My Submission Challenge is to edit and send out a brand new story each month and then to resubmit that story when it is rejected. Preferably within 24 hours. And to keep it circulating until it’s been rejected at least 20 times. (Preferably more.) Eventually I will have more than 12 stories constantly circulating until they find a home.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve sent out ten unique stories and resubmitted one that was rejected.

In the last couple of weeks three stories have been rejected for inclusion in a publication, including an just recieved Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future. Even though it is not technically a rejection, I still need to find a home for it since it will not be published by them.

This is the hardest part of submitting: sending it out again. And it doesn’t really matter the quality of the market. A rejection from a top market damages my confidence in the story just as much as an insignificant market’s rejection. I’m sure this is part of why Dean urges us to send to top markets and not to self-reject. And also why he suggests making it into a game where you lose points for stories that are not submitted.

I have some other writing to do today, but once I’ve done what I need to, I’ll send out the three stories: “I am Libitina” (ancient Alexandrian assassin); “The Dead Can’t Feel This Pose” (Yoga Fantasy); and “Double Exposure” (Time Travel in the Arctic). They’re all good stories that deserve a home.

One of my friends says that the normal success rate for submission is about 1/100. That is, you can expect to place a story every 100 times you submit or resubmit. It’s long odds, but not impossible. Of course, my only chance to win is to play the game.

I hope you are also putting yourself out there, playing the game, and that your points are mounting. Be well, friends!