Each year I keep track of my writing submissions with a spreadsheet of all the short stories and poetry I tender for publication, along with the successes and failures for each. I’m feeling really good about this year’s results. Let’s tally up!
Submissions to magazines, anthologies, and competitions
Number of Submissions: 29
Submissions Declined: 24
Submissions Accepted: 4
Still under review: 1
Hurray! That feels like a decent ratio of success.
Of those Accepted submissions, two have been published this year. I wrote a folklore-themed piece called Denizens of the Deep Dark for Copperfield Review Quarterly published in July, and a dystopian-alchemy story for a speculative fiction anthology, Unbreakable Ink, published in September.
Piece number three is a slightly weird horror story-graphic which will appear in a future issue of Sci-Fi Lampoon. The fourth one I’m not allowed to announce – though I desperately want to be able to brag about it – until it has been published.
I’m proud of all of them, but especially this last un-named story simply because I persevered with it all year. It had the most Declines out of all my submissions, but was eventually accepted by one of the more impressive (to me!) publishers on my list. This piece, which is a foray into Weird Horror, also gained some magnificent feedback from those who declined it, which stoked my enthusiasm and led me to go back over and refine the story even more, before it was finally accepted.
My message here is to keep going. Don’t allow yourself to be dragged down by a few negative responses. Consider criticism carefully and learn to identify which parts make your writing shine. Keep polishing your work and putting it in front of people. Eventually, you’ll find the right people to appreciate it.
My other Big Achievement this year has been to finish writing and editing The Jack Hansard Series: Season Two, ready for release in January 2022. Considering it took me around five years to properly publish Season One, getting a whole book done in one year is a big step forward for me. This time I had a plan, and I managed to stick to it (just). I also have a better idea of how this publishing malarkey works now, and I’m optimistic for the year ahead!
How has your year been?
Have you had any great writing achievements this year? Tell me about it in the comments! It needn’t be an acceptance or publication – maybe you finally finished a story that’s been clawing at your brain, or you’ve just started the journey of a new one. Now’s a great time to reflect on all the progress you’ve made, and recognise even the smallest successes along your path.
I hope you go into the new year with a similar feeling of optimism. Wishing you all the very best, and a very Happy New Year~
It’s finally time to unveil the book cover that we’ve been working on for the past couple of months. The Jack Hansard Series: Season Two releases on 11th January 2022, and it’s about the only thing I’ve had in my head since I started the intense editing process in October. Now we’re finally approaching the finish line – publication! Everything is wrapping up very nicely, and I’m excited to show you the book cover.
Are you ready to see the whole thing?
Let’s go, go, go!
What do you think?
I’m in love with it. The artist, Dominique Lane, has really outdone herself with this epic illustration.
We learned a lot from designing the cover for Season One, and it meant the process went a bit quicker this time around. This cover has a darker feel to it, which is very fitting for the themes of Season Two. (If you’ve read the free beta, remember to keep hush hush on spoilers. 😉)
Season Two is already available for preorder at all major ebook retailers. By preordering now you’ll get the early bird discount: the book will be $2.99 until a week after launch. Then it will go up to full price – $4.99.
The paperback will also become available for preorder just after Christmas. I’ll keep you posted when it goes up!
As for the book launch on 11th January… Like last time, I’ll be holding a little party with games and giveaways for everyone to join in. The main event will take place over on Facebook (join the party here!) but I’ll also run a few things on my blog and newsletter for those who don’t dwell on the social media monolith.
Let me know how you feel about the new book cover in the comments. Do you think it fits the series? Are you excited for the release? What would you like to see at the launch party?
It’s been a minute since I last wrote something for the blog. Sorry for my absence folks, I’ve had my nose buried deep in edits for The Jack Hansard Series: Season Two. Things are going well: the free beta release on Wattpad has now reached the end of the story; I’m currently working through all the notes from my editor; and the cover art is shaping up fantastically.
If you want to lend a hand in getting the book over the finish line, you can help by spreading the word about Jack Hansard, or by sending over a coffee to fuel the late nights. Ko-fi donations receive an exclusive short story and piece of artwork, and my heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who has supported the series in any shape or form so far. You are all amazing. 😊
Advance Review Copies
Season Two will soon be ready to send out to early readers for review!
