short fiction submissions

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OY!  A non-encouraging rejection from a major house, the second rejection I’ve gotten from them.  I think I’m just shooting a little too high maybe.  Maybe I’m not established enough, maybe I’m not talented enough, maybe my style is not refined enough, maybe the things I write about are not epic enough…but I think I’m not going to submit to this major magazine again until I have some more credits to my name.  I suppose you can’t just come running out of the gate aiming for the gold medal or the pulitzer or whatever…well maybe some people can, but not me. 

I’m usually pretty good at letting these roll off me, but this one came at an inconvenient time…a time when my defenses were low…and so it seemed to hurt a little bit extra.

I’ve got one more piece out there in this rejection phase…and am still sitting on half a dozen, four of which are almost ready and two of which are not even close but are showing potential…

It’s funny, this magazine that just rejected me, in their most recent issue they had the most amazing short fiction piece I’ve probably ever read – really powerful – the kind of piece that makes you wish you’d written it, and short of that, the kind of piece that makes you wish you had the money to option things, and also the kind of piece that makes you wonder why you think you can compete. But they also had in the same issue a piece that I found to be totally pedestrian.  Totally not better than what I have submitted to them in the past (certainly not this time around) so it’s frustrating.  I suspect it will always be frustrating…successful or not…though I’d prefer to go with successful…

Updated Stats:  0 for 4 in Phase II with one submission still out there being considered and about six still prepping for submission (soon?).

Hmmm.  Woke up today to a rejection email on my blackberry.  Not going to go down as one of my favorite ways to wake up.  It’s certainly not as good as Paul’s wake up to acceptance.  I like this piece that just got rejected, I think it’s pretty strong, for the first time I was actually surprised about a rejection (e.g. the piece was strong and the publication seemed right for it and not TOO respectable and difficult to get in to). 

Anyway, rejection rejection rejection…see they always come in painful little clumps.  I guess I should expect a few more this month.  I’ve got three more piece out there (one WAY overdue from McSweeney’s) awaiting rejection, and a handful of stories – between four and six that should go out for submission in the next month.  I’m going to try to stay focused on that…

Ah, rejection, how I love thee…wait, that’s not right.

I got my official rejection from McSweeney’s yesterday for their Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award.  It was a longshot anyway, but I’m still disappointed.

That leaves four short fiction submissions still out there for consideration, including one very overdue one to McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern.  With rejections having a nasty habit of coming in little painful groups I’ll be steeling myself up…

So I’ve submitted a “Phase II” round of short fiction submissions, sad that at 32 I’m only in Phase II, but what can you do? Nothing that’s what. A few more contests and publications I’m interested in open up for submissions in September and so I’ll be adding a few to the pile, but in the meantime cross your fingers for all my precious little short fiction babies out there in the big bad world…

There are four submissions currently out, two that were submitted in May and two submitted in August. There are another two to four that will go out for submission in September. Eight would be a good ratio – if I can get to eight we’ll be looking good. And then, depending on how long it takes me to finish a decent polish on my novel redraft and how long it takes my excellent readers to read and comment, and how long it takes me to revise (that’s a lot of “how longs”) I hope sometime in early winter to begin seriously re-querying agents for my novel. And so we will then be able to begin the sad and desperate ‘Query Letter Tracking Posts’ again…

Actually, technically I still have one agent that requested a full that never got back to me…maybe I should email them…hmmm…

When it rains, it pours.  I just got a rejection today, not really for short fiction but rather for a “list” that I submitted to McSweeney’s for their McSweeney’s Internet Tendency Lists.  I got a nice little email from them, but it was a rejection all the same.  Why is it rejections come in little painful groups?  It’s like the rejection people see you exposed and vulnerable from a previous recent rejection and think, “oh, now’s a good time to let her know…STRIKE NOW!”  It’s so frustrating.  So debilitating.  And I am barely in the infant stages of rejection…*sigh*

The official count, revised from yesterday to reflect this submission that I forgot about:  1 for 6

From Ploughshares.  Whee!

I had little hope for this piece as it’s a bit aggressive, but hey, you never know.  That leaves me with one piece still out there (to McSweeney’s) which I’m already kind of assuming is a no.  It’s time to get off my ass and start resubmitting and revising where necessary.  I got my copy of Tin House’s Fantasitical Women issue Saturday and spent all day kicking myself, because I had a really good piece for this, but missed the deadline. Ah, big sigh.

Anyway, here’s the official count:  1 for 5

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#34 Transparency: Stories. Frances Hwang. Short Fiction. 3.5 Stars

These stories were haunting and beautiful overall, and while they did not link together directly as some collections do they had a similar tone and flavor that gave the collection a cohesiveness that was enjoyable. As usual with short fiction I was moved by some pieces more than others, but unlike many collections I read all of the stories were strong.

The Old Gentleman, Blue Hour, Transparency, and Sonata for the Left Hand were my favorites, but I can’t quite pinpoint why as they were written with the same beautiful ease as the other. I suppose I just connected a little more to the characters or what they were going through in these pieces than the others. I did feel that Hwang’s longer pieces were her stronger works, Remedies, The Modern Age, and Giving a Clock were for me the weaker of the bunch and also by far the shortest works.

Ironically enough the two last pieces in the collection, Intruders and Garden City, I enjoyed immensely, but they ended abruptly for me and left me wanting in a kind of desperate way. Perhaps this is what Hwang intended, but I confess to being disappointed considering how satisfied I felt with my favorites in the collection. In fact I feel and felt most connected to the character Susan in Intruders and was moved by this story above all others, but ultimately I felt a bit let down, but considering the nature of the piece, perhaps that is what Hwang wanted in me.

Overall a strong collection, that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys short fiction. 3.5 stars.

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i’ve decided to track my short fiction rejections (and acceptances – should i be so lucky).  i just got a rejection today :(  so i guess it’s time to start tracking.

i had previously submitted two pieces total in my life.  last year i submitted two and got one rejection (from Swink) and one acceptance, from Pearl.  my piece “I Hate The French” will be published in Pearl #38 (winter 2008).

this year i submitted 4 more and i just got my rejection today for The Threepenny Review. the piece is titled, “Adele, The Unremarkable”.  it is a bit of a departure piece for me, so it is disappointing (rejections always are i suppose) but i still have several pieces (3?) out there, so i can’t be too sad yet. besides, my novel is out there in the world as well, and i’m sending all my energy to that one right now, no energy left to worry about the poor short fiction bits…

so here’s the official rejection count:  1 for 3

here’s a link to Pearl Magazine:  http://pearlmag.com/

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