What is the best attitude for submissions

[TheDustyZebra]

Most of what is written at age seven or eight is crap, yes.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I suspect he meant 7 or 8 years ago.

 

[Cathbad]

They're usually about quality. Most of what's submitted is crap.

I'm not so sure I agree with this.

It seems they are more concerned with marketability (perhaps rightly so) than quality. I note the plethora of independently published stories now available, that are quite readable (if not well edited).

 

[FibonacciEddie]

I have sent out 30/40 queries across my two novels... all rejections... then I self-published... one book was pretty well received... one book was shot in the back of the head and dumped in a landfill round the back of Sainsbury's

my take-away is...

(1)
In order to improve as a writer you really need to make your work available for critique (and you will get the best feedback from someone who knows about writing and is not afraid to make harsh commentary)... I have a couple of people who love to criticise my work

(2)
In order to make a living as a writer you do have to submit to publishers/agents and expect rejection... the statistics are horrendous... I think I heard that many London agents get 50 manuscripts a week, and take 3 or 4 a year... I send the queries with the same attitude as I buy lottery tickets (and as frequently - once per two years)... I have spoken to a few agents in my time and they have all hammered home that marketability/timing is critical (maybe they were just massaging my bruised ego... but I choose to believe them)

(3)
But there is good news!
In order to enjoy yourself as a writer, all you have to do is write... and you can do that by yourself, sitting on the loo, listening to Ethiopian Jazz
So, if you enjoy writing and it helps you make sense of the world... then do it
There will always be a few people (who you don't know) who leave really nice comments

good luck

 

[tinkerdan]

@Brian G Turner once recommended this book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0333714350/?tag=brite-21
From Pitch to Publication by Carole Blake
This is mostly about novels or anthologies; however it contains a wealth of information about the business in general and is an agents eye view of some of the opinions expressed here in the thread. I think that if you can get hold of a copy and browse through it you will find that rejection has several faces or facets and that the last thing you want to do is take it personal.

 

[Edward M. Grant]

Most of what is written at age seven or eight is crap, yes.

A few years ago I found an old school notebook at home. One of the stories I'd written in there when I was nine or ten years old was entertaining enough that I keep meaning to rewrite it and put it up on Amazon: yeah, the grammar was crap and the spelling atrocious, but the actual storyline kept me reading to see what happened next.

As for submissions:

1. Submit to one of the top markets in your genre.
2. Forget about it.
3. If rejected, goto 1
4. When you run out of markets worth submitting to in your genre, upload it to Amazon.

Oh, and never think 'my work is crap, I should start at the bottom of the market.' As one of the top SF editors once said 'rejecting stories is my job, not yours' (or words to that effect).

 

[Phyrebrat]

Telling someone who has suffered depression that 'most of what's submitted are crap' is doing a disservice to mental health. It's a blanket statement that augments anxiety, low feelings and poor self-esteem. That's not going to help anyone get published, reagardless of their talent or ability level.

Positive mental attitude!


pH

 

[Edward M. Grant]

Telling someone who has suffered depression that 'most of what's submitted are crap' is doing a disservice to mental health. It's a blanket statement that augments anxiety, low feelings and poor self-esteem. That's not going to help anyone get published, reagardless of their talent or ability level.

I'm not so sure. From what slush readers at agencies, magazines and publishers have said online, anyone who takes their writing seriously is probably in the top 10% of submissions they receive. The problem is that you typically need to get into the top 0.5% of that market to get published (and that may be more about marketability than writing ability).

 

[Foxbat]

I began submitting stories at age seven or eight years ago. Only last year did I make my first sale. It takes time, and if you're a beginner, you probably suck. But keep trying and maybe, one day, you'll be good enough to sell something.

I had my first short story published in 1993 and still to this day I get more rejections than acceptances (even though the internet makes it much easier to submit). Everybody is different. Some people develop into very good writers over just a couple of years. Others take much, much longer.

Learning from your mistakes is what counts and to do that you either 1) need to emotionally disassociate yourself from your work and look at it with the cold eye of unvarnished honesty, 2) use betas or 3) hope for submission feedback from an editor(don't hold your breath for this one).

 

[RightersBlock]

I'm going to try a writing group at a library for the first time. Everyone there is at least 90 so they should be able to give me some good feedback.

 

[Cathbad]

Everyone there is at least 90 so they should be able to give me some good feedback.

If you can get them before nap time. Excuse me...

SHHNNOOOOOOOOoooorrrre

 

[Juliana]

Lots of great advice, especially regarding getting feedback.

Also, shop around for places to submit. The SFWA list isn't the entire universe for short fiction. (I've heard people say they only submit to the magazines/sites on the SFWA list! Don't limit yourself...) Google open subs. Some authors, like Gwendolyn Kiste and Dale Lowry do regular round-ups of submission calls. Kraxon.com accepts submissions from Chrons authors only. There are plenty of places out there, some paying well, some not so much, and some not at all (but might be good places to gain confidence at).

I've been terrible at submitting short stories over the past few years. So one of my New Year's resolutions was to submit one story per month throughout 2018. Yes, I'm sure I'll get plenty of rejections. But if I don't try and do something with all the stuff piling up on my hard drive, it's just going to sit there forever. And hey, you never know, right? I had an acceptance email yesterday, so there you go: it's worth putting yourself out there.

Good luck!