Ray Daley's Blog, page 4

So This Was October 2022

I’ve made 297 submissions. 284 rejections. 17 acceptances. 1 story being held.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-Sidekicks was accepted by A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Oct 6th ’21. (Not included in the above total)
Bag Of Bones was accepted by 206 Word Stories, Feb 12th ’22
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up was sold to Synthetic Reality Magazine, Feb 15th ’22
PROVISIONAL SALE IF MARKET GOES AHEAD, TO BE LOGGED.
Father, Are You Sleeping? was sold to Dark Recesses Press, Mar 5th ’22.
Dragon Bait was sold to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Mar 20th ’22.
I Hide Behind Cardboard Cliffs And Polystyrene Rocks was sold to Fission, Apr 3rd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies (Co-Author) was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark…. was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
A Fine Body was sold to The Lorelei Signal, May 9th ’22.
Ask For Slim was sold to HyphenPunk, May 17th ’22.
Total Immersion was sold to The Society of Misfit Stories, Jun 22nd ’22.
A Monster Under Every Bed was sold to It Came From Under The Bed, Jul 15th ’22.
The Age Of Chivalry was sold to The Lorelei Signal, Jul 17th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Jul 23rd ’22.
Spun Yarn was sold to Bullet Points, Aug 8th ’22.
The Man Who Borrowed My Clock has been sold to The Colored Lens, Aug 24th ’22.
Breaking Down A Cursed Sandwich has been sold to Never Cheat a Witch, Aug 29th ’22.
The Dragon Readers has been sold to 99 Fleeting Fantasies, Sept 5th 22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Sept 16th 22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Oct 4th 22.
Idiots Of The Underworld was sold to Tales From The Moonlit Path, Oct 6th 22.

CAVEAT:-Be aware, I am now adding stubs for titles which have sold, but I’ve not yet received official permission to announce as sold yet. These are just an aide memoire for me, and my increasingly terrible short-term memory.

There are currently 35 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-

Stranding Room Only was released at Abyss & Apex, Jan 1st ’22.
Bag Of Bones was released at Bag of Bones – 206 Word Stories: A Horror Anthology, 26th Feb ’22. (POEM)
Father, Are You Sleeping? was released at Dark Recesses Press, 16th Mar ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies was released at Stupefying Stories, 8th April ’22. (Co-Author)
Call Back, Any Time! was released at Grandpa’s Deep-Space Diner, 20th Apr ’22.
Dragon Bait was released at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, May 2nd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark… was released at Stupefying Stories, May 27th ’22.
Ask For Slim was released at HyphenPunk, Jun 15th ’22.
A Fine Body was released at The Lorelei Signal, Jul 3rd ’22.
The Age Of Chivalry was released at The Lorelei Signal, Oct 2nd ’22.
The Man Who Borrowed My Clock was released in The Colored Lens, Oct 8th ’22.
Breaking Down A Cursed Sandwich was released in Never Cheat a Witch, Oct 10th ’22.

LESSONS LEARNED:-(This is a new segment, I’ll be adding tips for myself for future blogs.)
Add sales as stubs as soon as those are received. Temp entries until announced then replace with official info.
Add releases when info is received to Shape Of Things To Come, so I don’t forget.
Add stubs to Shape Of Things To Come for unannounced sales.
Create entries for the Submission Challenge each day, as they come in or go out.
I removed the Stories On Hold section as I didn’t want any markets to feel pressure to buy stuff.
I moved the entry for Tuck & Roll because I’m tired of working around its constant delays.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!
Where They Fear To Tread will be released in Jersey Pine Ink’s Trees Anthology, Summer 2022. (DTBC)
I Hide Behind Cardboard Cliffs And Polystyrene Rocks will be released in Fission Vol #2, Nov ’22. (DTBC)
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up will be released in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 9, Late ’22. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to market, possibly late 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to market (not listed in sales yet, possibly late 2022. (DTBC)
A Monster Under Every Bed will be released in It Came From Under The Bed, Jan 1st 2023. (DTBC)
Sidekicks will be released in A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Feb 2023. (DTBC)
Total Immersion will be released in The Society of Misfit Stories, June 2023. (DTBC)
Spun Yarn will be released in Bullet Points, 2023. (DTBC).
The Dragon Readers will be released in 99 Fleeting Fantasies, (DTBC).
Tuck & Roll will be released. (DTBC).

There’s some other stuff coming, I can’t officially talk about it yet. Just know it IS coming.
When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.
Publication of Madam Midnight was pushed back due to illness of the Synthetic Reality Mag editor. That may be delayed by at least 2 months.
A few publications have been pushed back. Some stuff I can’t talk about because they aren’t announced yet.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-Just 1 story finished this month, 2638 words. Stuff has to be finished to count, so there were other things started but WIP. No plans for NaNoWriMo at all.

Sept ’22 Submission Challenge Round-up

Possibly the hardest the challenge has ever been for me. Really tough, mentally. There were many days where I just felt like not bothering and subbing nothing. No idea how I overcame that, but I did. Here’s the breakdown.
____________________________________________

Sept 1st – 3 subs sent out today.
Rooms Full Of Memories to Split Lip, A God’s Day Off to Forge Literary & When Does The Screaming Stop to Dark Recesses (Print).
I’m only going to log challenge submissions & rejections here. Previously I had also logged all the on-going stats, the comings & goings of the month, but I realised there’s no point in doing that as I’ll be doing the normal monthly round-up so why do a thing twice?
I’m happy, I got stuff out to all the markets I wanted to, and it felt pretty easy and good.
3 subs made. 0 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 2nd – 2 subs today.
Illegal Operator to Cosmic Roots & I Made A New Friend Today to Eidetic. A bit of stress doing my Cosmic Roots sub as it’s always a bugger to log in there. I managed eventually.
5 subs made. 0 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 3rd – 3 subs today.
Some Enchanted Evening to Clarkesworld, Welcome To The Death Machine Factory Tour to Into Chaos & Transitional Period to The Dread Machine. Felt fairly easy, I was watching the Taylor Hawkins concert on Youtube so had decent background music.
8 subs made. 0 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 4th – 1 sub today. Should have been 2, but Andromeda Spaceways closed at short notice.
Egress to Apex Magazine.
9 subs made. 0 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.
This is what the challenge is about, being flexible at insanely short notice. I don’t plan these market drop-outs, they happen organically, and we have to be able to react to them at a moments notice. Can you find another market, pick a story for it then get it ready and sent out the same day?

Sept 5th – 2 subs today, but not to one of the listed markets.
Befriend a Robot to Interzone & Reserved For Special Treatment to The Vanishing Point.
I had Taco Bell Quarterly listed, but already have a story there at the moment, also the story going there hasn’t actually been written yet. Fortunately I spotted a tweet from The Vanishing Point who do dark SF & horror and that is pretty much my wheelhouse so I dived right in there.
11 subs made. 0 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.
EDIT, LATER:- No on Befriend A Robot from Interzone.
11 subs made. 1 rejection. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 6th – Another 2 subs today.
Shots Of Repatriated Bastard to Etherea Magazine & Why I Didn’t Escape from New York to Flash Point SF.
I made a sale overnight, but it wasn’t challenge related.
13 subs made. 1 rejection. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 7th – 2 more subs went out today.
Mother Knows Best to Asimov’s & Hush, Hush, The Princess Is Sleeping to Tiny Tales Podcast.
15 subs made. 1 rejection. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.
EDIT:-No on Some Enchanted Evening from Clarkesworld.
15 subs made. 2 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.
Clarkesworld are fairly quick with rejections which generally means they are then available as a spare or back-up market in the event that other markets close at short notices or any other submission issues arise. Interzone fill a similar spot. F&SF used to, not any more.

