Hodderscape Open Submission Window

[chopper]

oh no, the doubt never entirely disappears, but i figure if i don't big myself up nobody else will...

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I bet there's many others, who feel the same.

Possible some are best selling and there are starving unpublished rubbish authors in a garret convinced totally of their greatness. It's hard to be perfectly objective and easy to be objectionable.

 

[Serendipity]

I see we have a late incoming report or two (depending on whom you believe - Boneman or ctg - I'm assuming ctg is right)

So the role of honour for chrons currently stands at:

Ray McCarthy - 3 submissions
David Evil Overlord - 1 submission
Jo Zebedee - 1 submission
Chopper - 1 submission
ctg - 1 submission
Jarshen - 1 submission
Mouse - 1 submission
HareBrain - 1 submission
Alc - 1 Submission
Kerrybuchanan - 1 submission
AnyaKimlin - 1 submission
MemoryTale - 1 submission
vgunn - 2 submissions
prizzley - 1 submission
Gonk the Insane - 1 submission
anthorn - 1 submission
Serendipity - 2 submissions
Boneman - 2 submissions

A total of 23 submissions our of 1455 (or 1.58%)

Good Luck Everyone

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

1.58% of all submissions are from us? Wow! Great to be a part of that.

Not much more than a year ago, before I joined Chrons, I was a new writer, writing and submitting in a vacuum. It really is wonderful to be a part of this group now, and to know I'm not alone anymore.

 

[ctg]

I'm assuming ctg is right

I guess you didn't get the reference. So, you'll have to make another list and take one off, because Boneman is my editor. He made to submit, while my head has been heading another direction with First Interview.

 

[Serendipity]

I guess you didn't get the reference. So, you'll have to make another list and take one off, because Boneman is my editor. He made to submit, while my head has been heading another direction with First Interview.

Many thanks for the update, ctg - I like erring on the side of optimism, it's what makes me so cheerful!

So the role of honour for chrons currently stands at:

Ray McCarthy - 3 submissions
David Evil Overlord - 1 submission
Jo Zebedee - 1 submission
Chopper - 1 submission
ctg - 1 submission
Jarshen - 1 submission
Mouse - 1 submission
HareBrain - 1 submission
Alc - 1 Submission
Kerrybuchanan - 1 submission
AnyaKimlin - 1 submission
MemoryTale - 1 submission
vgunn - 2 submissions
prizzley - 1 submission
Gonk the Insane - 1 submission
anthorn - 1 submission
Serendipity - 2 submissions
Boneman - 1 submissions

A total of 22 submissions our of 1455 (or 1.51%)

Good Luck Everyone!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

VERY Much better odds than Lotto

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

VERY Much better odds than Lotto

It's sort of Lotto done on merit. Imagine the folks who run the Lotto going round to people's houses and deciding which ones were the most talented and deserving before doing the draw.

Come to think of it, there's probably a good reason why I've never won on a Lotto ticket!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

It's not entirely just merit. Some really "good" stuff doesn't easily get published. some stuff, that IMO is a waste of good trees is successful. Sometimes (often?) publishers pick stuff that doesn't do well. Only a fraction of their choices are really successful.

 

[HareBrain]

Hmm, they said they'd be responding in the order in which they logged them. Mine was logged at lunchtime on the first day, and no response yet. Did loads of people get them in as soon as they opened, I wonder?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'm half watching on AW too and no one seems to have had a response yet.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

It seems likely (to my ignorant and inexperienced mind) that they'd try to get rid of the obvious fails first to clear the decks, in order of logging, maybe ask for a couple of fulls if they really stand out from the crowd, or are already known authors, then filter the rest until they have a handful of promising manuscripts. At least, that's probably what I would do. Which means it's probably a bad idea! There will surely be some that are really obviously disasters and some that just scream "Publish me! I'll sell like hot cakes!".

 

[Boneman]

Yeah, I put that scream on my submission, Kerry. Hope it helps...

 

[Juliana]

"Publish me! I'll sell like hot cakes!".

Which is sort of weird, as you'd think hot cakes would be inconvenient. Surely a properly cooled and judiciously frosted cake would be preferable? But then, "I'll sell like a properly cooled and judiciously frosted cake" doesn't quite have the same ring to it...

I'm sitting on the sidelines cheering you all on, by the way. (and possibly eating Kerry's hot cakes at the same time)

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Did loads of people get them in as soon as they opened, I wonder?

1,433 perhaps

 

[Montero]

1,433 perhaps

I'd bet on a lot on the first day - but seen comments elsewhere about "I only got mine in half an hour before it closed".....
And there was someone in the comments on the page on Hodderscape who got a bit upset that they couldn't submit because it was closed, that the page had said midnight GMT but had actually closed at midnight BST.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I may put my feet up and relax then: mine went in at the eleventh hour and the acknowledgement came after the closing date. I usually just submit and forget, but for some reason this one has got to me and stayed in my mind. Not like me to be checking constantly like this!

Tumbleweed here... But in the meantime I was thinking about this.

During Harper Voyager I was like you are - full of hope (and self-depreciating, slap-worthiness) and could not get it out of mind - especially when it dragged on.

Frankly, this time (and most times) I can't remember who I've submitted to. A few reasons:

I've submitted a lot of times, got tons of rejections and enough yays to make me realise it is a taste thing, and a market thing. It is entirely out of my hands. It is not possible to force the dream in this business, it has to be enough to be moving forwards, and in submitting I've moved forwards. From there, what will be will be.

My motivations are different. One sub is not the be all and end of. If they say no, a different window opens. We all have a different path ahead of us, and this is only one. If it was good enough to sub with consideration, then it's good enough to sub elsewhere.

And because, after a while, the focus becomes exhausted and the only way to keep going is to distract and make it not matter, even when it really, really does. (Sadly, I'mrubbish at that...)

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I found some 22 year old rejections when sorting old papers. People I forgotten I'd ever subbed. so that's nearly twenty years when I should have kept writing and editing and submitting!

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

My oldest rejections are about a year old, because I only started writing in spring 2014!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I have a lovely one from Jonathon Cape to my 14 year old self, telling me to keep writing. Personalised rejection, and I didn't realise there's come a point I'd be praying for one of those.