Aeryn Rudel's Blog, page 51

Rejection Records Update

You may recall a recent post where I listed some of my favorite rejection achievements and records. These dubious accomplishments, however, are subject to change as I trudge ever forward in my quest for rejectomantic greatness. So, without further ado, here are two records that have recently fallen to new challengers.

Most Rejections before Publication: 18 and counting (old record: 17)

Yep, the old story has fallen to a new challenger, the much beleaguered “Story R,” whose plight is further d...

The Common Form Rejection Revisited

One of the first posts on this blog was about the common form rejection. In the intervening two years and change, my thoughts have changed some, and I find I have more to say about what they usually mean.

First, as a refresher, what is a common form rejection? Well, it’s the basic, boilerplate communication you’re likely to get from most publishers when they decide not to publish your story. They come in all shapes and sizes but tend to use a lot of the same language and phrases. Here are som...

One-Hour Flash: Fairy Bad Behavior

Time for another one-hour flash story. If you’re unfamiliar with this series, these are 1,000-word stories I wrote in one hour for a writing contest/exercise. I’ve done a lot of these exercises, and sometimes those stories go on to bigger and better things, like getting published. The others wind up here.

This is an urban fantasy story that centers around an agency called the BFA (the Bureau of Fae Affairs), which I’ve used in a bunch of stories. One of these days, I might try and write somet...

Close Encounters: The Shortlist Letter Revisited

There has been a definite theme to my submission endeavors in 2017. I’ve received more shortlist letters this year than I have in years prior. So, it got me thinking, how close am I actually getting when one of my stories is shortlisted? Well, a market that recently sent me a shortlist letter answered this question.

First, here’s the shortlist letter I mentioned above:

Thank you again for your submission. We really like this story and would like to add it to our short list, if that is okay wi...

Submission Statement: October 2017

October was a slightly more productive month. I sent out more submissions than what I’ve been averaging, and I finished some new stories that’ll be going out soon. I also expanded into a new genre, mystery/crime, which will certainly be reflected on these monthly tallies in the near future.

Branching out with a Bullet

When it comes to short stories, I primarily write horror with occasional forays into dark urban fantasy. Those two will likely always be my jam, so to speak, but there’s another genre that has long intrigued me, one that is a close cousin to both horror and urban fantasy. Yep, I’m talking about mystery and its many sub-genres (crime, thriller, noir, hard-boiled, suspense, etc.).

Many of my stories feature elements that would be right at home in the mystery/suspense genre, but the speculative...

The Oft-Rejected Story: A Rejectomantic* Analysis

*Adj. 1. rejectomantic – relating to or associated with the dubious practice of rejectomancy; “a desperate rejectomantic analysis”

My current record-holder for most rejections is a story called “Paper Cut,” which was published after a whopping 16 no-thank-yous, though it’s picked up another as a reprint, bringing the total to 17. Since that one was eventually published, it’s not a good example for this post, so I’ll turn to the runner-up—we’ll call it “Story R”—which currently sits at 16 reje...

8 Rejection Records & Other Dubious Achievements

I originally published a post titled 6 Rejection Records & Other Dubious Achievements back in June of 2016, and wouldn’t you know it, I’ve broken just about every one of those records in the last year and change. I thought I’d revisit these records, update them, and add a couple new “firsts” and “bests” to the list.

1) Fastest Rejection: 10 minutes (old record: 2.5 hours)

Yep, you read that right. Ten minutes. I have the time stamps on the emails to prove it. How does that happen, you ask? No...

Rejection Letter Rundown: Even Good Stories Get Rejected

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time,  you’ve certainly heard me say that a rejection does not (necessarily) mean you wrote a bad story. In fact, it can mean you wrote a good story that was rejected for a bunch of reasons you simply can’t control. Sometimes an editor might tell you your perfectly good story was rejected for one of those beyond-your-control reasons I mentioned above. In my experience, this type of rejection is pretty rare. I’ve never received one, and to write t...

Tales from the Editor’s Skull – Interview with Howard Jones

Goodman Games is about to unleash a brand-new sword-and-sorcery magazine on the world called Tales from the Magician’s Skull. The first issue is filled with old-school pulpy goodness written by authors who know the genre well (including yours truly). I recently spoke with Howard Jones, the editor-in-chief of Goodman Games’ latest venture, and he was kind enough to answer some questions about the magazine and the current Kickstarter campaign to support it.

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1) Okay, give us the skinny on Tales...