Would you like to receive a free advance review copy of the book? I’ve got spaces on my ARC team – if you would like to join, just fill in this Google form and I’ll get back to you: https://forms.gle/Aehp4dKfgamdiWA26 (If you’ve never left a review anywhere before, that’s fine. Just list a couple of the places where you would like to leave one for my book. 🙂)
Similarly, are you a blogger interested in reading/reviewing any of my books? Reach out to me by email: georgina@georginajeffery.com
That’s all for now. I’ll retreat back into the warmth for a little while. My current work setup is with my laptop on the couch, a hot water bottle at my back and coffee by my side… if you don’t see me again for a month, send the search party in with snacks.
A year ago today I hit publish on The Jack Hansard Series: Season One, the genre-bending episodic fantasy I’d first conceptualised five years before. The exploits of this occult salesman and his cantankerous coblyn sidekick have become very close to my heart.
It has taken considerably less time to produce the book’s sequel, bolstered in no small part by the confidence I gained in finally getting the first one ‘out there’. So it’s with a great deal of pleasure that I can announce The Jack Hansard Series: Season Two is now available for pre-order everywhere ebooks are sold!
The paperback version will become available for pre-order some time in December, once the book cover design has been finalised. Follow me on social media or my newsletter to receive updates and sneak previews of the cover art as it develops.
I’m also running a flash sale to celebrate this milestone
For a limited time only you can pick up The Jack Hansard Series: Season One for just 99p. Grab your copy here!
My short story The Hub is also FREE to download from most retailers for a very short time. Find it here.
Thank you for your support over the past twelve months, and here’s to more exciting times ahead!
During our usual short British Summer earlier this year – that very briefly sunny bit – I took a holiday down to Cornwall with my family. I had the pleasure of visiting some locations that feature in The Jack Hansard Series, and in this post I’d like to shine a spotlight on one in particular: Trethevy Quoit.
First, for those who might not know much about Cornwall: this county occupies the most southwestern tip of England and is known particularly for its old tin mining industry, its port towns and beautiful beaches, and the vast number of prehistoric monuments that litter its moorland landscape. And, of course, the traditional Cornish Pasty.
Cornwall is also the home of knockers, a type of mining spirit which will be very familiar to Jack Hansard readers. It’s during an adventure with the knockers in Season Two that Jack and Ang are sent to the myserious portal tomb known as Trethevy Quoit.
Trethevy Quoit can be found in the hamlet of Tremar Coombe on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Situated in a field just behind some houses, it’s a striking mark on the landscape. This type of structure is known as a ‘dolmen’ or portal tomb, where a horizontal capstone is supported by two or more vertical stones. Trethevy Quoit is at least 4500 years old, and may have been built as a grave and/or a place of worship. (The truth is, we don’t actually know for certain what it was built for, but human remains have been found in similar dolmens.)
I’m standing in what might be a shallow ante-chamber. I’d need to crawl to get into the main chamber through that waist-high hole to the side.
‘Trethevy’ is apparently Cornish for ‘place of the graves’, while the ‘Quoit’ in the name refers to a traditional throwing game – because local legend says that Trethevy Quoit was made by competing giants who hurled the stones together. This is why some people also call it ‘The Giant’s House’.
I owe a great deal of thanks to a local chap called Clifford who happened to be passing while I was examining the tomb. He turned out to be a wealth of information and theories about the dolmen and how it was built.
In the photo above, we’re looking at the entrance. The small hole to my right leads to what is probably a burial chamber – you’d have to crawl inside. The space where I’m standing may have been an antechamber. Clifford was able to show me the grooves in the rock that suggested a massive stone may have once acted as a ‘door’ to this section: regularly pushed aside to allow access for special occasions, perhaps. It’s likely that dolmens could have served a ritual purpose, maybe a focal point bringing the community together over the changing seasons.
A close-up of what appear to be parallel ‘scrapes’ in the rock. Clifford might be onto something.
And that hole in the capstone, to the top right? Total mystery. No one knows what it was for. You’d assume some kind of astronomical purpose, but Clifford tells me there are no significant constellations visible through it, at any time of the year. But who are we to say what was ‘significant’ to people living thousands of years ago?
It also crossed my mind that the hole may have been placed to frame something which simply isn’t in the sky any more. Stars die. Land shifts. Or perhaps a comet was passing by in their time, and hasn’t returned to the earth since.
