March 2020 Recap
Signs of life out in the world!
By the numbers:
Stories out at the beginning of the month: 144
Acceptances received: 3
Rejections received: 68
Stories withdrawn: 2 (+3)
Resubmissions: 119
New Submissions: 3
Stories out at the end of the month: 186
Rejections are even slower this past month than they were in February, and I’m not sure if that should be attributed to more of my stories being held or *gestures vaguely at everything*. I know my own output has been much lower this past month than in most months, so it stands to reason that editors may also not be progressing through slush as quickly.
I withdrew two submissions, had two non-responsive markets, and one story that never made it to its submission destination. The three new stories were moon and the two revised flash pieces from the flash contest at the beginning of the year.
The three acceptances were for “Fire Bad,” which has already appeared at Page and Spine; “Brick-Red Love,” which will be reprinted in Small Loves; and “To the Underworld” (poem), which will appear in April’s Abyss & Apex.
In March, I finished my briar synopsis and query letter, and sent out a handful of queries. I started editing the Lady Huntsman novella (about halfway through), wrote four new poems, finished revisions on moon and the two flash pieces, edited a hired project, and wrote a book review. I ended up shelving the hostile AI story and haven’t been able to work on the wolf story yet. And my essay research for Unfixed Timelines 2 got derailed when the libraries I intended to do the research at closed for coronavirus social distancing reasons.
In April, I’m planning to:
- Send out more briar queries
- Finish the bulk of the edits on the Lady Huntsman novella
- Start outlining my next novel (currently: Pumpkin Planet)
- Write a flash piece or some poetry
- Revise my four contest poems
- Revise my four remaining contest flash pieces
- Write a new story (Friday)
- Figure out if I can do my Unfixed Timelines 2 research online
- Write two book reviews
It’s a lot on my plate, but I think it’s manageable. I’m working from home, which means no commute time, and I’m trying to maintain some of my writing schedule, when I have the ability to do so. I’m finding I get spurts of hyperfocus, so if I can use them to my advantage, I might get through all of this isolation (with husband and cats and lots of video chatting!).
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