A Game For the Patient

I have a story I sent to a magazine at the end of September. I got an email in late October saying there was a hold on it, as it was promising and was being put on a shortlist for consideration. I got an email today saying that the shortlists have been finalized, and that my story’s still on the shortlist. The email said they were hoping to have a decision on everything by the end of the year… hoping, but no guarantees.

And I’m not complaining. There are faster markets, but most of them aren’t. Slush piles are just, you know, very big. Writing takes patience, but submission takes even more. Oh, so much, it takes.

That said, I need to spend tomorrow evening in my office, printing off all the stories I plan to send out to various mags, so that I can send them by the end of the month. I have a pile waiting to go out, but it’s an electronic pile, and once the pile is printed, it’ll stand a much better chance of actually going out the door. At least I’ve printed my address onto a bunch of SASEs. That’s a big start. Now there’s absolutely no excuse not to start sending out stories. And waiting. And collecting rejection slips.

2 thoughts on “A Game For the Patient

  1. Best of luck with that, Gord! I really hope they choose yours. But even if they don’t, don’t lose the enthusiasm you’ve got in this post.

    I wish I had your drive. One of these days I will get off my butt and start submitting stuff.

  2. Well, if they don’t, I have the honor of almost having been published in a very good magazine. And a good chance elsewhere. It’s all about knowing you can get published, even if in particular instances you don’t happen to be. One thing I learned recently is that editors’ taste can cause them to pass on a perfectly good story that another magazine would jump at… and that sometimes, taste can be inexplicable. (As I sometimes think to myself when thumbing through major SF magazines.)

    Thanks for the encouragement!

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