The Submission Discipline

Image: Umberto Salvagnin

One of my things I decided to pay more attention to this year was keeping up the level of submissions I have out and ensuring they get turned around after a rejection as quickly as possible. It doesn’t always happen, but generally speaking I’ve kept to the discipline, also managing to include more competition submissions into the equation.

And yet my level of acceptances to rejections remains pitiful. The last short story I had published was May 2008 and my percentages read thus: Accepted: 4.86%; Rejected: 86.81%; Pulled (by me): 2.08%; On Submission: 6.25%. Not good reading, other than the fact the frequency of my acceptances HAS increased slightly: 19-May-04; 07-Mar-06; 05-Sep-06; 01-Aug-07; 01-Aug-07; 01-May-08.

It’s almost depressing stuff, but a 4.86% success rate isn’t actually that bad in the world of publishing—I think—but it’s also the reason why I keep on reading short stories, trying to improve on my own writing, keeping up with submissions, and making sure I target the right piece to the right journal. That last one is vital, because no matter how good the piece is, if it’s plain wrong for the venue you are posting it to then it’s a waste of everyone’s time.

I managed to get my lunch away from my desk yesterday. I made it worthwhile and spent it in the canteen crouched over a plate of roast chicken, roast potatoes, mixed veg and gravy. It was delicious and not bad for £2.10!

My sister Binny (she’s a B2) was in town working for the day and was due to head down south for a meeting tomorrow, so I met her in Waverly station for a coffee and a chat after work. We followed the usual Galbraith routine of a meaningless argument followed by hilarious giggling, then I saw her off from platform 8 on the 5.08pm train to Sheffield.

Also “dahn sarf” this week are my parents who are on a 5-day trip to London to celebrate their recent 39th wedding anniversary. I know they have Hairspray booked for Friday evening but other than that they’re just following their noses.

Into the evening and I made the fixes to my photography client’s website, and I DID manage to tick off another biggie from my GDR list simply by dedicating a few straight hours to it. I’d been meaning to put together a new video for YouTube, which would be more of a short and snappy advert for my work that would lead people toward my website. The results of this work can now be seen here: