a really great podcast is running a fiction contest... which I of course entered. The voting is going on now and my tale is in the current batch. Not going to cheat and ask you to vote for my story specifically, but I am going to try and get as many people over there to vote as I possibly can...
If you have a few minutes in the next few days - head on over to Escape Pod and read the entries for their under 300word contest. Don't forget to vote.
http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php
I think you have to sign up for the forums to see the entries!
Thanks so much!!
Sarah Wagner
(And a great big pat on the back to *anyone* who can guess which one is mine - it doesn't read like something I would write...)
Well - I've had a decent year for my writing overall - not counting the fact that I got next to nothing actually written in the last half... I guess the first half made up for that.
I finished the next draft of Strange Angels - though I am working steadily through the rewrite as I get the chance....
I sent submissions to 92 publications.
I Recieved 8 acceptance letters, 61 rejection notes, I still have work to 23 publications...
I got two phone calls from editors and one direct line email addy for further submissions.
I had over 700 hits to my website and my poor Imaginary Word has taken a back seat to my life...
So - I have 4 short stories out. 4 pieces of nonfiction. 37 poems.
Not too bad a year considering I had a baby... ;)
Here's looking at a much more productive 2007
Sarah Wagner
I come home from my boy's kindergarten open house and there's three messages on my machine... two telemarketers and this: a wonderful message from John Allison at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette saying that they want to buy one of my poems... I took a moment to catch my breath and check my records notebook to see which poems I submitted to them in January and tried to figure out which of the three it would be. With a cell phone that HATES to call from the house without dropping the call, I call Pittsburgh. The poem they bought was not the one I figured they would want but I am super thrilled! I think i really needed a big acceptance right about now. So - either tomorrow or next saturday, my poem will be in the PPG!! Yay me.
~S
My "office" such as it is, is getting moved tomorrow to make way for the nursery so, I won't be online for perhaps a few days. This week was an allright week - overall... Got a lot done on Strange Angels which thrills me... it's ALMOST done... just a few more chapters. It's possible that I could be done before the baby gets here... if I get a few more good weeks in.
Anyway - I didn't make the goals I had for this week overall but I did exceed my goals for SA by a good bit...
Poetry: 7 poems revised (candles in the Sand, Memory’s Eyes, All I Once Was, On Sacred Ground, The Man I never Knew, Through your eyes, Suffocating)
Short Prose: Former Paintball Widow - in process, Beacon - rewritten, finished, & out for crits
Strange Angels: Chapter 18 - rewritten & finished. Chapter 19 - rewritten and finished. Chapter 20 - rewritten & finished. Chapter 21 - Rewritten & finished. Chapter 22 - in process.
Not bad
~S
Sent Out: 24 submissions
Rejections: 16
Withdrawals: 1 (took 2 years to decide on 2 poems... so I withdrew them)
Acceptances: 1 - in a "letters to my mother" type book - more details to follow later.
Other: - for the most part, the rejections I’m receiving are encouraging. Notes telling me that, while some particular piece is not there just yet - I AM on the right track. I AM getting there... I can only hope it is sooner than later and that I’ll be able to figure out the formula when I’m there... The formula being the when and how and why a particular piece is READY...
So - an eh kind of month but not terrible...
~S
Goals:
Poetry: 8 poems revised, 2 new poems,
Short Prose: Finish One Nation, finish Paintball bits, rewrite 3 others.
Strange Angels: Chapter 18 - finish rewriting, Chapter 19 - finish rewriting.
So: Had our Doctor's appointment yesterday and it went pretty well... I weighed in at 191 so up 4lbs in two weeks - not great but not horrible either and completely blamed on my absolute NEED for english muffins with strawberry jam... So that puts me at a total weight gain of 56 pounds. Better than the 75 I gained with my first pregnancy but SO not that great... My father-in-law and I are going to start walking as soon as my incision is healed (he's got some poundage to lose too). But - we're looking at a having a healthy baby boy so, as long as my blood pressure doesn't skyrocket, as long as I don't have another 12 pound jump, so long as I keep trying to stay on track, we should be good. From the look of the sonogram (and the stretching of my belly when he stretches...) this one is going to be as tall and as heavy as his brother was... my first was 24 1/4 inches tall and 9 pounds 8 ounces when he was born... My husband is 6'5" or so and 190 ish? (good lord I weigh more than him!!)... while under normal circumstances - I am 5'6 and 135. I am going to be dwarfed by my boys... at least I know that once they hit 14 or so, I'll never have to lift anything heavy for as long as I live. There is a bright side.
