It's hard to get a short story published these days. In fact, market reporters say it's easier for a new writer to sell a novel than a short story. And this is not for lack of talent or stories, but...
Continue reading "Small press and small stories" »
They tell you, in how-to books and workshops, don't quit the day job. In today's economy, however, quitting the day job isn't so hard as finding it. I moved from Los Angeles to Fort Collins, Colorado in August, 1991. My...
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Received three rejections recently. "The Perfect Home" didn't find a perfect home at Analog. Stanley Schmidt wrote that it "didn't strike me quite right for Analog, but thanks for letting me see it." Aboriginal returned "Red, White (and) Blues" with...
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A form rejection today from Gorezone for "Sleep of the Just." It spent just over three months there....
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Tomi called and told me that I would be scheduled for the Roadkill Press/Little Bookshop of Horrors "New Voices" series in March, and asked me to bring a picture and bio to tomorrow night's reading for the flyer/brochure they make....
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Sent "If I Could Read Your Mind" to Analog and "The Perfect Home" to Tomorrow....
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Finished today, 3100 words, just in time to submit to the Northern Colorado Writers' Workshop. This is the finished version of what was originally titled "Fred and Ethel and the Little Guy with the Hair." Also sent this one to...
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Your basic form rejection for "Homesteading" today from the SciFi Channel Magazine....
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A quick (8 day) rejection for "The Perfect Home" by Tomorrow SF. A.J. Budrys wrote "I thought it was good in some ways, and pretty much spun a consistent narrative thread. But, unfortunately not enough so I could decide to...
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Today I sent "Homesteading" to Cemetary Dance, "In a Blaze of Glory" to Space & Time, "Red, White (and) Blues" to SF Age, "The Perfect Home" to SciFi Channel Magazine and queried the status of "Famished" at Midnight Zoo....
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Gardner Dozois returned "My Radon Daughter," the only story that Jill and I have written together, today. He wrote, "This has a lot of interesting stuff in it, but it's not really for me, I fear, and so I'm going...
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Scott Edelman returned "Red, White (and) Blues" with a personal note saying that "it didn't work for [him]."...
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Sent "My Radon Daughter" to SF Age....
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Ed Bryant called as the editing representative for Roadkill Press, to tell me that they (Doug, Tomi and Ed) had collectively decided on "Only Natural" for the New Voices chapbook and wanted some changes, namely: The ending felt rushed to...
Continue reading "The penis story" »
"In a Blaze of Glory" came back undelivered today from Space & Time. The address I had for them was old....
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Scott Edelman of SF Age returned "My Radon Daughter" with the comment "though it had its moments, it did not win me over." My correspondence with Janis Wells, the assistant editor at Amazing Stories, continues. She rejected "Cinema Verite" by...
Continue reading "Two more rejections" »
"If I Could Read Your Mind" came back from Analog today by form rejection. I've finally finished the rewrite of "the penis story," now 5,000 words and titled "Going Mobile." I'll send this off to Doug and Tomi tomorrow so...
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Mailed out "Going Mobile" to Little Bookshop of Horrors today. The chapbook will have a print run of 200 copies, both Royce and I will sign it, and we will share any profits from the sale of it three ways...
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Trying to make sure all my stories that have been finished are out there in slush piles, today I mailed "In a Blaze of Glory" to Space and Time (found new address online), "Famished" to Tomorrow SF, "If I Could...
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Kris Rusch of Fantasy and Science Fiction writes, "'Earth Mars Venus' is cute, but I'm afraid it's not quite what I'm looking for. Sorry. Please do send your next." I always love to see that tag line....
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Scott Edelman of SF Age continues his string of rejections in less than two weeks, this one for "Cinema Verite." He writes that it "didn't seem quite right for us. Do keep trying, though." I do love the personal rejections...
Continue reading "Quickest rejections in the west" »
A guy could get a complex from these when they come back like boomerangs, though. Today "If I Could Read Your Mind" came back from Gorezone with a form rejection, while A.J. Budrys of Tomorrow has a personal rejection that...
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Ellen Datlow at OMNI returned "Going Mobile" with a note that they don't generally take reprints, and suggests Gardner at Asimov's....
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Sending "Going Mobile" to Asimov's today....
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More mailing. Today: "Earth Mars Venus" to SF Age, "If I Could Read Your Mind" to Fantasy and Science Fiction, and "Cinema Verite" to Analog....
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"Red, White (and) Blues" returns from Hitchcock's with a form rejection....
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Scott Edelman of SF Age returned "Earth Mars Venus" today with a note that he has "a bias against short shorts." Oh, well. Note that in my submission database for him....
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A. Tidmarsh wrote me a long rejection from Interzone for "Cattrap." He or she says, "It is not for us, I'm afraid. It is (to my mind) about Philip K. Dick but does not work in the way that--for example--Michael...