Sept 8th – 2 subs made today. I had 3 markets listed but had nothing for Analog.
An Tincture Against Forbidden Love to Strange Libations & A Dragon Landed In Central Park to Fractured Lit. No on When Does The Screaming Stop? from Dark Recesses.
17 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 09th – 2 more subs made today. Any day you can make more than 1 sub is a good day as far as I am concerned.
Star-liner Down to StarShipSofa & Going Overboard to Tales From The Radiator.
19 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.
The Queen died yesterday. Telly has gone to shit and will stay that way for the next week, at least.

Sept 10th – Just the one sub went out today. I had 2 markets listed but Archive Of The Odd weren’t confirmed as open & eventually proved not to be.
Bodge Job to Neon.
20 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 11th – 2 subs went out today.
The Ripples Of Time to Shoreline of Infinity & Dungeons, No Dragons to Whetstone.
A few markets have been holding stuff longer than normal, I’m trying my best not to read anything into that. And failing miserably. Whatever happens, happens. It’s out of my control now. All I could do was send the best story which I felt suited the market formatted how they wanted them.
22 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 12th – Actually logging this on the 13th because I somehow forgot? My memory is getting a lot worse than I thought it was. Anyway. I’m fucking here now, so let’s do the damn thing!
2 subs went out today.
A Wizarding World to World Unknown Review & The Burning Towers to The Bureau Dispatch.
I did have a rejection, but it was from last month, so it doesn’t feature for these stats.
24 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 13th – Yep, this is a double entry because I forgot yesterday. Don’t ask. “Of all the things that I have lost, I miss my mind the most.”
3 subs made today.
Not A Matter Of Belief to The Vampericon, The Adventures Of The Amazing Jill, And Otter Bob to Electric Spec & Say Again, Over to Obsolescence.
27 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.
I spent yesterday shifting some stuff around because certain markets were threatening to close early or if full, so not everything was originally listed for today. Vampiricon & Obsolescence were both brought forward so I could beat the rush.

Sept 14th – Two weeks in.
3 subs went out today because I had an extra off the calendar.
Observation Log; Day Shift to Stanchion, Welcome To The Death Machine Factory Tour to Penumbric & The Doppleganger Exchange to Aniko Magazine.
30 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 15th – Pretty much halfway through the month, getting the stories out is starting to feel like a strain. 3 subs went out today.
The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon to riddlebird, Do Bears… to Winter of Wonder & The Solved Equations to Clarkesworld.
I had Interzone Digital listed as one of the markets today, because of the issues I’ve been having through Submission Grinder, I’ve decided I won’t be subbing there again to avoid any further confusion or repetition of stories to different versions of the same market.
33 subs made. 3 rejections. 0 acceptances. 0 holds.

Sept 16th – 3 subs went out today.
Also, good news. My 1st acceptance! And of course, with victory, comes defeat.
No on The Solved Equations from Clarkesworld. They’re back to fast rejections, which is good.
London By Data-tape (Sensorium Version) to FFO, Amy, Alone to Flash Frog & Something Good To Eat to Dose of Dread.
36 subs made. 4 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 17th – Just the one sub went out today. What an absolute fucking joke that was. From pressing send to receiving the rejection, less than 3 minutes.
Things To Do When You’re Undead In Denver to The Dark.
No on Things To Do When You’re Undead In Denver from The Dark.
37 subs made. 5 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 18th – Just the one sub going out again today. More on that shortly. No on Transitional Period from The Dread Machine.
I’ve Been Everywhere, Man to Pyre Magazine. I had Dream Of Shadows scheduled as well, they don’t open until tomorrow so I’ve put them back for then.
EDIT:- A rejection came in late. No on A Dragon Landed In Central Park from Fractured Lit.
38 subs made. 7 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 19th – 3 subs going out today. Because Dream of Shadows wasn’t open yesterday, I bumped them to today.
Dream Journal #4 to Dream of Shadows, Commence With Enthusiastic Dancing to Three-Lobed Burning Eye & Scenario Twelve to Escape Pod.
EDIT:- A couple of late rejections came in. A same dayer (5 hrs 30 mins) on Dream Journal #4 from Dream of Shadows & on Amy, Alone from Flash Frog.
41 subs made. 9 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sep 20th – 2 stories went out today.
Inheriting Grandma’s House to Kaleidotrope & Life Is Grim to Tumbled Tales Anthology. I also managed to get some more stories selected as it was reaching the last few.
43 subs made. 9 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 21st – Another 2 stories went out today.
Also got a lead on a new market, more on that later.
Chancers subbed to F&SF & Hot Dust to Hexagon.
Found a podcast site called Simultaneous Times who cover SF (and are paying) so I’ve slotted them in for a sub on the 23rd. Quite of lot of my stories matched up in Submission Grinder and I am having a chat with them via Twitter also. Hopefully a sale there, perhaps.
45 subs made. 9 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 22nd – 2 more stories went out today.
No on Commence With Enthusiastic Dancing from Three-Lobed Burning Eye.
I bumped Simultaneous Times up a day, to get something there quicker because it looks like they might get a rush in the next few days. I’ve shifted a few markets around. Dreamforge were scheduled for today but as they’re open all month, I moved them. More on that another day.
Pick A Witch to Translunar Travelers Lounge & Ground Control to Simultaneous Times.
47 subs made. 10 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 23rd – The day everything changed.
2 subs went out today.
Here’s what was scheduled. Mythulu (Symbiosis), Crack In The Code (Mocha Memoirs) & Simultaneous Times. What ACTUALLY went out?
Befriend a Robot to Crack in the Code & The Magician to Chrome Baby.
49 subs made. 10 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.
EDIT:-1 rejection came in, it’s always the same isn’t it. You’ve got nice and settled, then you have to do admin.
No on A God’s Day Off from Forge Lit.
49 subs made. 11 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 24th – My sub to Cosmic Roots as been placed “Under Consideration”. This is the 1st time I’ve ever gone further than a form rejection with them. It’s quite scary.
2 stories went out today.
I couldn’t sub to Bump In The Night, as I didn’t qualify.
Idiots Of The Underworld to Tales from the Moonlit Path & Unlucky For Some to Clarkesworld.
Also 2 rejections. No on Inheriting Grandma’s House from Kaleidotrope & Pick A Witch from Translunar Travellers Lounge.
51 subs made. 13 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 25th – Only the 1 sub went out today.
Mission 334; Mannequin World to The Future Fire.
I also had the Icarus Writing Collective listed for today but it turned out their call was themed and my story didn’t fit, neither did I have anything which did.
52 subs made. 13 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.
EDIT:- Also had a rejection come in later. No on Unlucky For Some from Clarkesworld.
52 subs made. 14 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 26th – 2 stories went out today.
Neither were what I’d wanted to send to either market. One was too short, the other didn’t fit them at all.
When Does The Screaming Stop to Nightmare Magazine & A Controlled Situation to Seize the Press.
54 subs made. 14 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 27th – Yes, 3 markets were listed for today. I didn’t have anything for tdotSpec (SF Tarot), so only 2 stories went out.
No on Bodge Job from Neon.
Running With Scissors to Weird Horror Mag & Dial Stuck On Summer to Flash Fiction Podcast.
56 subs made. 15 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 28th – 2 stories subbed today. I only had 1 market listed but pulled another out to boost my numbers.
The Bivouac to Interzone & True Identities to Radon Journal.
58 subs made. 15 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 29th – A heavy day for rejections. 6 in total.
No on An Tincture Against Forbidden Love from Strange Libations, on Running With Scissors from Weird Horror, on The Bivouac from Interzone, on Something Good To Eat from Dose Of Dread, on Egress to Apex Mag & on Observation Log; Day Shift from Stanchion. It was easier just to do a round of rejections then log the subs later as there were so many, it wouldn’t have fitted in 1 tweet.
Just the 1 story being subbed today.
I know I had Chrome Baby logged for today but bumped them up. Dreamforge were also in the frame potentially but the story I want to send there is already out so I’m waiting until the day the close, next month.
The Death Of Tony Fashion to Tough.
59 subs made. 21 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.