At the back, it appears that the rear stone has fallen into the tomb, and this may be why the roof is now so steeply slanted. Clifford’s theory is that the tomb was actually built this way, with the rear sloped stone acting as a second entrance. While I appreciated the logic in his explanation, I’m more inclined to side with the English Heritage interpretation that the stone was originally standing to form a back wall. Vandalism or simple collapse are likely reasons for its current position.
Finally, Clifford drew my attention to the capstone itself. It so happens that a mineral called mica naturally occurs in different concentrations in the granite of the local area. Mica is a reflective material that can give the stone a sparkly appearance. And, to my great fortune, it was a sunny day.
My goodness, how that stone sparkled.
I tried my best to capture it here, but the photo doesn’t do it justice.
It’s easy to imagine why the builders of Trethevy Quoit chose this specific stone to cap their dolmen. This structure would have dominated its local landscape, provided a shining beacon to those traversing the nearby hills. If you’ve ever been up a hill and caught a sudden sharp glint from a building in the distance – that’s how I imagine Trethevy Quoit would first appear to the ancient traveller.
One detail that throws a question mark over this is whether Trethevy Quoit was completely buried inside a mount or not. A low mound of earth is still evident around the bottom of the structure, and certainly other types of dolmen tombs are thought to have been covered by a mound – the soil has simply eroded away over time, leaving behind the stone bones of the inner structure. But perhaps its feasible that a capstone like this one would have been left visible? As far as I’m aware, we have no real way of knowing for sure how large Trethevy Quoit’s mound would have been.
I’m glad I was able to visit this megalith in person – especially as it gave me a lot of new details to work into the Jack Hansard episode in which it appears. If you’ve read the beta episode over on Wattpad, you’ll know this location acts as the portal to a fairy glen where an ancient entity has been slumbering.
We also managed to fit in a trip to see The Hurlers and the Cheesewring during our trip – for a few more photos and snippets of Cornish folklore, check out the newsletter I wrote about it back in June. I also visited Cornwall’s famous Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, which I imagine will be the subject of a future blog post!
Have you visited any of Cornwall’s ancient monuments? Share your stories about them below!
When an app developer accidentally creates a maliciously benevolent social media network, only her girlfriend can save her from what she’s brought to life…
Happy days! I was incredibly pleased to release my short story The Hub as an ebook last week. This story was first published by the wonderful folks at Thunderbird Studios in their anthology The San Cicaro Experience – a weird and dark anthology exploring the titular urban fantasy location.
The Hub ended up straddling the line between sci-fi and urban fantasy with its technological menace, but ultimately it’s a story about love and compromise.
It’s now available for just $0.99 from all the main retailers: Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Apple, etc. Universal shop link below. 😄
In sunny San Cicaro, a new app is dominating the city’s streets – and its people.
Max loves her city, and believes everyone deserves to enjoy its hidden treasures. So when she launches the SC Hub, a new social app to connect people and places, she couldn’t be happier with its blazing overnight success. But her reclusive girlfriend, Ellie, can’t help but worry about the magnetic pull the app is having on its creator, and the strange occurrences in town that seem linked to it.
Are people driving the app… or the other way round?
Story submissions to magazines, anthologies, and competitions
Number of Submissions: 23
Submissions Declined: 15
Submissions Accepted: 1
Still under review: 7
Wheeeeeee! We’re only halfway through the year, and I’ve already bested last year’s results (which, let’s face it, were pretty abysmal anyway). I expect to slow down on submissions towards the end of this year, but only because I hope to be extra-focused on handling edits and the publishing process for Season Two of The Jack Hansard Series.
The Accepted story on this list is a flash triptych called ‘Denizens of the Deep Dark’. It will feature in the upcoming July issue of Copperfield Review Quarterly.
Why are my submissions going better this year?
Having been at this for a while now, I’ve built up a larger catalogue of short stories to send out. This means I can have several different pieces out at the same time, rather than waiting for just one to be assessed by a publisher before being able to submit it again. I’m also quite proud of some of my newer works (tangible evidence of improvement in my writing) and this confidence keeps me eager to edit and resubmit after every rejection.
I’ve also been helped by some very fast turnarounds from a few journals. While it can be disheartening to receive a rejection in less than 48 hours (24 hours, in one instance!) this does then immediately free up the story for submission elsewhere, as many of these publishers don’t allow you to submit to multiple markets at once.
An extra note is that I’ve broadened my horizons this year by making a return to poetry, which I’ve dabbled in on-and-off over the years. There are just two poems of which I’m proud enough to have included in the above submissions list, and one which I’ve entered into a humour competition that will announce winners in August. Let’s see how we go!