In other news: Sent out a whole slew of things today... it's like I can't resist. I didn't send anything anywhere for 5 years but I never stopped writing and now, I'm rewriting it all, polishing it up making it better (and I think I'm doing a decent job with that), and I just can't let it sit on my harddrive... I HAVE to send it out. There are times when it feels like I'm blanketing the market with my work but I'm sending things to such varied markets that I don't fear really overdoing it - my range runs from the women's magazines to fantasy magazines to horror anthologies... There are some related pubs of course - my preference is always for the speculative but I am starting to polish up my parenting essays and my bits and pieces about my mom and my grandmother. I seem to be having really excellent results with my nonfiction so, I am trying to expand my abilities there. Maybe if I can start making a living with the nonfiction, I can play with the fiction without worrying so much about trying to help out with expenses... I know I have several years ahead of me before I get where I want to be. I'm not really concerned with a timeline just yet. I know I'd like to help out at home - especially now that we'll have two kids. But, the more I write, the better I get at the process. I know I have good stories to tell - that is one thing I have NO doubt about. But, I also know I've gotten better at *telling* the stories over the last ten years so - imagine what it will be like ten years from now. If I can't make regular sales by then - MAYBE it's time to look into something else but, for now - I'm content with my puttering and my rewriting and my submitting and my rejections and my nonfiction... So - as long as that holds, what can I be but happy?
~S
This month has been absolutely riddled with rejections. Almost enough of them to make me question everything I'm doing... almost. It does help that the editors who are rejecting me are not only telling me why but telling me that overall - my work is good but... and then they tell me why. I am a girl who really is just beginning - can't ask for more! My success right now is coming in the form of poetry and nonfiction but my heart is captivated by fiction. I am now using my age as a chant, a mantra... I'm only 27... I'm only 27... I'm only 27... Just a baby in the field just yet with a lot to learn... I have time... so far it's working and I've noticed that - every time I rewrite something, it does get better. I just have to learn now *when* it's polished enough, rewritten enough to send off into the ether, into the hands of the harried men and women who are the slush-readers...
Someday I'll figure it out and, when I do, I'll be dangerous. All this potential has to go somewhere...
~S
Progress Report
Goals:
Poetry: 12 Poems revised.
6 new poems
Short Prose: Blur of Tiers - Complete rewrite.
One Nation - Finish
Strange Angels: Chapter 16 - rewritten & finished.
Chapter 17 - rewritten & finished.
For the week ending June 17th, 2006
6 poems revised, polished, ready.
3 new poems.
Breaking Traditions (nonfiction) - revised, polished, ready to be sent
First Step (nonfiction)- revised, polished, ready to be sent
Strange Angels: Chapter 15 rewritten and finished.
Strange Angels: Chapter 16 - process of rewriting has begun.
Pretty good, seeing as that was mostly just Friday and Saturday...
~S
May Statistics
Submissions Sent Out: 15 subs sent.
Rejections:
Intermoonlit First Chapter Contest - Fiction 5/1/06
Intergalactic Medicine Show - Fiction - 5/14/06
Fantasy Magazine - Fiction - 5/20/06
FantasySpot - Fiction - 5/21/06
Flesh & Blood - Fiction - 5/22/06
Lone Star Stories - Fiction - 5/23/06
Country Mouse - Poetry - 5/30/06
Abyss & Apex - Fiction - 5/30/06
Book of Dark Wisdom - fiction - 5/30/06
Poems Neiderngasse - Poetry - 5/31/06
Danforth - fiction 5/10/06 - lost the submission - resub when subs reopen...
Acceptances
Red River Review: 5/26/06 - poetry - At Her Bedside
Total Work Out: 10 pieces of prose, 34 poems, 23 venues...
Overall - sort of a crappy month except for the fact that I got one actual acceptance, a phone call from an editor for a soontobe possible acceptance (will provide more info on that later...), two "good" rejections (meaning I got comments from the editors - writing was good but it doesn't fit the tone/mood we're going for....), and a pretty good horoscope for yesterday (when I sent out MORE stuff...)
My poem, At Her Bedside, is currently available in the May 2006 issue of Red River Review.
~S
Sent Out 5 submissions
Rejections:
elipsis - 4/1/06 - fiction
2river - 4/10/06 - poetry
T-zero - 4/19/06 - poetry
Acceptances
None
Work Currently Out:
24 Submissions = 10 short stories and 14 poetry markets for a total of 43 poems.
Not too bad but, could be better all around
~S
March Statistics
Sent 6 submissions out
Rejections
Absinthe Literary Review - poetry - 3/8/06
Mary - poetry - 3/28/06
Icon - poetry- 3/29/06
Narrative - nonfiction - 3/28/06
Dead markets
3/4/06 - Irish Fantasy Quarterly (as declared by duotrope) - Fiction
Acceptances:
None. Again. Such is life.
February Statistics
3 submissions sent out
Rejected:
SFreader contest 2/1/06 fiction
Euphoria Contest: 2/1/06 poetry
The Pedestal Magazine - 2/8/06 fiction
Aberrant Dreams - 2/13/06 fiction
Accepted:
none
Hopefully March will be better
~S
It just occurred to me that I neglected to post my January 2006 statistics... they're not that great but I'm thinking they're probably better than what February 2006 will turn out to be...