Sept 30th – Final day of the challenge.
Just the 1 story went out day.
No on Scenario Twelve from Escape Pod.
Sixteen Tons to Planet Scumm.
I had Chestnut Review down but unfortunately they charge for anything which isn’t flash so I had nothing for them, because I don’t pay to sub.
Not awful because it means my current stats are all nice round numbers. That may change over the rest of the day though.
60 subs made. 22 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.
EDIT:- Had a rejection arrive at tea time. No on London By Data-tape (Sensorium Version) from Flash Fiction Online.
60 subs made. 23 rejections. 1 acceptance. 0 holds.
_______________________________________________
Overall, a very tough challenge. 2 sales made this month, one from the challenge so that picked my spirits up for a few days. I’ve no idea if the challenge will return in January or not, there are other factors in play, including a serious need to make some money. You’ll find out as soon as I know.
I don’t know if I should class the Cosmic Roots “into further consideration” as a hold or not. It feels like one to me so I’m going to claim it.
I’m sorry that I can’t announce what I sold to who during this month, the market asked me not to until they’ve announced themselves, so I have to respect that.

FINAL STATS:- 60 subs made. 23 rejections. 1 acceptance. 1 hold.

So This Was September 2022

I’ve made 284 submissions. 254 rejections. 16 acceptances. 1 story being held.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-Sidekicks was accepted by A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Oct 6th ’21. (Not included in the above total)
Bag Of Bones was accepted by 206 Word Stories, Feb 12th ’22
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up was sold to Synthetic Reality Magazine, Feb 15th ’22
PROVISIONAL SALE IF MARKET GOES AHEAD, TO BE LOGGED.
Father, Are You Sleeping? was sold to Dark Recesses Press, Mar 5th ’22.
Dragon Bait was sold to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Mar 20th ’22.
I Hide Behind Cardboard Cliffs And Polystyrene Rocks was sold to Fission, Apr 3rd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies (Co-Author) was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark…. was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
A Fine Body was sold to The Lorelei Signal, May 9th ’22.
Ask For Slim was sold to HyphenPunk, May 17th ’22.
Total Immersion was sold to The Society of Misfit Stories, Jun 22nd ’22.
A Monster Under Every Bed was sold to It Came From Under The Bed, Jul 15th ’22.
The Age Of Chivalry was sold to The Lorelei Signal, Jul 17th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Jul 23rd ’22.
Spun Yarn was sold to Bullet Points, Aug 8th ’22.
The Man Who Borrowed My Clock has been sold to The Colored Lens, Aug 24th ’22.
Breaking Down A Cursed Sandwich has been sold to Never Cheat a Witch, Aug 29th ’22.
The Dragon Readers has been sold to 99 Fleeting Fantasies, Sept 5th 22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Sept 16th 22.

CAVEAT:-Be aware, I am now adding stubs for titles which have sold, but I’ve not yet received official permission to announce as sold yet. These are just an aide memoire for me, and my increasingly terrible short-term memory.

There are currently 55 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-
Stranding Room Only was released at Abyss & Apex, Jan 1st ’22.
Bag Of Bones was released at Bag of Bones – 206 Word Stories: A Horror Anthology, 26th Feb ’22. (POEM)
Father, Are You Sleeping? was released at Dark Recesses Press, 16th Mar ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies was released at Stupefying Stories, 8th April ’22. (Co-Author)
Call Back, Any Time! was released at Grandpa’s Deep-Space Diner, 20th Apr ’22.
Dragon Bait was released at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, May 2nd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark… was released at Stupefying Stories, May 27th ’22.
Ask For Slim was released at HyphenPunk, Jun 15th ’22.
A Fine Body was released at The Lorelei Signal, Jul 3rd ’22.

LESSONS LEARNED:-(This is a new segment, I’ll be adding tips for myself for future blogs.)
Add sales as stubs as soon as those are received. Temp entries until announced then replace with official info.
Add releases when info is received to Shape Of Things To Come, so I don’t forget.
Add stubs to Shape Of Things To Come for unannounced sales.
Create entries for the Submission Challenge each day, as they come in or go out.
I chose to remove the Stories On Hold section as I didn’t want any markets to feel pressure to buy stuff.
I moved the entry for Tuck & Roll because I’m tired of working around its constant delays.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!
Where They Fear To Tread will be released in Jersey Pine Ink’s Trees Anthology, Summer 2022. (DTBC)
The Age Of Chivalry will be released in The Lorelei Signal, Oct 2022. (DTBC)
Breaking Down A Cursed Sandwich will be released in to Never Cheat a Witch, Oct ’22. (DTBC)
I Hide Behind Cardboard Cliffs And Polystyrene Rocks will be released in Fission Vol #2, Nov ’22. (DTBC)
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up will be released in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 9, Late ’22. (DTBC)
The Man Who Borrowed My Clock has been sold to The Colored Lens, Autumn, 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to market, possibly late 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to market (not listed in sales yet, possibly late 2022. (DTBC)
Sidekicks will be released in A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Feb 2023. (DTBC)
Total Immersion will be released in The Society of Misfit Stories, June 2023. (DTBC)
A Monster Under Every Bed will be released in It Came From Under The Bed, 2023. (DTBC)
Spun Yarn will be released in Bullet Points, 2023. (DTBC).
The Dragon Readers will be released in 99 Fleeting Fantasies, (DTBC).
Tuck & Roll will be released. (DTBC).

There’s some other stuff coming, I can’t officially talk about it yet. Just know it IS coming.
When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.
Publication of Madam Midnight was pushed back due to illness of the Synthetic Reality Mag editor. That may be delayed by at least 2 months.
Seems like a few publications have been pushed back. No-one’s really talking to me.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

I wrote nothing this month. I wasn’t in a great headspace at all, if I am being honest with you. The start of the Submission Challenge felt like quite the struggle. It’s never felt like that before, so I don’t know what was going on. Normally I feel enthused to get stuff out, not this time around, for whatever reason. Low brain chemicals, lack of desire, low money, SFWA membership expiring, an on-going feeling of what the fuck am I even doing.

