
Where in the world is my payment? (April short fiction submissions update)
After the whirlwind of submitting to at least one market per day during the month of March, April has been a relatively “slow” month for my submissions. Here’s a short breakdown of how things have been going with my short fiction.
I submitted to 25 markets this month, and have already received rejections from three of those.
Three of the rejections I received this month were from lit mags that only accept ONE SUBMISSION PER YEAR, so I can’t submit anything new to those outlets until 2020. (I still think this is a crazy policy, but it is what it is. It also seems more common in Canadian lit mags, although that may just be a coincidence.)
I still have 50 pieces currently in circulation, but all of the Big Deal Lit Mags That Pay (and that don’t charge reading/submission fees) I submitted to way back on January 3rd have now replied with rejections. This was what I was expecting, but I always like to aim high.
I am still waiting for a publication date and payment from an outlet that accepted a piece in January. The editor is encouraging me to send more work, but since I haven’t received payment for my first piece yet, I am still holding off. (Meanwhile, other authors I know who have submitted pieces and received acceptances from this outlet have already been published and paid, so I am starting to wonder what the deal is. Are they holding onto my piece for a specific reason or date? The editor isn’t giving me any clues, despite my emailing to ask what’s up, which is frustrating.)
I received an acceptance this month from Puerto del Sol, and they are going to publish my piece in December! I am super excited about this, and eager to see the piece in print. Only 8 months to wait…

In summary
There has been good progress, but everything in the publishing world moves slowly.
I’ve submitted a total of 175 times so far this year, which seems like a lot, but a lot of markets also have an April 30th cutoff for submissions, so I feel like I could have done more.
Currently, I’m off to decide whether I should take a chance on snail-mailing a submission to an Irish publication (they categorically refuse to accept submissions electronically), and then I’m going to try to finish up a piece I started yesterday that I want to get in for a deadline this evening.
Wish me luck!

