These statistics are all for short stories, poems, or contest entries. Book reviews are not included.
- Sales in February: 0
- Rejections in February:Â 3
- Submissions sent out in February:Â 2
- Total stories/poems/contests pending responses: 2
I’ve officially received my longest rejection yet. I already assumed it was a rejection after 6 months so it’s not included in the figures for February. 398 days. In a newsletter I noticed the market advertised for new submissions which made me laugh since I hadn’t heard from them. Within a week the rejection arrived in my email which made me laugh even harder. I suppose even though the market is open all year round for submissions that the submissions are only looked at after someone decides new content is needed.
All that’s outstanding right now is a contest entry of three poems (which I probably won’t have an answer on until April) and a short story that I probably won’t hear about until the end of March or early April. In the meantime I just have to keep writing, revising and submitting.
I attended an online workshop “Who is Your Character†hosted by Lea Schizas. It motivated me to print out my 2008 novel from NaNoWriMo. Before the first draft was completely written I had convinced myself the sisters were too similar. Similar characters was one thing I did not want to face in the editing – do I fix it by removing a character or rewriting one of them? It always seemed like rewriting would be the best response and taking Lea’s workshop showed me some different ways in which I could accomplish this task.
I attempted to go to a book reading/signing at one of the local library branches but we had a wind storm and the power was out. When I checked on it a few days later to find out if there was a reschedule date, I discovered the event went ahead as planned with candlelight. How romantic!
The second signing I planned on attending was almost a full house. John Hemingway was there to discuss and then sign his memoir Strange Tribe. It’s about fathers and sons.Â