So This Was August 2022

I’ve made 233 submissions. 215 rejections. 15 acceptances. 1 story being held.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-Sidekicks was accepted by A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Oct 6th ’21. (Not included in the above total)
Bag Of Bones was accepted by 206 Word Stories, Feb 12th ’22
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up was sold to Synthetic Reality Magazine, Feb 15th ’22
PROVISIONAL SALE IF MARKET GOES AHEAD, TO BE LOGGED.
Father, Are You Sleeping? was sold to Dark Recesses Press, Mar 5th ’22.
Dragon Bait was sold to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Mar 20th ’22.
I Hide Behind Cardboard Cliffs And Polystyrene Rocks was sold to Fission, Apr 3rd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies (Co-Author) was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark…. was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
A Fine Body was sold to The Lorelei Signal, May 9th ’22.
Ask For Slim was sold to HyphenPunk, May 17th ’22.
Total Immersion was sold to The Society of Misfit Stories, Jun 22nd ’22.
A Monster Under Every Bed was sold to It Came From Under The Bed, Jul 15th ’22.
The Age Of Chivalry was sold to The Lorelei Signal, Jul 17th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Jul 23rd ’22.
Spun Yarn was sold to Bullet Points, Aug 8th ’22.
The Man Who Borrowed My Clock has been sold to The Colored Lens, Aug 24th ’22.
Breaking Down A Cursed Sandwich has been sold to Never Cheat a Witch, Aug 29th ’22.

CAVEAT:-Be aware, I am now adding stubs for titles which have sold, but I’ve not yet received official permission to announce as sold yet. These are just an aide memoire for me, and my increasingly terrible short-term memory.

There are currently 37 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-
Stranding Room Only was released at Abyss & Apex, Jan 1st ’22.
Bag Of Bones was released at Bag of Bones – 206 Word Stories: A Horror Anthology, 26th Feb ’22. (POEM)
Father, Are You Sleeping? was released at Dark Recesses Press, 16th Mar ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies was released at Stupefying Stories, 8th April ’22. (Co-Author)
Call Back, Any Time! was released at Grandpa’s Deep-Space Diner, 20th Apr ’22.
Dragon Bait was released at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, May 2nd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark… was released at Stupefying Stories, May 27th ’22.
Ask For Slim was released at HyphenPunk, Jun 15th ’22.
A Fine Body was released at The Lorelei Signal, Jul 3rd ’22.

LESSONS LEARNED:-(This is a new segment, I’ll be adding tips for myself for future blogs.)
Add sales as stubs as soon as those are received. Temp entries until announced then replace with official info.
Add releases when info is received to Shape Of Things To Come, so I don’t forget.
Add stubs to Shape Of Things To Come for unannounced sales.
Create entries for the Submission Challenge each day, as they come in or go out.
I chose to remove the Stories On Hold section as I didn’t want any markets to feel pressure to buy stuff.
I moved the entry for Tuck & Roll because I’m tired of working around its constant delays.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!
Where They Fear To Tread will be released in Jersey Pine Ink’s Trees Anthology, Summer 2022. (DTBC)
The Age Of Chivalry will be released in The Lorelei Signal, Oct 2022. (DTBC)
Breaking Down A Cursed Sandwich will be released in to Never Cheat a Witch, Oct ’22. (DTBC)
I Hide Behind Cardboard Cliffs And Polystyrene Rocks will be released in Fission Vol #2, Nov ’22. (DTBC)
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up will be released in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 9, Late ’22. (DTBC)
The Man Who Borrowed My Clock has been sold to The Colored Lens, Autumn, 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to market (not listed in sales yet, possible late 2022. (DTBC)
Sidekicks will be released in A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Feb 2023. (DTBC)
Total Immersion will be released in The Society of Misfit Stories, June 2023. (DTBC)
A Monster Under Every Bed will be released in It Came From Under The Bed, 2023. (DTBC)
Spun Yarn will be released in Bullet Points, 2023. (DTBC).
Tuck & Roll will be released. (DTBC).

There’s some other stuff coming, I can’t officially talk about it yet. Just know it IS coming.
When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.
Publication of Madam Midnight was pushed back due to illness of the Synthetic Reality Mag editor. That may be delayed by at least 2 months.
My SFWA membership will be ending tomorrow. I couldn’t afford it.
Yes, I am waiting to announce 1 final sale, that was hoped to happen Sept 1st. The 2 “other” things aren”t anything until they are.
Nothing was published this month, that should have been Synthetic Reality but it’s been pushed back. I don’t know when that’ll happen.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

I wrote 4 new stories this month, a total of 3862 words. I didn’t write many, but most of them were longer stories, over 1000 words.

September 2022 Submission Challenge

Here is the market list. Any bracketed notes are relevant to the preceeding market. If it’s open all Sept, if it can’t be bumped, if it can’t currently be confirmed as open.

This list may be subject to change from now until August 31st. I’ll try not to change it too much but I will perform a 2nd check in about 2 weeks just to ensure everywhere is open.

Basic Rules
Submit 1 story to a paying market every day for a month. You don’t have to do this. If you don’t want to sub to a market for ANY reason, don’t. The every day rule is for me, unless you want the full experience.
Every market has been checked (and unless otherwise stated) and will be open on the day I’ve listed it.
As markets can and do close at short notice, I try to provide alternates. That’s not always possible for every day of the month so I’ve noted which markets can potentially be used any day.

There is the additional market list under the main one, these are there in case you want to sub somewhere else, but I don’t guarentee these as open, merely paying.

Basic Advice
Read the guidelines ahead of time. Ideally have all your stories ready before Sept 1st, all formatted & ready to submit. The reason I post the list early is to give you the time to select the right story for each market. You’ve got 3 weeks. Plenty of time.

Basic Expectations
Failure, and nothing. Expect a lot of rejections, that’s part of what this challenge is for, get you used to subbing, having to do stuff at short notice and dealing with failure on a regular basis. There are no sure things. While we’ve had sales (which include at least 1 pro sale), like life, nothing is certain.

I’ve removed the hard part of submissions, finding the markets. Merely select a story, and sub it.
And of course, good luck!
If you feel moved to blog your experience during or after the fact, do drop a link in the comment below, I always enjoy reading about other people’s experiences of the challenge.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

