Aeryn Rudel's Blog, page 48
April 13, 2018
Ranks of the Rejected: Avily Jerome (Havok Magazine)
Today it is my privilege to present an interview with Avily Jerome, the editor for Havok magazine. Avily is an accomplished editor and writer, and she has great advice for authors who want to publish in Havok (or publish in general). She also knows a thing or two about rejection and how to deal with the inevitable reality of “not for us.” My own association with Havok is pretty simple. They’ve published two of my stories, including one in the issue releasing today, which means I’ve twice had...
April 11, 2018
Back to Basics: The Cover Letter
Hey, let’s talk about cover letters again. I see this subject pop up a lot when it comes to submissions. There are a lot of opinions, and my opinion goes something like this: keep it short, keep it simple, and follow the guidelines. Let me show you what I mean.
The Basic Cover LetterIf the publisher doesn’t ask for anything specific in the cover letter, I generally go with the basic letter below. It ticks all the boxes I think editors generally want in a cover letter, and it’s easy to add (o...
April 9, 2018
A Week of Writing: 4/2/18 to 4/8/18
Another week has come and gone, and here are my writing triumphs and failures laid bare for your amusement and edification.
The NovelSo, uh, yeah, I’m like writing this horror novel with a desired goal of 15,000 words a week and a minimum goal of 10,000 words. Well, friends, I didn’t hit either of those numbers, and this week was, to put it bluntly, pretty much shit for novel production. Behold my shame.
Date Day Words Written 4/2/2018 Monday 0 4/3/2018 Tuesday 0 4/4/2018 Wednesday...April 6, 2018
“The Food Bank” & The Arcanist Trio
The Arcanist just published my flash fiction piece “The Food Bank,” and it’s free to read on their site. This is a post-apocalyptic horror story with a dash of sci-fi for seasoning. It’s also got giant bugs in it. Simply click the big bug below to read.
This is my third publication with The Arcanist, and if you write or read speculative flash fiction, you should definitely give them a look. If you’re so inclined, you can check out my previous two stories, “Cowtown” and “Reun...
April 4, 2018
Submission Statement: March 2018
I often start these submission statements with a subtle (or not-so subtle) complaint about my production for the month. Well, not this time. March was a really good month, one of the best of my short story submittin’ career.
March 2018 Report Card
Submissions Sent: 8 Rejections: 7 Acceptances: 3 Publications: 0 Withdrawal: 1Eight submissions is good volume, and that puts me at a total of 35 submissions for the first three months of 2018. I’m also on a good pace for my goal of 100 submissio...
April 2, 2018
A Week of Writing: 3/26/18 to 4/1/18
One more week in the trenches working on various writing projects. Here’s how it all shook out, complete with word count goals, short story sundries, and submission shenanigans.
The NovelAs I said last week, my big project for the moment is a horror novel called “Late Risers.” I’m making pretty good progress, with a weekly goal of 15,000 words, which I often fall short of. Still, I have a minimum do-or-die goal of 10,000 words I can hit pretty routinely. Here’s how I did this week.
Date D...A Week of Writing – 3/26/18 to 4/1/18
One more week in the trenches working on various writing projects. Here’s how it all shook out, complete with word count goals, short story sundries, and submission shenanigans.
The NovelAs I said last week, my big project for the moment is a horror novel called “Late Risers.” I’m making pretty good progress, with a weekly goal of 15,000 words, which I often fall short of. Still, I have a minimum do-or-die goal of 10,000 words I can hit pretty routinely. Here’s how I did this week.
Date D...March 26, 2018
A Week of Writing: 3/19/18 to 3/25/18
Starting a new feature here on the ol’ blog. Every Monday or thereabouts, I’ll update you on the writing I did for the week prior. How many words I wrote on which projects, how many stories I competed, how many I submitted, and so on. The purpose of this is partly to keep myself on track and also to explore my, uh, “process.” So, without further ado, here’s my writing week from Monday, March 19th to Sunday, March 25th.
The NovelMy big project is a horror novel I’ve been working on for a cou...
A Week of Writing – 3/19/18 to 3/25/18
Starting a new feature here on the ol’ blog. Every Monday or thereabouts, I’ll update you on the writing I did for the week prior. How many words I wrote on which projects, how many stories I competed, how many I submitted, and so on. The purpose of this is partly to keep myself on track and also to explore my, uh, “process.” So, without further ado, here’s my writing week from Monday, March 19th to Sunday, March 25th.
The NovelMy big project is a horror novel I’ve been working on for a cou...
March 22, 2018
Even Good Stories Get Rejected
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. You finish a story, and you know it’s just the best damn thing you’ve ever written. Proud of your shiny new word baby, you send it out to a publisher you’re pretty sure will dig it. You wait with breathless anticipation for a few weeks, and then, BAM! The form rejection drops like a ten-ton weight into your inbox. Now what?
Well, sometimes I see authors want to overhaul a story based on that single rejection. A lot of the time, I think that’s a mistake. In my...