How are your submissions going?
Do you keep track of your submission stats like this? How’s this year shaping up compared to last year? Tell me all about it, I’d love to know! We can celebrate our wins and commiserate our rejections together. And if you’re yet to submit anything, then I’m here to shout you some friendly words of encouragement.
Just wanted to share this review of what sounds like a cracking book series – it’s gone straight onto my must-read list. If you enjoy rural contemporary fantasy steeped in British folklore, take a look!
Juliet McKenna is an author I’d been meaning to read forever. When good bookfriends expressed quiet but fervent enthusiasm for The Green Man’s Heir, I decided it was time to take the plunge. Today I’m here to be your good bookfriend and express my own quiet but fervent enthusiasm for this contemporary folkloric fantasy series. You should take the plunge, the water is fine if full of terrifying naiads and nixes.
Earlier this week I stumbled across a blog post about ‘Wyrd and Wonder’ : a month-long online event celebrating fantasy in all its forms. Hosted by the folks at onemore.org, the Wyrd and Wonder party straddles social media channels with blogs, reviews, streams, games, and a shared love of all things fantasy!
Regular readers know I need a bit of a butt-kicking to update my blog (I’m normally a ‘one post a month’ kinda gal) but this is exactly the kind of motivational event I can get behind. So I’ve joined the Wyrd and Wonder party and planned a few (small) activities of my own to take part throughout the month of May. My list is definitely small fry compared to others (how do you all keep up with your TBRs?!) but I’m excited to have some goals to aim for!
My Quest Log:
Finish reading The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett. I started this book at the beginning of the year and was halfway through when… I put it down. For some reason. Maybe a few tiring nights from kiddo had sapped my energy, or I just had to get on with other stuff that evening. These days, unfinished books are like my forgotten cups of tea scattered around the house – not for lack of wanting to finish them. Something else just gets in the way. So I’m looking forward to finishing this final instalment in the Tiffany Aching series, and when I’ve completed it I’ll also have finally read every single Discworld novel. I’m still sad that there won’t be any more.
Read Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. It’s been on my TBR list for a loooong while. This month I’d like to read (and finish!!) the first book in this urban fantasy series and then maybe write a review post afterwards!
Buy a new indie fantasy book. I’ll pop this as a thread over on Twitter where peeps can pitch their own (or their favourite) fantasy book by an indie author, and I’ll pick at least one to buy and read for myself. I’m grateful to others who’ve posted these writers’ lifts/book lifts in the past and I’d love to try my own. If I’ve got time, I want to post my review of the chosen indie book this month as well.
Offers and such? I’m involved in some group fantasy book promotions this month. I’d like to support my writing community and help readers find new fantasy authors to fall in love with – I’ve put the current ones below as it doesn’t seem right to make them a separate post. There are some giveaways which start later in May as well. Would people be interested in a post just about free fantasy books…? They’ll be on Twitter, anyway. 😆
And of course, getting involved! I’ll read and follow as many Wyrd and Wonder posts as I can manage. I’d like to try answering some of the Challenge Prompts via Twitter or Instagram. The community looks really friendly and I’m excited to dip my toes in and meet you all.
My tiny TBR
Not gonna lie, I’m hoping this will jumpstart my reading habit again. Aiming for two and half books in a month is pitiful compared to what I used to go through, but at least it’s something. 😂
If you’re looking for something new to read yourself, check out these fantasy book sales for ideas. 👇
Time to dive in!
You can find out more about Wyrd and Wonder here, follow the hosts on Twitter here, and find posts on Instagram and elsewhere with the #WyrdandWonder hashtag. (Also check out this fab book bingo game they’ve created!)
If you’ve got plans for Wyrd and Wonder, or even just some cool fantasy titles on your TBR list, let us know below! 😊
I talk a lot about writing submissions and lately have had questions from friends about where I find these paid writing gigs – and how they might find their own. So I thought I’d share the resources I use the most, for anyone who might also be wondering how to find a home for their short stories.
Below is a mix of blogs and lists, some of which are geared just toward speculative fiction (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc) and others that encompass all genres. Take a look, and hopefully you’ll find a market you want to submit to!