01 – Split Lip https://splitlipthemag.com/submit OR Orion’s Belt https://www.orions-belt.net/submissions
02 – Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores https://cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/submissions/
03 – Clarkesworld http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/
04 – Andromeda Spaceways https://andromedaspaceways.com/submissions-manager/#fiction [open all Sept]
05 – Taco Bell Quarterly https://tacobellquarterly.org/submission-guidelines/ OR Interzone https://interzone.press/submissions/
06 – Daily Science Fiction https://dailysciencefiction.com/submit OR Interzone Digital https://interzone.digital/submissions/
07 – Asimov’s https://www.asimovs.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines/ OR Tiny Tales Podcast https://www.tinytalespodcast.com/submissions [DO NOT BUMP]
08 – Analog https://www.analogsf.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines/
09 – Starship Sofa http://www.starshipsofa.com/submissions/ OR Tales From The Radiator https://strongbranchproductions.com/tales-from-the-radiator/ [Open all Sept]
10 – Neon Mag (Machines Theme) https://www.neonmagazine.co.uk/guidelines/ [Open all Sept] OR Archive Of The Odd https://archiveoftheodd.wordpress.com/submissions/ [Not confirmed open]
11 – Shoreline Of Infinity http://www.shorelineofinfinity.com/submissions/ OR Whetstone https://whetstonemag.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html [Can’t be bumped]
12 – World Unknown Review https://lsengler.wordpress.com/submissions/
13 – Electric Spec https://www.electricspec.com/Submissions.html
14 – Penumbric https://www.penumbric.com/subs.html [Don’t bump beyond 15th]
15 – Riddlebird https://www.riddlebird.com/submission-guidelines
16 – Flash Fiction Online http://flashfictiononline.com/main/submission-guidelines-flash-fiction/
17 – Cutleaf Journal https://cutleafjournal.com/submit/
18 – Pyre Magazine https://www.pyremagazine.com/submissions [Don’t bump!] OR Dream Of Shadows https://www.dreamofshadows.co.uk/submission-guidelines
19 – Three-Lobed Burning Eye https://www.3lobedmag.com/submissions.html OR Escape Pod https://escapepod.org/guidelines/short-fiction/ [Open ALL Sept]
20 – Nightmare Magazine https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/nightmare/guidelines [Not confirmed open]
21 – F&SF https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/glines.htm
22 – Translunar Travelers Lounge https://translunartravelerslounge.com/submissions/ [Open here for rest of month] OR Dreamforge https://dreamforgemagazine.com/call-for-submissions/ [Not confirmed open]
23 – Mythulu (Symbiosis) https://mythulu.submittable.com/submit OR Crack In The Code (Mocha Memoirs) https://mochamemoirspress.com/write-for-us/
24 – Bump In The Night (Timber Ghost Press) https://www.timberghostpress.com/submissions.html
25 – The Future Fire http://futurefire.net/guidelines/fiction.html
26 – Kaleidotrope https://kaleidotrope.net/guidelines/ [Open ALL Sept] OR Seize The Press [Open ALL Sept] https://www.seizethepress.com/submissions/
27 – Weird Horror Magazine https://undertowpublications.com/weird-horror-magazine [Open ALL Sept] OR tdotSpec (SF Tarot) http://tdotspec.com/submissions/
28 – Radon Journal https://www.radonjournal.com/submit [Open ALL YEAR]
29 – Andromeda Spaceways https://andromedaspaceways.com/submissions-manager/#fiction [Open ALL Sept]
30 – Planet Scumm https://www.planetscumm.space/submit [Open ALL Sept] OR Chestnut Review FLASH ONLY https://chestnutreview.com/submissions/ OR NewMyths (but not for me) https://sites.google.com/a/newmyths.com/nmwebsite/submissions/sub-2

NOT CONFIRMED OPEN. MERELY ALTERNATE MARKETS WHICH MAY BE OPEN & DO PAY.
34 Orchard https://34orchard.com/guidelines/
Allegory https://www.allegoryezine.com/submissions
Amazing Stories https://submission.amazingstoriesmag.com/guidelines/
Anotherealm http://anotherealm.com/faq/submit.php
Apex Magazine https://apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines/
Apparition Lit https://apparitionlit.com/submissions/
Bards & Sages Quarterly https://www.bardsandsages.com/contact_us/fiction_submission_guidelines
Centropic Oracle http://www.centropicoracle.com/mainpages/subguide.php
Chrome Baby http://robindunn.com/chrome-submit.html
Compelling Science Fiction http://compellingsciencefiction.com/guidelines.html
Cosmic Horror Monthly https://www.cosmichorrormonthly.com/submissions/
Cossmass Infinities https://www.cossmass.com/submit/
Dark Recesses https://darkrecessespress.com/?page_id=29
Dark Void Mag https://darkvoidmagazine.com/submissionguidelines
Dose Of Dread 1k flash, horror https://dreadstonepress.com/submissions/#dose-jump
Etherea Mag https://ethereamagazine.com/submissions/
Flash Frog https://flash-frog.com/submit/
Flash Point SF https://flashpointsf.com/submissions/
Fractured Lit (Flash/Micro) https://fracturedlit.com/submit/
Giganotosaurus http://giganotosaurus.org/submission-guidelines/
Hexagon Magazine https://hexagonmagazine.ca/submit/
Infinite Worlds https://www.infiniteworldsmagazine.com/submissions
Metaphorosis https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/guidelines/
Mithila Review https://mithilareview.com/submission-guidelines/
Mythaxis https://mythaxis.co.uk/submissions.html
Mythic Magazine https://www.mythicmag.com/p/submissions.html
Not One Of Us https://not-one-of-us.pub/about/guidelines/
No Sleep Podcast https://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/submissions
One Story https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=submit
Penumbric https://www.penumbric.com/subs.html
Sci Phi Journal https://www.sciphijournal.org/index.php/submission-guidelines/
Strange Horizons http://strangehorizons.com/submit/fiction-submission-guidelines/
Tales from the Moonlit Path http://talesmoonlitpath.com/submissions/
The Arcanist https://thearcanist.io/tag/submission-guidelines/
The Dark City http://www.thedarkcitymysterymagazine.com/submissions.html
The Dark Magazine http://thedarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines/
The Dread Machine https://www.thedreadmachine.com/submit/
The Mesozoic Reader https://farthertrees.wordpress.com/mesozoic-reader/
The No Sleep Podcast https://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/submissions
The Other Stories https://theotherstories.net/submissions
The Periodical, Forlorn https://www.periodicalforlorn.com/submission-guidelines
The Weird And Whatnot https://www.theweirdandwhatnot.com/submit
Translunar Travelers Lounge https://translunartravelerslounge.com/submissions/
Tree And Stone https://www.tree-and-stone.com/submissions
Underland Arcana https://www.underlandarcana.com/submissions/
Unnerving Magazine https://www.unnervingbooks.com/submissions

So This Was July 2022

I’ve made 216 submissions. 190 rejections. 10 acceptances. 2 stories being held.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-Sidekicks was accepted by A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Oct 6th ’21.
Bag Of Bones was accepted by 206 Word Stories, Feb 12th ’22
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up was sold to Synthetic Reality Magazine, Feb 15th ’22
PROVISIONAL SALE IF MARKET GOES AHEAD, TO BE LOGGED.
Father, Are You Sleeping? was sold to Dark Recesses Press, Mar 5th ’22.
Dragon Bait was sold to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Mar 20th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Apr 3rd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies (Co-Author) was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark…. was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
A Fine Body was sold to The Lorelei Signal, May 9th ’22.
Ask For Slim was sold to HyphenPunk, May 17th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Jun 22nd ’22.
A Monster Under Every Bed was sold to It Came From Under The Bed, Jul 15th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Jul 17th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Jul 23rd ’22.

CAVEAT:-Be aware, I am now adding stubs for titles which have sold, but I’ve not yet received official permission to announce as sold yet. These are just an aide memoire for me, and my increasingly terrible short-term memory.

There are currently 43 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-
Stranding Room Only was released at Abyss & Apex, Jan 1st ’22.
Bag Of Bones was released at Bag of Bones – 206 Word Stories: A Horror Anthology, 26th Feb ’22. (POEM)
Father, Are You Sleeping? was released at Dark Recesses Press, 16th Mar ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies was released at Stupefying Stories, 8th April ’22. (Co-Author)
Call Back, Any Time! was released at Grandpa’s Deep-Space Diner, 20th Apr ’22.
Dragon Bait was released at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, May 2nd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark… was released at Stupefying Stories, May 27th ’22.
Ask For Slim was released at HyphenPunk, Jun 15th ’22.
A Fine Body was released at The Lorelei Signal, Jul 3rd ’22.

