[Process]
[process] A few comments on acceptances and rejections
Yesterday afternoon, I sent a story to market. Yesterday evening, it was accepted. (No formal announcement yet, because I don’t have the all-clear from the editor, but I will soon.) I tweeted both events more or less in realtime, which sparked some questions.
Likewise, I mentioned recently on my blog that my acceptance rate was a function of the terrain of my career. That also sparked some questions.
So here’s a little analysis from the point of view of an author who’s transitioning from early career to mid-career. Since the beginning of 2008, I have sold 25 pieces of short fiction solo, and eight collaboratively, six with
A preliminary look at the data suggests my self-cited 1:3 ratio of acceptances to rejections was in fact pessimistic. Looking only at my solo work, my ratio is slightly worse than 1:1. 1:3, I now realize, is my lifetime ratio. Also, these days, with rare exceptions, almost everything I write sells by the second submittal.
However, these statistics are significantly colored by the fact that I largely write short fiction to invitation. I believe I only wrote two spec pieces in 2007 and 2008 combined. I’ve written more spec pieces this year, about four, but almost entirely as a function of doing exploratory backstory or character development for my several novel continuities — Green, Mainspring and Flowers have all seen spec shorts written. (The collaborative work tends more to being spec, because the impulse that drives it somewhat different.)
So even my 1:1.2 ratio of acceptances to rejections reflects the fact that relatively few of my stories enter open slush. I still get rejected from invited markets about 1 out of every 3 or 4 times, for the very same reasons open slush gets rejected. Suitability, level of craft, editorial/reader appeal, too close to other work already acquired, wrong length, phase of the moon, etc. On the flip side, sometimes I’ll send an editor two, three or four stories on an invite, and suggest they pick the one they like. (I don’t recommend doing that unless you know the editor’s process rather well, or have queried that this is acceptable.) By definition, I’m creating rejections when I follow that pattern.
All of this is very different from five or six years ago, when the vast majority of my submittals were throwing it over the wall into open slush, and hoping to make a hit. The meaning of my rejections has changed considerably, along with the pattern and significance of my submittals. Of course, it has never hurt that my particular psychology is such that rejections don’t stress me much in any case. They’re just another form of editorial response, I note and file them, then do something else.
Posted: 6:02 am Tue October 06 2009 |
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Meran
October 6th, 2009 at 9:42 amAbout Mainspring: I followed the Mainspring tag to a review on Escapement. I found I agreed with the reviewer on the first half, but not the rest. I enjoyed each character’s path through the novel (and the plotline) knowing you’d bring them together. I did like the character development better for Escapement than for Mainspring, but then each novel’s premise is, and should be, different.
I have two questions for you:
1. At the Wall: wouldn’t people who live there or frequent the area, sometimes see, feel, and/or hear the gears that interlock into the sprockets that must be built into the top of the Wall? It’s not just a geographical division between hemispheres, surely.
2. A question from a selfish reader: At what stage is Pinion? Has it, hopefully, been already submitted to the publisher?
This is a very interesting series of novels, even if I wasn’t a Steampunk fan. Keep up the good work!
Jay
October 6th, 2009 at 9:49 amHi, Meran. I’m sorry I missed the art opening!
Appreciate the comments. As to your questions.
1. Yes. Perception of the gears from a distance is alluded to somewhat, at least in Mainspring, and the up close experience is right on the page. But remember, the Wall is HUGE, so a person could be born, live a long life, and die on the Wall without ever getting close to the top.
2. PINION has been written, submitted, copy edited and everything. I’ve even seen cover art (it’s really nice, and fits beautifully with the other two books), though I don’t have permission yet to release it on the blog. My next step is galley edits, probably this month or next. Release will be next April. And watch my blog, there will certainly be some ARC giveaways.