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"Homesteading" was rejected by Richard Chizmar at Cemetary Dance with the checklist form rejection. Checks include "not original enough for my readers or too predictable," "not chilling, powerful or disturbing enough," "theme did not interest us; may be suitable for...
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Sent "Earth Mars Venus" to Asimov's and "Cattrap" to Hitchcock's today....
Continue reading "Mailing to the possessives" »
Stanley Schmidt of Analog returned "Cinema Verite" with the note that "it seems to me more a 'Twilight Zone' then an 'Analog' story." So true. Unfortunately, The Twilight Zone Magazine has ceased publication....
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"If I Could Read Your Mind" came back from Fantasy and Science Fiction with a personal note from Kris Rusch saying that it was "interesting, but not quite what [she's] looking for." She did add a "Sorry. Please do send...
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Two rejections today, including a very long note from Janis Wells of Amazing Stories saying that both she and Kim Mohan had looked over this story but had too many questions about it, feeling that it was a puzzle with...
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Wrote the complete story today, 6,900 words, based on a comment by my professor in Philosophy 415 class about immortality....
Continue reading ""The Laws of God and Man"" »
Three weeks out to Hitchcock's and "Cattrap" is back already, along with a form rejection....
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Finally got around to printing out stories and connecting up rejections in the database to figure out where everything needed to go:"Sleep of the Just" to Hitchcock's"Cinema Verite" to The New Yorker"My Radon Daughter" to Analog"If I Could Read Your...
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Sent "Going Mobile" out to see if SF Age did reprints, and also sent it for consideration in the Best of the Midwest anthology....
Continue reading "Going out" »
"If I Could Read Your Mind" was rejected by Weird Tales, which is also now closed to submissions until October....
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Scott Edelman of SF Age sent "Going Mobile" back with this note: "Thanks for trying me with 'Going Mobile,' but I'm afraid that it's too far over the top for me." It was also rejected by the Best of the...
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A.J. Budrys of Tomorrow SF returned "Red, White (and) Blues" with a note that he thought it "telegraphed." Ah, well. Sent "If I Could Read Your Mind" to Cemetary Dance and "Going Mobile" to Full Spectrum....
Continue reading "Story updates" »
Sent "Red, White (and) Blues" to Expanse, and also sent "The Laws of God and Man" to Steve Tem for his untitled anthology of Colorado writers while also submitting that story to the Northern Colorado Writers Workshop for comments at...
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A form rejection today for "Sleep of the Just" from Hitchcock's....
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Gordon Linzer of Space and Time returned "In a Blaze of Glory" today. He wrote, "I like this story a lot--I couldn't resist reading it--but, the timing is bad--I'm on the verge of winding down the magazine (after 25 years)....
Continue reading "Another rejection" »
"Sleep of the Just" is being sent this time to Janis Wells at Amazing Stories....
Continue reading "Sending it out again" »
Just a form rejection from Boy's Life on "Homesteading" today....
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And today I added another form rejection from Playboy, for my story "Cattrap," to my collection....
Continue reading "I collect rejections" »
Sent "Homesteading" to Tomorrow SF today. Received a long letter from Steve Tem that detailed his problems with "The Laws of God and Man." Specifically, for his Colorado anthology, he felt the story could have been set anywhere, and didn't...
Continue reading "In and Out" »
Gardner Dozois of Asimov's returned "Earth, Mars, Venus" today with the note that it was "cute, but not for [him]."...
Continue reading "And Just in" »
Sending "In a Blaze of Glory" out to SF Age and "Cattrap" to Aboriginal SF today....
Continue reading "Mailing" »
"My Radon Daughter" received a form rejection response from Analog while "Homesteading" received the same thing from Tomorrow SF....
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Sent "My Radon Daughter" to Fantasy and Science Fiction and "Homesteading" to Playboy today....
Continue reading "Mail out" »
And sent "Earth, Mars, Venus" to Interzone today....
Continue reading "More to mail" »
Scott Edelman of SF Age returned "In a Blaze of Glory" today. He wrote that it was "an interesting story, but it is more suited for a horror magazine, I'm afraid."...
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Not surprising, but The New Yorker returned "Cinema Verite" with a form rejection today....
Continue reading "More rejection" »
Sent "In a Blaze of Glory" to Ghosttide and "The Perfect Home" to Hitchcock's....
Continue reading "Sending them out again" »
Again, unsurprising, a form rejection from Playboy, this time for "Homesteading."...
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If it's got to be a rejection, the kind I get from Janis Wells of Amazing Stories are the kind I like to get. Personal, critical comments on the story, explaining exactly why she had trouble with the story. This...
Continue reading "The best kind of rejections" »
Sending "Homesteading" to Iniquities, "Cinema Verite" to Tomorrow SF, "Sleep of the Just" to Analog, and "Earth, Mars, Venus" to The New Yorker....
Continue reading "Mailing" »
Form rejection from Hitchcock's for "The Perfect Home."...