LESSONS LEARNED:-(This is a new segment, I’ll be adding tips for myself for future blogs.)
Add sales as stubs as soon as those are received. Temp entries until announced then replace with official info.
Add releases when info is received to Shape Of Things To Come, so I don’t forget.
Add stubs to Shape Of Things To Come for unannounced sales.
Create entries for the Submission Challenge each day, as they come in or go out.
I chose to remove the Stories On Hold section as I didn’t want any markets to feel pressure to buy stuff.
I moved the entry for Tuck & Roll because I’m tired of working around its constant delays.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!
Where They Fear To Tread will be released in Jersey Pine Ink’s Trees Anthology, Summer 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to future market, late 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to market (not listed in sales yet, possible late 2022. (DTBC)
Potential sale to future anthology, late 2022. (TBC)
Unannounced sale to future market, Oct 2022. (DTBC)
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up will be released in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 9, Late ’22. (DTBC)
Tuck & Roll will be released. (DTBC).
Sidekicks will be released in A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Feb 2023. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to future market, June 2023. (DTBC)
A Monster Under Every Bed will be released in It Came From Under The Bed, 2023 (DTBC).

There’s some other stuff coming, I can’t officially talk about it yet. Just know it IS coming.
When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.
Publication of Madam Midnight was pushed back due to illness of the Synthetic Reality Mag editor. That may be delayed by at least 2 months.
I upgraded my SFWA membership to Full, because they did it for free. I don’t know if I’ll be keeping it next month.
Yes, I am waiting to announce a few sales. I’ve been asked by 3 markets to say nothing until they do. The other one, I’m waiting for permission.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

I wrote 4 new stories this month, a total of 2005 words. It’s been a tough month, my head has been in a weird place, I was really struggling to get anything creative done, as you can see.

So This was June 2022

I’ve made 188 submissions. 172 rejections. 8 acceptances. 3 stories being held.
No=172, Yes=8, Subbed=188. On Hold=3.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-Sidekicks was accepted by A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Oct 6th ’21.
Bag Of Bones was accepted by 206 Word Stories, Feb 12th ’22
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up was sold to Synthetic Reality Magazine, Feb 15th ’22
PROVISIONAL SALE IF MARKET GOES AHEAD, TO BE LOGGED.
Father, Are You Sleeping? was sold to Dark Recesses Press, Mar 5th ’22.
Dragon Bait was sold to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Mar 20th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Apr 3rd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies (Co-Author) was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark…. was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
A Fine Body was sold to The Lorelei Signal, May 9th ’22.
Ask For Slim was sold to HyphenPunk, May 17th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market, Jun 22nd ’22.

CAVEAT:-Be aware, I am now adding stubs for titles which have sold, but I’ve not yet received official permission to announce as sold yet. These are just an aide memoire for me, and my increasingly terrible short-term memory.

There are currently 36 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-
Stranding Room Only was released at Abyss & Apex, Jan 1st ’22.
Bag Of Bones was released at Bag of Bones – 206 Word Stories: A Horror Anthology, 26th Feb ’22. (POEM)
Father, Are You Sleeping? was released at Dark Recesses Press, 16th Mar ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies was released at Stupefying Stories, 8th April ’22. (Co-Author)
Call Back, Any Time! was released at Grandpa’s Deep-Space Diner, 20th Apr ’22.
Dragon Bait was released at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, May 2nd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark… was released at Stupefying Stories, May 27th, ’22.
Ask For Slim was released at HyphenPunk, Jun 15th ’22.

LESSONS LEARNED:-(This is a new segment, I’ll be adding tips for myself for future blogs.)
Add sales as stubs as soon as those are received. Temp entries until announced then replace with official info.
Add releases when info is received to Shape Of Things To Come, so I don’t forget.
Add stubs to Shape Of Things To Come for unannounced sales.
Create entries for the Submission Challenge each day, as they come in or go out.
I chose to remove the Stories On Hold section as I didn’t want any markets to feel pressure to buy stuff.
I moved the entry for Tuck & Roll because I’m tired of working around its constant delays.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!
A Fine Body will be released in The Lorelei Signal, Jul ’22. (DTBC)
Where They Fear To Tread will be released in Jersey Pine Ink’s Trees Anthology, Summer 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to future market, late 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to market (not listed in sales yet, possible late 2022. (DTBC)
Potential sale to future anthology, late 2022. (TBC)
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up will be released in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 9, Late ’22. (DTBC)
Tuck & Roll will be released. (DTBC).
Sidekicks will be released in A Hero Of A Different Stripe. Feb 2023. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to future market, June 2023. (DTBC)
There’s some other stuff coming, I can’t officially talk about it yet. Just know it IS coming.
When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.
I’ve got 3 stories being held. I’m hoping they manifest into sales.
Publication of Madam Midnight was pushed back due to illness of the Synthetic Reality Mag editor. That may be delayed by at least 2 months.

The only real outstanding business is to make the decision if I’ll continue my SFWA membership or not. Things are extremely tight as far as money goes. My current thinking is if I can get it free again, I will. I do qualify for full membership, if I choose to take it.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

I wrote 7 new stories this month, a total of 9060 words.

May ’22 Submission Challenge Round-up

I started this blog with the full intention of talking about as much of what I was doing as possible. Severe motivation issues kicked in around the middle of the month so I apologise if the entries aren’t as verbose later on. Blame the brain chemicals.

May 1st – Egress to Dark Matter Mag & Handyman to Planet Scumm. I had planned to sub to Space Fantasy Magazine today as well but as they are open all month I’m going to hold that story back in case any markets happen to close early, later on in the month. EDIT:-You Are Needed On The Bridge to Split Lip Magazine. I snuck this one in towards the end of the day as free spots to sub were limited. 3 stories subbed today. 0 rejections.
No=113, Yes=6, Subbed=122. On Hold=2.

May 2nd – Pick A Witch to Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores & A God’s Day Off to SmokeLong Quarterly. I had got up super early to sub to Galaxy’s Edge, hoping they’d open midnight local their time, but that didn’t happen. They still weren’t open later the same day so I’ll keep checking in there every other hour. If I don’t get in today, I’ll try next Monday with the same story. 2 stories subbed today. 0 rejections.
I did get a rejection. No on Making The Grade from Mythaxis Mag. It’s not challenge related so I wont be adding it to the daily stats, only the yearly ones listed below.
No=114, Yes=6, Subbed=124. On Hold=2.

May 3rd – Egress to Clarkesworld & A Journey, Of Sorts to Split Lip Anniversary. I had Timber Ghost selected as 2nd market for today but they were not open for whatever reason. Galaxy’s Edge didn’t open yesterday at all, in the end. 2 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
No on May Day from Uncharted Magazine. It’s not challenge related so I wont be adding it to the daily stats, only the yearly ones listed below.
No=115, Yes=6, Subbed=126. On Hold=2.

May 4th – Happy Star Wars day! The Big Three to James Gunn’s Ad Astra & Ballroom to FFO. No on A God’s Day Off from SmokeLong, 1st rejection of a challenge story. I know the official list said Interzone Digital today but I did some shifting around for my personal list. It’s my challenge, I’ll sub where I want when I want. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection.
No=116, Yes=6, Subbed=128. On Hold=2.

May 5th – This 1st one sneaked in just before midnight but I couldn’t complete the log to get it in quick enough so today it is! No on Egress from Clarkesworld. Just one market today. Wedded Bliss to Andromeda Spaceways Magazine. 1 story subbed. 1 rejection.
No=117, Yes=6, Subbed=129. On Hold=2.

May 6th – No on Egress from Dark Matter Magazine & no on Muse from CatsCast. Only Egress is challenge related, Muse was a reprint subbed back in February.
One Night Stand to Allegory & Debrief to Alan Squire Publishing Anthology. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection.
No=119, Yes=6, Subbed=131. On Hold=2.

