my story T.O.L. has been added to ASIM’s shortlist.  That’s two stories in their holding pattern.  However the email says that only one in twenty stories has been making the transition from short list to print.  If that’s the case, they need to rename their short list or start being pickier, even with my stories.  A timely rejection with some positive comments (theirs always have comments) is a lot more useful to me than a three month hold followed by a rejection.  I could have the story in and out of one to four markets in three months.  I think I will stop sending them stories for a while, at least until the two stories are printed or released.  Their response times have slowed significantly and with this one-in-twenty thing, their backlog must be overwhelming.

In less encouraging news, I missed my two chapter goal for the weekend.  It turned into a half-chapter weekend.  Boo to me.  Lots of excuses, little production.  I need those chapters done by the end of the week.

There is a new possible distraction on the horizon, an opportunity that I was very excited about four years ago when it fell through and now I am on the fence about.  Like I need another distraction.  But it’s part of the goals I set for myself long ago.  I may still back out before it becomes an issue and it might not happen, but right now it’s a distinct possibility, better than 1 in 4 chance.  No more details than that for now, lest I jinx anything.

Hey, I still have stories out there

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

Just got an email saying another story at ASIM passed slush round one and is into round two.  It was a nice reminder that I still have seeds in the wind.  I’ve been so absorbed with tests and my novel that I almost forgot.  Heh.

I only have five stories out.  I have others that probably need to be in the mail, too, but they’re currently on blocks in my front yard awaiting new tires and some transmission work.  I know, I know…but that’s where they are.

The five out are at very different stages. I’ll refer to them by initials for anyone who might know them, but I am newly against broadcasting story titles lest they end up in a contest.

  • G.B. has been out at Weird Tales for 122 days.  Long time with no word about anything, not even confirmation of receipt.  I need to start thinking about a query.
  • S.R. is being held byASIM for consideration.  They’ll either buy it or release it sometime in the next two months.
  • D.E., a fantasy flash piece, has been at Every Day Fiction for 65 days, just slightly over the advertised response time.  I expect they’ll buy it, but I can’t be certain as I’ve only sold them one story before.
  • L.R., the story that got me waitlisted for CW 2009, is awaiting the verdict from the Anywhere But Earth anthology.  It may or may not fit there.  It’s only been there 6 days so far.  The editor says he’ll be back to me in four weeks, so I guess 3 more.
  • T.O.L. is the story in round 2 at ASIM.  That also took six days, a lot faster than S.R. escaped the first round.  Then again, S.R. was extra slow considering their normal cycle.

And that’s it.  I should get the tires back on my rainbow story and get the engine back in E.E., but one thing at a time.

I took today off because my daughter’s sitter is sick.  With the big test tomorrow, I’ll sneak in as much studying as I can while we hang out.  Which means not much.  Writing can resume tomorrow afternoon.

Wish me luck.

It’s Official

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 7 Comments

I got the email today.  The story that placed second in Writers of the Future failed to warrant an invitation to Clarion West.  Or Clarion.  I did better last year with a story that still has not sold.  (I think I just sent the one to CW.)  No workshop for me.

I don’t get it.  I can accept it, but I don’t understand what more I can do (other than learn to count).  Was my story too commercial?  You hear that on America’s Next Top Model.  (I have a wife; don’t judge me!)  Or too safe?  They say that on Idol.  Or maybe my style is too unoriginal.  Or maybe…I could do this all year (and may).  Bottom line, I’m out.  Huge congratulations to those that got in.

It was a nice rejection.  You could tell Neile was aware of my very public obsession and/or my waitlisting last year:

Dear Scott:

Thank you for applying to the Clarion West Writers Workshop for 2010.

I am so sorry to let inform you [sic] that you were not selected for this
year's class. I know this is a disappointment. Your work ranked well
with our readers again, but it just wasn't to be.

Leslie and I both wish you the best with your writing and hope you
have a productive summer, and that you will apply again.

Thank you again for your interest in Clarion West.

With much regret,

Neile

So, will I apply again?  I’m not ruling it out, but I’m leaning toward no.  I’ve mentioned an intention to expand my family.  I wouldn’t want to leave my wife pregnant with a four-year-old.  That’s far from a guaranteed status, so stuff may change.  It would also be nice if, next summer, I was in a place where focusing on novels instead of short stories proved more productive.  So it may not happen.  It may.  Never say never.  It may come down to who’s teaching.