January Statistics:
5 Submissions sent out
Rejections:
1. Breath & SHadow - nonfiction. 1/1/06
2. 1/3/06 - fiction - One Story
3. 1/14/06 - nonfiction - The Sun
4. 1/15/06- Fiction - Glimmertrain
Acceptances:
1. The Viewing (poem) - Passing (antho from Poet Works) 1/1/06
2. Across the Table - Scorched Earth 1/31/06
~S
Below is my list of the 50 markets I want to get into this year:
Analog
Andromeda Spaceways
Aoife's Kiss
Asimov's
Black Gate
Black Warrior Review
Blackbird
Boulevard
Breath & Shadow
Chizine
Deep Magic
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Fifth Di...
Flashing Swords
Flashquake
Futurismic
Glimmertrain
Hitchcock
Ideomancer
Intergalactic Medicine Show
Interzone
Kit-Cat Review
Lone Star Stories
Lorraine and James
Missouri Review
Neometropolis
Neo-opsis
On Spec
One Story
Paradox
Pedestal
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Ploughshares
Poems Niederngasse
Realms of Fantasy
Saint Ann's Review
Son & Foe
Southern Hum
Strange Horizons
Surreal Magazine
The Harrow
The New Yorker
The Paris Review
The Threepenny Review
Tin House
Vestal Review
Wicked Alice
Woman's Day
Yale Review
Zoetrope
I figure it's about time to do some updating ;) I've had two new pubs accepted.
Two poems to be appearing in the first issue of Bleeding Quill.
One poem to be appearing in the PoetWorks anthology, Passing.
~S
I got my contributor's copy of the Winter 2005 issue of Fantastic Stories of the Imagination today ;) such a thrill to see my work in the midst of some pretty good stories. I'm thrilled to say the least ;)
~S
News: If you're interested, there is a new book, Better Fiction: Year in Review 2005 available that includes my first ever published story, My Redemption - which was originally printed in 1998 in a small press magazine, The Threshold. Also, several other great stories by other people and two of my poems - A Night Out and Smoke Dragons. It is available in both print and ebook form and available here: Better Fiction: Year in Review 2005
I'd love to hear what anyone thinks ;)
~Sarah
I am not sure what happened yet but somehow The Imaginary Word has disappeared. I am working to put things in order so that it will be available ontime for December. In the meantime, I have put together a forum for news, discussions, etc relating to the Imaginary Word.
Thanks so much for your patience.
~Sarah Wagner
Left Behind, a short story of mine, has just been published and can be found here: Whispering Spirits
~Sarah
Just found out that a flash fiction piece of mine placed second in a contest. It's not first but it's not an honorable mention either. Needless to say, I'm tickled. I'll post the information and the link just as soon as it's up.
~S
Well, I've not decided if its a good thing yet - but I've signed up for Nanowrimo this year. I'll probably post at least my progress here once it begins. I'm looking forward to it, if only to see if I can actually do it. I know I can do it in three - rough draft - I'd like to see if I can complete a rough in one month. It'll be interesting.
~S
Rejections:
Andromeda Spaceways -two poems- 9/4/05
Mastadon Dentist - 3 poems 9/8/05
Interzone - short story - 9/11/05
Bathtub Gin - 3 poems - 9/15/05
Strange Horizons - 1 short story - 9/17/05
Neo-opsis - 1 short story - 9/19/05
Chatahoochie Review - 1 short story - 9/24/05
Kenyon Review - 3 poems - 9/30/05
Maissonneuve - flash - Non response Rejection
Acceptances:
ShadowSword: Blood On the Sands - short fantasy
Not too terrible... but still...
~S
The following list is arranged alphabetically. * denotes markets I have submissions out to. These are the markets I most want to get into.
Absinthe Literary Review *
Abyss and Apex
Analog
Andromeda Spaceways
Antimuse
Aoife's Kiss *
Asimovs
Black Gate
Black October *
Black Warrior Review
Boulevard
Chizine
Contemporary Verse *
Danforth Review *
Deep Magic
Ellipsis *
Fifth Dimension
Flashquake
Futurismic
Gettysburgh Review
Glimmertrain
Ideomancer
Illumen
Interzone
Lenox Avenue
Lorraine and James
Lullaby Hearse
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
Neo-opsis
Oceans of the Mind
One Story
On-Spec
Paradox
Pedestal*
Ploughshares*
Poems Niederngasse
Realms of Fantasy
Scifantastic*
SciFiction
Story House*
Strange Horizons
The Book of Dark Wisdom *
The Harrow*
The New Yorker
The Paris Review
Tin House
TM Poetry
Vestal Review*
Wicked Alice
Woman's Day
~S
When this year began, I set some pretty lofty goals for myself. I've done decently so far but, I am not where I want to be. Yet.
These were my goals:
Send out 82 submissions for the year, Attain a 15% acceptance rate, win one writers competition and get published in at least five of my 50 Most Wanted Markets.
As of September 26, 2005, this is where I am:
I've sent out 104 submissions, attained a 7.69 acceptance rate (not too bad for only the second year of dedicated submitting), I've not won a contest yet this year but I've placed second twice and have gotten into none of those desired markets... though there is some small hope, I have work out at several of them.
I can now Google myself and, though it wasn't a goal of mine, it is sort of neat.
That's the status as of tonight but it's an ever changing set of numbers.
I'll be updating this as I go, as the numbers change.
~S