January 2023 Recap
Stormy looking remarkably well lit!
By the numbers:
Stories out at the beginning of the month: 83
Acceptances received: 2
Rejections received: 45
Stories withdrawn: 1
Resubmissions: 32
New Submissions: 4
Stories out at the end of the month: 71
This month has been a little on the slower side for submissions, but I also haven’t had a ton that has come back my way. My two acceptances are still unannounced because I don’t have contracts for them yet, but it’s a flash fiction piece and a short story. My four finished pieces in January include one poem, two flash fiction pieces, and a short story.
I finished the first drafts of wolf and Munchausen, and wrote my five flash fiction pieces (one of which has been submitted). The micro fiction piece fell off my plate, as that contest seems to have ended. And my completed poem, other flash fiction, and short story were my additional pieces for the month. I also completed my reviews for three fiction books and two craft books (though not all of those have been posted yet) and worked through the section of Stephen Fry’s poetry book. I beta read my friend’s novel, proofread my collection, and worked on promo for my next collection, as well as prepping newsletters. I also wound up with a proofread on another novel and the beginning of some line editing for another project.
The main change to my plans is that I’m currently working my way through The Wayward Writer by Ariel Gore and completing the exercises within. There are 78 exercises, enough for a year and a half of weekly exercises. I’ve already scheduled a couple of breaks for myself when I’m traveling, so it will take me just over a year and a half to work through all of it. But so far, it’s been very productive, leading to the bonus short story in January and the start of another short story (that I’ll finish this week).
In February, I plan to:
- Draft a new short story (seance)
- Start drafting a second short story (cyborg)
- Revise wolf and Munchausen
- Write two more flash pieces for the online contest and a third flash for another contest
- Begin revisions on the earliest contest flash pieces
- Create the cover for my sci-fi collection, due out in April
- Release The Sidewalk Diverges
- Review a short story and two novels
- Read another craft book
- Do the next section of Stephen Fry’s poetry book
- My newsletter and a couple for DefCon One
- Freelance editing (the above-mentioned line editing and possibly a proofread on an academic book)
This is a ton, but it’s doable. (One of the things I’ve been doing lately is looking at my weekly schedule and putting time estimates on each item. So even when it seems like I’ve got a huge load, I can generally figure out about 15 hours of work for the week, which is doable at two or three hours a night on three weeknights, maybe an hour on some Fridays, and a few hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays.)
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