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Form rejection from Ghosttide for "In a Blaze of Glory."...
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"If I Could Read Your Mind" came back from Cemetary Dance with a checklist rejection. Rich Chizmar checked "nicely written" and wrote "excellent" beside it, but he also checked "theme did not interest us; may be suitable for another editor"...
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Sent "The Perfect Home" to Playboy, "In a Blaze of Glory" to Interzone, and "If I Could Read Your Mind" to Pulphouse....
Continue reading "Mailing" »
"Cattrap" came back from Aboriginal SF with the following checked from Charlie Ryan, "it's too expository, too much explanation, or explanation disguised as dialogue--needs tighter prose," and he underlined, "characters aren't alive" and "the plot isn't strong enough." He wrote...
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Sent "Cattrap" to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine....
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A form rejection from Full Spectrum for "Going Mobile."...
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Form rejection for "Sleep of the Just" in the mail today from Analog....
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This time, it's a form rejection from Expanse for "Red, White (and) Blues."...
Continue reading "Another form rejection" »
A form rejection from Tomorrow SF for "Cinema Verite." A.J.'s rejections look like they are personal, but after having received a number of them, with the same comment, you realize that he says the same nice little line to everyone....
Continue reading "And yet another" »
Sending "Going Mobile" to Amazing, "Sleep of the Just" to Full Spectrum, "Cinema Verite" to Aboriginal SF, and "Red, White (and) Blues" to Strange Plasma....
Continue reading "Mailing, mailing" »
Personal rejection from Kris Rusch of Fantasy and Science Fiction for "My Radon Daughter." Kris wrote, "I'm afraid it's not quite what I'm looking for. Sorry."...
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Received a letter from Strange Plasma, whom I had sent "Red, White (and) Blues" to recently, saying that they are now a closed market. Sigh. Another one bites the dust. Playboy sent a form rejection back with "The Perfect Home."...
Continue reading "The rejection, the rejection" »
Sending out "Things to Do When You're Dead" (new story, finished last weekend) to Playboy (I like to start at the best-paying market, and work my way down), "My Radon Daughter" to Tomorrow SF, "The Perfect Home" to Fantasy and...
Continue reading "Keeping them out there" »
"Homesteading" comes back from Iniquities with the following checks: "It's not quite for us" and "It didn't work for me."...
Continue reading "Checklist rejection" »
But the form rejections from A.J. Budrys at Tomorrow SF continue to come, this time, for "My Radon Daughter."...
Continue reading "Tomorrow is another day" »
This form rejection was from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine for "Cattrap."...
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Received my regular personal rejection from Janis Wells at Amazing Stories, this time for "Going Mobile." I'd type what she says, but it's my current favorite story of mine, and she didn't like it at all, so let's leave it...
Continue reading "Amazing going on hiatus" »
Charlie Ryan of Aboriginal SF checked the following about "Cinema Verite": "we do not buy fantasy," "a bit too expository," "characters aren't alive or are too bland," and "the plot isn't strong enough." He also circled "try again with a...
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"Things to Do When You're Dead" received a form rejection from Playboy, while "Red, White (and) Blues" didn't even make it to Glimpses because of a defunct address....
Continue reading "Back in the mail" »
See, I can't say too many bad things about Jonathan Bond at Pulphouse, because he sends a nice note back with "If I Could Read Your Mind" where he writes, "I liked it quite a bit, and it was a...
Continue reading "Personal rejection" »
Kris Rusch for Fantasy and Science Fiction wrote, about "The Perfect Home," "Weird story, Glen. I enjoyed it, but feel it's not quite right for F&SF."...
Continue reading "Personal rejection" »
Finally got around to getting "Going Mobile" (to Analog) and "My Radon Daughter" (to Aboriginal SF) back in the mail and into the slush piles....
Continue reading "These should have been in the mail" »
Sent "Cinema Verite" to Ghosttide and "Cattrap" to Glimmer Train today....
Continue reading "more mailing" »
"Cinema Verite" came back from Ghosttide with a note that says the magazine closed on 9/30/93....
Continue reading "Another closed market" »
Let's get these stories into the slushpiles! Sent "Homesteading" to Offworld, "The Perfect Home" to Expanse, "Red, White (and) Blues" to Playboy, "If I Could Read Your Mind" to Iniquities, "Cineme Verite" to Pulphouse, and "Things to Do in Denver...
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A form rejection today from Full Spectrum for "Sleep of the Just."...
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Jonathan Bond of Pulphouse wrote this in his rejection of "Cinema Verite": "I liked the writing in this, but guessed the ending by the second page. I look forward to seeing your next."...
Continue reading "Personal rejection" »
Three rejections today. Ouch. First was from OMNI for "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead." Ellen Datlow said, "You've got some good writing and some good ideas in here but I feel on the whole it's a bit...
Continue reading "Lots of rejection" »