Aeryn Rudel's Blog, page 16

Submission Statement: October 2021

October is no more. Let’s dive in.

October 2021 Report CardSubmissions Sent: 5Rejections: 5Acceptances: 0Publications: 1Further Consideration/Shortlist: 1

After sending 18 submissions in September, I slowed down a lot, and only sent 5 in October. Some of that is due to the freelance work I’ve been doing, some of it is a lack of new material (recently remedied), and some of it is plain old burnout. Regardless, I ended the month with 94 total submissions for the year, and I’ve already added...

A Week of Writing: 10/25/21 to 10/31/21

The final week of October has come and gone. Here’s how I did.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote is comes from Carol Leifer. 

“As a writer, the worst thing you can do is work in an environment of fear of rejection.”

—Carol Leifer

Like last week, I’ve used this quote before, but, come on, I’ve been doing this weekly for like three straight years, so it was bound to happen. Anyway, I really like this quote because it’s so right now for me. It’s been a rough year for submissions, with lots of re...

Aeryn’s Archives: Dead by Dawn (Dungeon #176)

Been a while since I’ve done one of these, but since I just finished a 5E adventure for Privateer Press, I thought I’d delve back into my gaming career and what might be the most well known thing I’ve done in that arena. This is not to say I wrote some groundbreaking, game-changing material that’ll be remembered forever. What I did was write an adventure about zombies that, to my amazement, folks still talk about. So, let’s look at Dungeon #176 and my adventure within, Dead by Dawn. 

Dead by Da...

A Week of Writing: 10/18/21 to 10/24/18

One more week with my nose to the writerly grindstone. Here’s how that looks.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote is comes from Richard Bach. 

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” 

– Richard Bach

Yeah, I know I’ve used this one before, but it’s been a tough year, and these words of wisdom resonate with me more than ever. I can’t deny I’ve had some success in writing, and though I often feel like Sisyphus pushing that boulder up a hill, I need to sometimes look back at what I ha...

Weeks of Writing: 9/27/21 to 10/18/21

Got a little behind on these, so here’s three-weeks of writerly doings.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote is comes from Carl Sandburg. 

“Beware of advice–even this.” 

– Carl Sandburg

The writing world abounds with folks giving advice. Hell, I do it all the time right here on this blog. Thing is, especially as it pertains on how and what to write, a lot of advice is not all the useful. When you start out as a writer, you tend to listen to all of it. Anyone with any kind of legitimate experience...

Sim-Sub Stats: Response Times

Hey, let’s talk about simultaneous submissions again. Sim-subs are always a hot topic in writerly circles, but let’s start with a quick definition if you’re new to the ol’ submission game. A simultaneous submissions is simply when you send a story to two or more publishers at the same time. If one publishers accepts the story, you immediately send a polite withdrawal notice to the others. Thing is, not all publishers accept sim-subs. There are multiple reasons (some quite valid) as to why a publ...

Submission Statement: September 2021

September is no more, but it was a good month in submission land. Let’s take a look.

September 2021 Report CardSubmissions Sent: 18Rejections: 15Acceptances: 2Publications: 0Further Consideration: 0

This might be the most subs I’ve ever sent in a single month. I’ll have to go back and check that. Anyway, a lot of stories went out the door, and, well, a lot of them came back. I did manage a pair of acceptances, which is great, and it rescued my year from the title of worst ever. Now it’s j...

A Week of Writing: 9/20/21 to 9/26/21

The last full week of September was a busy one. Here’s how I did.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote is about rejection for reasons that will soon be clear. It comes from novelist James Lee Burke. 

“Every rejection is incremental payment on your dues that in some way will be translated back into your work.” 

– James Lee Burke

Well, I definitely paid my dues last week. It was one of the rougher rejection weeks I’ve had in some time, and these days it takes some doing for a rejection to get me do...

600 Submissions: By the Numbers

Yesterday, I sent my 600th submission since I’ve been tracking them through Duotrope, a period of roughly nine and a half years. I always take a deep dive into the numbers when I hit these little milestones, so that’s what we’re doing today. Here’s what 600 submissions looks like.

Submissions by Year

I’ve been submitting regularly for almost ten years, and I’ve tracked each and every submission through Duotrope. Here’s how many subs I sent year by year.

2012: 62013: 162014: 382015: 462016: ...

A Week of Writing: 9/13/21 to 9/19/21

September is shaping up to be halfway decent month. Here’s week three.

Words to Write By

Another quote about revision. This one is from author Henry Green. 

“The more you leave out, the more you highlight what you leave in.”

― Henry Green

I’m at the place in the revision of Hell to Play where I’m gonna leave out a lot. As I’ve said before, I tend to get really talky and redundant in the middle of my novels, and I desperately need to fix that in the current one. I expect to lose five, maybe ten t...