A regularly updated blog which keeps abreast of opportunities in the industry. As the name suggests, The Horror Tree focuses on posting submissions calls for horror-themed writing, but does include entries from other speculative fiction genres as well. This is where I first heard about The San Cicaro Experience, an urban fantasy anthology which I submitted to and was published in last year,
At The Horror Tree you’ll mainly find open calls from journals and anthologies, and then the occasional competition and novel/novella opportunity. You’ll find a fair number of lower-paying markets here (often less than 4 cents a word) and many publications that might only pay an honorarium (such as $10 or less for a short story). But pro markets do pop up as well: regular calls for Fantasy Magazine and Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores are good examples.
I do think you’re more likely to come across opportunities here that you might not find elsewhere, and the themes are so varied and interesting that you have a higher chance of stumbling across one that makes you go, “YES. I want to create something for THIS.” (Recently I’ve seen calls for ‘found footage’ horror stories, ’31st century monsters’, and ‘mad queens’.) This is what makes The Horror Tree my favourite site to scroll for submissions.
Writer’s HQ is both a source of free writing resources and an organiser of British writing retreats on the cheap. They maintain a continually updated list of competition opportunities each month, and have recently changed their policy to only include listings that make an effort to be financially accessible to writers. I’m a massive fan of this approach. My personal policy is to not submit to publications that require an entry fee (the aim here is to make money…) though I’m not averse to supporting journals which provide the option of a donation or have a tip jar feature.
The folks at Writer’s HQ seem to have accessibility built into their attitude, and they make this whole business of writing feel achievable with their pragmatism and sense of humour. They also host their own weekly Flash Face-off contest (like a community writing exercise) and will pay you for blog posts on the writing process (currently closed to submissions, but worth keeping an eye on if this is your thing).
This one is a single static list compiled by speculative fiction author S.J.Budd. Unlike the ones listed above, these are not submission calls with specific themes or deadlines and are not (to my knowledge) regularly updated. It’s simply a great list of journals which (usually) accept unsolicted submissions. Being a writer of speculative fiction myself, it’s refreshing to see a list which encompasses simply ‘dark’ fiction, as this can range far and wide across fantasy, sci-fi, horror and beyond. I find similar lists on a singular genre under the speculative umbrella can be a bit limited for my purposes.
Like any static list, you will find that some publishers on this page have sadly gone out of business, or that submission windows are currently closed. But the high number of listings and the amount of info included next to each one makes this a really great resource to quickly scan and identify markets that might be the right fit for your work.
Submittable is really a submissions manager – many of the journals in those lists above will require you to upload your work via Submittable. You’ll need to register an account for this (don’t worry, it’s free). It’s quite useful in that it saves (and automatically fills in) your personal details, and you can create a cover letter template to save you writing out nearly the same thing each time. It also tracks your submissions so you can see which stories are currently in progress/accepted/declined.
Under the Discover tab is where you can actively search for opportunities. I’m pleased that it lets me filter by deadline and ‘No Fees’, but I admit to finding the search function a bit lacking. I don’t come here to seek out new markets very often – mainly because there are just SO MANY submission calls that’s it’s difficult to narrow down exactly what you might be looking for.
This is because Submittable opportunities encompass a really wide range of subjects – from applying for research grants and job vacancies (I recently discovered and applied for a job at a small press here actually; sadly didn’t get through) to entering competitions, submitting short stories to journals, and even whole novels to presses. There are opportunities for writers, artists, animators, musicians, journalists, and more… Basically, if you know anyone looking for anything in the creative sphere, Submittable isn’t a bad place to start. Play around with the search tags and filters, and eventually you’ll find something that fits your niche.
This one feels a bit nostalgic for me because it’s the list I’ve used for the longest time, but have neglected of late. Prizemagic concerns itself solely with writing competitions. The website looks quite dated now, but the listings are still regularly refreshed. Each entry has a note to say when it was added or last edited, which is very useful when considering those evergreen contests which roll around every year.
It’s also made extra-fun by the occasional humorous remark from the website’s owner, Michael Shenton, and I enjoy reading the little success stories from people who have written in to share their competition triumphs. The listings themselves contain more info than you’d find elsewhere, as the author takes pains to provide some context for what each contest is looking for in your entry.
I should also mention that this list is much more UK-centric than the ones above – which is BRILLIANT for British writers like me, who too often are mentally converting dollar amounts in our heads when weighing up fees and prizes.
Let us know if you found somewhere to submit your story from this list! And if you want to recommend other places to look for new writing opportunities, please do mention them in the comments.
Georgina Jeffery 