May 7th – 1st week done and dusted. You Never Forget Your First Giant Laser to Factor Four Mag & Dear Transnational Death Tank Company to The Bureau Dispatch. Had to quickly select a new story for Factor Four as the one I’d picked was too long. 2 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
No=119, Yes=6, Subbed=133. On Hold=3.

May 8th – No on The Death Of Tony Fashion from GONE. That was from April, they said really nice things about the story. Today was supposed to be Interzone & Ring Of Fire, but I chose to bump them later down the month. I spotted a couple of other markets late last night & subbed to those today as well.
Mother Knows Best to Interzone Digital, The Haunted Spaceship to LOTF Space Horror & Once, A Humble Bard to Old Moon. 3 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
No=120, Yes=6, Subbed=136. On Hold=3.

May 9th – SALE! 1st sale of the challenge! A Fine Body was sold to The Lorelei Signal, subbed back during the January event.
Pen Pals From The Abyss to Mother; Tales of Love and Terror & Thirty-Eight Days In An Electric Tyrannosaur to Asimov’s. No on You Are Needed On The Bridge from Split Lip. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection. 1 acceptance.
No=121, Yes=6, Subbed=138. On Hold=3.

May 10th – Cell 115 to Dark Void Magazine & How Do You Get To Memory Lane to Flash Frog.
No on Handyman from Planet Scumm. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection. 1 acceptance.
No=122, Yes=6, Subbed=140. On Hold=3.

May 11th -No on The Magician from Wyldblood Magazine. Not a challenge related sub.
… Made For Two to Electric Spec & I Made A New Friend Today to Dread Imaginings. 2 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
No=123, Yes=6, Subbed=142. On Hold=3.

May 12th – No on Volunteer To Be A Martyr from Proton Reader.
I added an extra market & subbed to Clarkesworld today because my 7 day cool-off was done.
I Screamed Into The Cosmic Void And All I Got Was A Lousy T-shirt to The Future Fire & A Head Of Steam to Clarkesworld. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection. I have to count this because it was from the last challenge & I counted that acceptance which was too.
No=124, Yes=7, Subbed=144. On Hold=3.

May 13th – No on A Head Of Steam from Clarkesworld & on How Do You Get to Memory Lane? from Flash Frog.
Befriend a Robot to Three-Lobed Burning Eye & Ask For Slim to The Mods. 2 stories subbed. 2 rejections.
No=126, Yes=7, Subbed=146. On Hold=3.

May 14th – Todays markets were The Arcanist or World Unknown Review. Arcanist was closed, I wasn’t enthralled by the idea of a market open to any genre so I passed on WUR. Instead I chose to use Space Fantasy Magazine.
No on The Bounty from The Quiet Ones & Lost Souls from Best of British Science Fiction Anthology Series. This is a non-challenge related rejection. No on Pick A Witch from Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.
Bindlestiffs to Space Fantasy Magazine. 1 story subbed. 1 rejection.
No=129, Yes=7, Subbed=147. On Hold=3.

May 15th – The Age Of Chivalry to The Lorelei Signal. No on Taken By The Squads from F&SF. Not a challenge related rejection.
1 story subbed. 0 rejections.
No=130, Yes=7, Subbed=148. On Hold=4.

May 16th – Death Cache Trial to Metaphorosis & Dungeons, No Dragons to Uncanny. No on Mother Knows Best from Interzone Digital.
2 stories subbed. 1 rejection.
No=131, Yes=7, Subbed=150. On Hold=4.

May 17th – No on Befriend A Robot from Three-Lobed Burning Eye & on Bindlestiffs from Space Fantasy Mag. No on Death Cache Trial from Metaphorosis. Ask For Slim was withdrawn from The Mods.
Where Have All The Dragons Gone? to Flash Point SF. 1 story subbed. 3 rejections. 1 withdrawal, because Ask For Slim was sold to HyphenPunk.
No=135, Yes=7, Subbed=151. On Hold=3.

May 18th – A God’s Day Off to Fractured Lit & Wizard Of The Day to Swords and Sorceries Anthology Series.
No on The Trouble With Being A Sword Of Truth… from Lightspeed. Not a challenge related rejection.
2 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
No=136, Yes=7, Subbed=152. On Hold=3.

May 19th – No on Fairy Tales, and Lies from Daikaijuzine. Not a challenge related submission.
Scenario Twelve to Bourbon Penn. 1 story subbed. 0 rejections.
No=137, Yes=7, Subbed=153. On Hold=2.

May 20th -Forged In Sunshine to Ring Of Fire & Things To Do When You’re Undead In Denver to The Vanishing Point.
2 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
No=137, Yes=7, Subbed=155. On Hold=2.

May 21st – Encounter With The Priestess to The Dark. I couldn’t sub to F&SF today, I only recently had a story come back from there so 21 days certainly hadn’t passed.
1 story subbed. 0 rejections.
No=137, Yes=7, Subbed=156. On Hold=2.

May 22nd – No on Encounter With The Priestess from The Dark. 1 rejection. (which should have been logged yesterday but I couldn’t do the admin in the 1 minute I had left of the day.)
Hotel Oblivion to Apex Magazine. 1 story subbed. 1 rejection.
No=138, Yes=7, Subbed=157. On Hold=2.

May 23rd – No on Thirty-Eight Days In An Electric Tyrannosaur from Asimov’s.
11 Walls In The World to Orion’s Belt & Hostile Take-over to Tree And Stone. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection.
No=139, Yes=7, Subbed=159. On Hold=2.

May 24th – Hyperboy; Trinity to Escape Pod & Any Other Business to Dark Recesses (Print).
No on 11 Walls In The World from Orion’s Belt. Galaxy’s Edge opened at extremely short notice so I was on that quicker than a cat on a fucking laser pointer.
Fluid State subbed to Galaxy’s Edge.
A late no on One Night Stand from Allegory.
Appeared to be a personal rejection with feedback from their senior editor so that clearly got very close indeed. Certainly the furthest I have ever got there. 3 stories subbed. 2 rejections.
No=141, Yes=7, Subbed=162. On Hold=2.

May 25th – Ask For Slim has been sold to HyphenPunk.
A Monster Under Every Bed to IT CAME FROM UNDER THE BED & Surviving A Lock-in At The Bloodied Pheasant to Archive of the Odd. 2 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
No=141, Yes=8, Subbed=164. On Hold=2.

May 26th – No on Ballroom from Flash Fiction Online. This arrived just before midnight on the 25th but I didn’t have time to process it then.
The Man Who Borrowed My Clock to The Colored Lens & Moon Walker to Etherea Magazine. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection.
No=142, Yes=8, Subbed=166. On Hold=2.

May 27th – Black City to Analog & Dear Transnational Death Tank Company to The Sprawl Mag. 2 stories subbed. 0 rejections.
Received a request to hold a challenge story until September, agreed to the hold. Choosing not to name the market so they don’t feel pressured to buy it. Positive comments, feels possible.
No=142, Yes=8, Subbed=168. On Hold=3.

May 28th – The War Machines to Utopia Science Fiction & Playing For Time to Uncharted Magazine. 2 stories subbed, 0 rejections.
No=142, Yes=8, Subbed=170. On Hold=3.

May 29th – Egress to The Dread Machine. I couldn’t sub to Freeze Frame as I still have a story there. I’d bumped Uncharted to tomorrow. 1 story subbed. 0 rejections.
No=142, Yes=8, Subbed=171. On Hold=3.