I still have WotF for a week in August.  That will be sweet.  I may target a con or two this summer.  I’ll keep writing, that’s for sure.  And all my fellow rejects should, too.  Or as Howard Waldrop says, if this can make you stop writing, maybe you should.

Wife, daughter, WotF, vacation, novel work.  Yeah, I’ll be okay.  Pissy, but okay.

Impersonal Clarion News

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

My regular Icerocket search for the word “Clarion” actually came up with some news today (instead of just quotes from the Clarion-Ledger or references to clarion calls or the Clarion computer language).

The news came from Jeff VanderMeer’s blog, a reliable source since he and his wife are part of the selection committee.  He says final decisions will be made this week, including the 18 invites and waiting list spots.  If one looks carefully, he doesn’t say the invitations will be sent this week, just decided, but I bet they mean the same.  So maybe I’ll have an idea of my C-SD status by the weekend.  Sweet!

I did get a little nervous when I saw how impressive the candidate pool was this year.  I guess they say that every year, but suggesting 30 people could have made it really places that bar high.  I’d be lying if I said it didn’t rattle my confidence a little.  But someone gets in — 18 someones.  So maybe (assuming I’m one of the 30, which I must do for my ego’s sake) that makes my chances 18 out of 30 (or 3 out of 5).  That’s better than the 3 out of 8 I had with WotF.

So news comes soon.  Does that make me more or less patient?

Story by Erosion

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

I have been working to clean up my Space Operatic comedy piece for weeks, just barely able to get anything done in any single sitting.  I feel like a sculptor trying to work marble with nothing but a garden hose.  But today I really attacked the piece and have it about where I want it.  It’s a thousand words shorter than it was on OWW.  Shorter is alms always better.  I cut Kira out completely and I shaved the futuristic slang because there just wasn’t enough room to make it work.  Some of these may go back in if I ever build t back up to novel scale.

I’m not sure his is a story I would have been comfortable sending as part of my Clarion application.  It’s too much of a gamble.  But if I can find the right market, this gamble could pay off.  Humor is hard.  Sci-fi humor is really hard.  I see a lot more fantasy humor than sci-fi.  I may be able to carve myself out a niche on the same shelf with Douglas Adams.  The only way to get there is to practice writing humor.  Even if this story fails, I’ll have the experience under my belt for the next funny story.

Speaking of things that move at the speed of erosion, no news yet from any Clarions.  My phone rang today and I had a bit of a breathless moment before my caller ID registered that it was my mom.  (Sorry, Mom.)  No evidence anyone else has been called or emailed or faxed or anything.  I’m still confident I’ll get into at least one, but confidence doesn’t bank well.  I’ll feel a lot better when I get an official invitation.  I will be very bummed if I don’t en up going to a workshop, but that won’t stop me.  I have some good momentum coming off this WotF sale.  I can ride that favorable current a long way, but Clarion wind at my back would combine to make some strong sailing conditions.

It’s still very early in March, too early for my doomsaying.  I think I just feel the need to talk about it because wallowing in silence is too miserable.  There’s too much silence about it online this year.  My urge to bond with other writers is making me feel very alone right now.

ADDED: I just saw that Clarkesworld has rejected the story I sent them.  On to the next market.

Slowly but Surely

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine is an Australian semi-pro market with a very good reputation.  I’ve been trying to break into that one for a while.  Usually their turnaround on stories is very fast, their Duotrope reported median response time is 9 days.  They’ve had one of my stories for something like 33.

Their slush process is fairly transparent with a listing of ms numbers in each of their rounds.  My story finally came out of the first round, the first-read level.  It’s probably a fluke of luck that left my story in round one limbo so long.  I am, happily, on now to round two.  I’ve never made it past round two.  Maybe this time.

Round two is the editor scoring round.  Round three is full of stories they would like to publish, a pool of “good enough” stories from which they fill their magazines.  Still, not all those stories are purchased.  Finding my way into that pool would be a good next step for me.  I wait to find out.  Hopefully that won’t take another month.  Even if it does, a two-month period isn’t so long in this business.  I’ve been waiting on Weird Tales longer than that.