2022 Submissions: Halfway Checkpoint

July 21, 2022Georgina JefferyLeave a comment

Each year I keep track of the writing submissions I put in to journals and anthologies, and it’s now practically tradition that I check-in at the halfway point to take stock of how it’s going. 2021 was a great year for my submissions record, including an acceptance from the NoSleep Podcast who produced my horror story Ecstatic Birth for their show! (You can listen to it for free here: https://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/episodes/s17/17×18)

But as you’ll see, things have slowed down quite a bit this year. Here are my stats so far:

Submissions to magazines, anthologies, and competitions

Number of Submissions: 8

Submissions Declined: 5

Submissions Accepted: 0

Still under review: 3

Despite last year’s success, it’s clear that I haven’t been prioritising journal submissions in 2022. (Last year I already had twenty submissions in by June.)

I’m fine with this. The lower productivity on this side is indicative of the energy I’ve put into other publishing endeavours: namely, my new Dark Folklore series. This is a series of dark fairytales written as standalone novelettes (8000 to 12000 words in length), each based on a piece of folklore from around the world. I’m pleased to have kept a steady publishing schedule with a new Dark Folklore story releasing every 2-3 months, which is very rapid compared to my usual writing speed.

*Stories in the Dark Folklore series so far*

So I’m feeling pretty chill about my stats this year. No unnecessary shame or self-loathing required. (An achievement in itself for any writer, amiright?)

Plans for the rest of 2022: Across Screaming Seas releases next week! I have at least two more Dark Folklore novelettes to write, and then will form them into a paperback coIlection due for release sometime around Halloween, if all goes well. Alongside this, I’m still drafting Season Three of The Jack Hansard Series which will eventually reach the free beta stage for your reading pleasure.

I also intend to keep pottering along with submissions, and will let you know my final stats at the end of the year.

Are you in the submissions game? If so, how’s it going? What have your wins been so far?

My 2021 Submissions Round-Up

December 31, 2021January 17, 2022Georgina Jeffery1 Comment

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.

If you need ideas for where you can submit your writing to, check out this list of 5 Places To Find Story Submission Opportunities.

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~

2021 Submissions: Halfway Checkpoint!

June 22, 2021Georgina Jeffery2 Comments

SHORT STORY SUBMISSIONS

Stats & Stuff

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.

If you need ideas for where to submit your stories, check out this list I made of my own favourite haunts for scouring short story markets.

Happy submitting!

My 2020 Submissions Round-Up

January 2, 2021Georgina Jeffery6 Comments

Last year (2019, that is) I started tracking my short story submission stats – and now it’s time to compare how I did in 2020. So without any faff, here are my numbers!

Story submissions to magazines, anthologies, and competitions.

Number of Submissions: 14

Submissions Declined: 12

Submissions Accepted: 0

Still under review: 2

Dang. I was hoping to beat my previous score, but unfortunately I made 3 fewer submissions in 2020 than in 2019. But, global pandemic aside, at least I have some good reasons for not being on top of my short story game – and some reasons to celebrate, as well! The biggest one being:

2020 is the year I finally published my book debut, The Jack Hansard Series: Season One. HURRAY!

I also had a short story published in an anthology, set myself up to take on some freelance gigs, and am currently knee-deep in writing my next book. Back in March I released a free lockdown-themed Jack Hansard story (you can read it here); in the summer I launched my email newsletter; and in November I had a lot of fun writing up a Virtual Bookshop Tour to support independent bookshops.

So on a purely personal level, it’s been a good year. My family has remained happy and healthy, and we know how lucky we’ve been throughout everything that’s happened over the last twelve months.

I’m going to try to give my blog a bit more attention in 2021. I’m not a natural blogger, so I tend to only post when I have newsworthy updates or some advice which I think others may find useful. I really enjoyed doing the Virtual Bookshop Tour, so I might aim for more pieces like that in the future.

If you want to receive more regular updates from me, you can subscribe to my newsletter here. I email once a fortnite with a short update about what I’m working on – sometimes with links to free books and recommendations from other indie authors. (Subscribers also receive a copy of Deus Ex Machina, another fun little story set in Hansard’s occult world.)

My goals for 2021? Keep submitting stories; publish Book 2; enjoy more time with my family.

I hope the new year has found you well, and that it brings us all a little more joy than the previous one. Remember to take care of yourself, and the people around you.

Happy New Year, folks.

My 2019 Submissions Round-Up

December 31, 2019July 2, 2020Georgina Jeffery2 Comments

new year pixabay

As we stand on the edge of another new year, it seems like a good time to look back on what I’ve managed to achieve in 2019. I’ve always found it helpful when other writers share their submission stats, so I’d like to do the same here.

2019 is the first year I’ve gone on the attack with submissions, so to speak. It’s fair to say I was lackadaisical about it up til last January: I wrote the odd short story and pined for somewhere it could live. No more.

No more staring wistfully at submission guidelines like a far-off lover. No more dreaming of having a story perfect enough to present as a token of my affection. Get it written. Get it sent. Then get it sent again. And again. And again.

So how many times did I get a story sent in 2019?

Number of Submissions: 17

Submissions Declined: 13

Submissions Accepted: 3

(No response received: 1)

Only 17? Dang, it felt like a lot more.

This comprised 11 shorts sent to various literary magazines, websites, and anthology open calls. Some were written specifically for the submission call; many were not; many were tweaked. They ranged from weird horror to dystopian sci fi and contemporary fantasy. In some cases I waited mere days to receive a rejection; in at least one it took six months. 3 out of 17 stories accepted doesn’t sound bad, though.

Oh, wait. Let’s look closer.

2 of those were stories accepted by Storymart, a little start-up that never actually got its feet off the ground. (Here’s the post I wrote about it back when I was deciding whether or not to submit to them.) Storymart’s creator ‘pressed pause’ on the project in July 2019 due to what sounds like a very stressful personal situation.

I hope that things improve for them, and that eventually they’ll be able to return to Storymart in the future. I remain incredibly grateful that they thought my work was good enough to become part of their catalogue, and also that for the story they rejected they provided some very helpful feedback on it – practically gold dust!

The other Accepted Story I only heard about a couple of weeks before Christmas. It’s early days yet so I can’t share details, but all being well, I’ll have my first short story ‘officially’ published in an anthology next year.

I’m so excited! I get a paycheck from it and everything.

(I know, I know, I shouldn’t still measure my worth as a writer by whether or not I’m being paid… but it feels good to say it, damn it!)

So I’m ending the year feeling pretty good. 17 submissions isn’t as many as I’d like, but it’s been a busy year. I was pregnant for half of it, and the other half I’ve been dealing with the result. And whatever the number, any progress is good progress. That said…

Goal for 2020: Beat that number.

I know what I’m doing now, and pressing that ‘Send’ button is no longer such a monumental task. If you’ve been submitting this year, I hope things have improved for you too. And if not, we’ve all got next year to work on it.