May 30th – Ahead Lies The Sign to Unnerving Magazine. Bards & Sages Quarterly was todays listed market but I already have something on hold there so didn’t want to push my luck
Ahead Lies The Sign was withdrawn from Unnerving Magazine as they weren’t officially open. Todays sub was made in good faith, believing they were open & all evidence said they were.
Until I got an automail saying they weren’t.
This will have to count as todays sub as I can’t find another open market. If you feel I cheated, say so.
Befriend A Robot subbed to Interzone Digital. Wasn’t about to lie down and just die like that so used IZD who are a reliable always open market.
No on Befriend A Robot from Interzone Digital. 2 stories subbed. 1 rejection.
No=143, Yes=8, Subbed=173. On Hold=3.

May 31st – Getting Back to The No Sleep Podcast. I had Dark City Mag & StarshipSofa down for subs but had nothing I hadn’t already sent to Dark City and had something had StarshipSofa anyway. 1 story subbed. 0 rejections.
No=143, Yes=8, Subbed=174. On Hold=3.

Totals – 56 stories subbed. 19 rejections. 2 acceptances. 1 withdrawal.
The 1 withdrawal was because a story which had sold was in submission elsewhere.
Happy with the amount submitted considering several days I had to make only 1 sub because I had stuff at one or more of the listed or spare markets. Hopefully a few more of those 56 subs will result in sales.

So This Was May 2022

I’ve made 174 submissions. 143 rejections. 8 acceptances. 3 stories being held.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-Sidekicks was accepted by A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Oct 6th ’21.
Bag Of Bones was accepted by 206 Word Stories, Feb 12th ’22
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up was sold to Synthetic Reality Magazine, Feb 15th ’22
PROVISIONAL SALE IF MARKET GOES AHEAD, TO BE LOGGED.
Father, Are You Sleeping? was sold to Dark Recesses Press, Mar 5th ’22.
Dragon Bait was sold to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Mar 20th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market,. Apr 3rd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies (Co-Author) was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark…. was sold to Stupefying Stories, Apr 8th ’22.
A Fine Body was sold to The Lorelei Signal, May 9th ’22.
Ask For Slim was sold to HyphenPunk, May 17th ’22.

CAVEAT:-Be aware, I am now adding stubs for titles which have sold, but I’ve not yet received official permission to announce as sold yet. These are just an aide memoire for me, and my increasingly terrible short-term memory.

There are currently 57 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-
Stranding Room Only was released at Abyss & Apex, Jan 1st ’22.
Bag Of Bones was released at Bag of Bones – 206 Word Stories: A Horror Anthology, 26th Feb ’22. (POEM)
Father, Are You Sleeping? was released at Dark Recesses Press, 16th Mar ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies was released at Stupefying Stories, 8th April ’22. (Co-Author)
Call Back, Any Time! was released at Grandpa’s Deep-Space Diner, 20th Apr ’22.
Dragon Bait was released at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, May 2nd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark… was released at Stupefying Stories, May 27th, ’22.

LESSONS LEARNED:-(This is a new segment, I’ll be adding tips for myself for future blogs.)
Add sales as stubs as soon as those are received. Temp entries until announced then replace with official info.
Add releases when info is received to Shape Of Things To Come, so I don’t forget.
Add stubs to Shape Of Things To Come for unannounced sales.
Create entries for the Submission Challenge each day, as they come in or go out.
I chose to remove the Stories On Hold section as I didn’t want any markets to feel pressure to buy stuff.
I moved the entry for Tuck & Roll because I’m tired of working around its constant delays.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!
Ask For Slim will be released in HyphenPunk, Jun 15th, 22. (DTBC)
A Fine Body will be released in The Lorelei Signal, Jul ’22. (DTBC)
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up will be released in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 9, Jul 30th ’22
Where They Fear To Tread will be released in Jersey Pine Ink’s Trees Anthology, Summer 2022. (DTBC)
Unannounced sale to future market, late 2022. (DTBC)
Potential sale to future anthology, late 2022. (TBC)
Tuck & Roll will be released. (DTBC).
Sidekicks will be released in A Hero Of A Different Stripe. Feb 2023. (DTBC)
There’s some other stuff coming, I can’t officially talk about it yet. Just know it IS coming.
When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.
I’ve got 3 stories being held. I’m hoping they manifest into sales.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

I wrote 4 new stories and 2 poems this month, a total of 1299 words.

So This Was April 2022

I’ve made 119 submissions. 113 rejections. 6 acceptances. 2 stories being held.

SALES & ACCEPTANCES:-Sidekicks was accepted by A Hero Of A Different Stripe, Oct 6th ’21.
Bag Of Bones was accepted by 206 Word Stories, Feb 12th ’22
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up was sold to Synthetic Reality Magazine, Feb 15th ’22
PROVISIONAL SALE IF MARKET GOES AHEAD, TO BE LOGGED.
Father, Are You Sleeping? was sold to Dark Recesses Press, Mar 5th ’22.
Dragon Bait was sold to Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Mar 20th ’22.
Unannounced sale to redacted market. Apr 3rd ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies (Co-Author). Stupefying Stories. 8th April ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark…. Stupefying Stories. 8th April ’22.

CAVEAT:-Be aware, I am now adding stubs for titles which have sold, but I’ve not yet received official permission to announce as sold yet. These are just an aide memoire for me, and my increasingly terrible short-term memory.

There are currently 32 stories out in submission:-

PUBLISHED THIS YEAR:-
Stranding Room Only was released at Abyss & Apex, January 1st, 2022.
Bag Of Bones was released at Bag of Bones – 206 Word Stories: A Horror Anthology. 26th Feb ’22. (POEM)
Father, Are You Sleeping? was released at Dark Recesses Press. 16th Mar ’22.
Dawn of Time Episode 1, Time Flies With Time Pies was released at Stupefying Stories. 8th April ’22. (Co-Author)
Call Back, Any Time! was released at Grandpa’s Deep-Space Diner, 20th April ’22.

LESSONS LEARNED:-(This is a new segment, I’ll be adding tips for myself for future blogs.)
Add sales as stubs as soon as those are received. Temp entries until announced then replace with official info.
Add releases when info is received to Shape Of Things To Come, so I don’t forget.
Add stubs to Shape Of Things To Come for unannounced sales.
Create entries for the Submission Challenge each day, as they come in or go out.
I chose to remove the Stories On Hold section as I didn’t want any markets to feel pressure to buy stuff.
I moved the entry for Tuck & Roll because I’m tired of working around its constant delays.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!
Dragon Bait will be released in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, May 1st ’22. (DTBC).
Dawn of Time Episode 8, When things look dark… will be released in Stupefying Stories. May 27th, ’22.
Where They Fear To Tread will be released in Jersey Pine Ink’s Trees Anthology, Summer 2022. (DTBC)
Madam Midnight Fucks Shit Up will be released in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 9, Jul 30th ’22
Unannounced sale to future anthology, late 2022. (DTBC)
Potential sale to future anthology, late 2022. (TBC)
Tuck & Roll will be released. (DTBC).
Sidekicks will be released in A Hero Of A Different Stripe. Feb 2023. (DTBC)
There’s some other stuff coming, I can’t officially talk about it yet. Just know it IS coming.
When I get more solid dates on the date to be confirmeds, I’ll announce them.
I’ve got 2 stories being held. I’m hoping they manifest into sales.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-

I wrote 8 new stories and a poem this month, a total of 4407 words.