I posted earlier that I’d had nineteen stories published in 2011, and John asked for some particulars. Here they are, in a post that tries to sum up what I -did- in 2011. 
I finished two large fiction projects. The first was a collaboration where the other participant dropped out, and I ended up finishing the book. I would estimate that I wrote between 50-60 thousand words on this, and it went through two sets of revisions. It’s currently being shopped around.
The second was a reworking of an earlier novel into a trilogy. I mapped this out and divvied up the existing content, and finished the first volume, which involved about 70 thousand words of new content. A goal for 2012 is to finish the second volume. It’s currently being looked at by a publisher, and I think it’s the best thing I ever wrote, so I hope to sell it this year.
I did some editing work as well, which I’ll talk about at another time.
Statistics:
Number of submissions: 32 in 2011, which is actually much lower than (imo) it should be, and which I hope to double in 2012
Number of acceptances: 18
Most rejections garnered by an accepted piece: 10 for Flicka, which is a very odd story and ended up appearing in SUBVERSION. Also notable is Whose Face This Is, I Do Not Know, which appeared in Clarkesworld after eight other rejections (clearly I should have sent it to them much earlier, but I was thinking of it as a horror piece)
New stories written (not counting flash, which I did a bad job of tracking):
- A Querulous Flute of Bone – written to spec
- Do The Right Thing – written at an editor’s request, who then turned it down, just rewrote and sent out for the first time
- Five Ways To Fall In Love on Planet Porcelain – currently in circulation
- Logic and Magic in the Time of the Boat Lifts (collaboration with Ben Burgis) – currently in circulation
- Pumpkin Knight – Codex contest story, reworking before it goes anywhere
- Talking in the Night – needs polishing before it goes out
Last year was actually a little unproductive in terms of stories. This year I’ve already finished: 1) a 1000 word piece for a children’s market, 2) “Space Elevator Music” (flash), 3) “Love’s Footsteps,” a S&S piece that I’m reading at Confusion this week and then sending to BCS. I’ve got a slew of half-finished stuff that I’m taking to the con as well, because sometimes I get very productive during my solo time at cons.
In 2011, I pulled one story from a market who had had it way too long and got a nice note from the editor about how the wait would make the pro sale that much sweeter when I got it and letting me know that the more professional the market, the longer I should expect to wait. I moved said market to the top of my “do not submit to these people” list.
Stories that appeared in 2011:
- Aquila’s Ring (Shadows & Light II, 4 previous rejections)
- Bots D’Amor (Abyss & Apex, 3 previous rejections)
- Close Your Eyes (Apex, 2 previous rejections)
- The Coffeemaker’s Passion (Bull Spec, 1 previous rejection)
- Flicka (Subversion, 10 previous rejections)
- The Forbidden Stitch (10 Flash, sold first time submitted)
- A Frame of Mother of Pearl (OSC IGMS, 2 previous rejections)
- Futures (Dream People, 1 previous rejection)
- The Immortality Game (Lightspeed, sold first time submitted)
- Karaluvian Fale (Giganotasaurs, 4 previous rejections)
- *Long Enough and Just So Long (Lightspeed, sold first time submitted)
- Lost in Drowsy Dreams (10 Flash, sold first time submitted)
- Love, Resurrected (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 1 previous rejection)
- Pippa’s Smiles (DSF, 7 previous rejections)
- Long Enough And Just So Long (Lightspeed, 1 previous rejection)
- A Querulous Flute of Bone (Tales from the Fathomless Abyss)
- Swallowing Ghosts (DSF, 3 previous rejections)
- TimeSnip (Basement Stories, 3 previous rejections)
- Whose Face This Is I Do Not Know (Clarkesworld, 8 previous rejections)
- Zeppelin Follies (Crossed Genres, 4 previous rejections)
*This is the story I am pushing for award notice, but other notables are “Whose Face This Is I Do Not Know” and “Love, Resurrected.”
Some notes on my submission process:
I have four criteria for market that help determine whether or not I submit to them, which are pay rate, reply time, whether they take e-subs, and how much notice they get. Something that’s high in one category may compensate for something in another category – Tor.com’s pay rate versus the slow reply time, for example, or the amount of notice F&SF gets versus the pain in the rear nature of printing out a paper submission (it has become the only magazine I’m willing to do this for, though).
Sometimes I send things to a specific market because I wrote it with them in mind. This is what happened with “Clockwork Fairies,” which appeared in Tor.com because the first market turned it down. Occurrences like this are not uncommon. I mention this only to increase my own mystique and make editors more eager to grab my stories when they appear, but I am afraid my prolific nature works against me in this regard.
Thank you for taking time away from your work to give us this insight into how hard you are working. :-} I’m glad to see that even an experienced writer like you has some pieces that are hard to sell, but I’m even gladder to see that you have a bunch of work that you were able to sell on first submission. Congratulations!
And best of luck during the awards season!
I continue to accumulate rejection slips, but at least that is a step ahead of just talking about writing.
If you are sending stuff out, you are ahead of so many people. It’s crucial. When I first started sending stuff out, back when most people didn’t have e-mail, I taped the rejection slips to the wall above my desk. That way each one was a rejection sure, but it was also a new one for the collection.