June ’23 Submission Challenge Round-up
June 1st – Todays scheduled markets were Lightspeed (SF) and Illustrated Worlds.
I managed to screw up immediately having selected a story which wasn’t flash, that’s all Lightspeed were open for. Fortuntely, I have many to chose from. Did some minor revisions and subbed In The Natural Language Processing Station to Lightspeed. Subbed Hansel and Gretel and Wilhelm to Illustrated Worlds.
2 stories subbed. 0 rejected. 0 accepted.
June 2nd – So, todays scheduled markets were Dose Of Dread and Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores.
I was up early as I was waiting for my ISP to call about an incredibly long on-going issue with my phone number which is HOPEFULLY being resolved today. On checking, Dose Of Dread closed recently and won’t be open “until further notice”. Sent What You Can Do With A Non-trademarked Nut-based Spread to Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.
3 stories subbed. 0 rejected. 0 accepted.
June 3rd – Had a nice lie-in today, brain feeling better for it too. Todays scheduled markets are Clarkesworld and The Colored Lens.
Ode To The Blind Harpist was subbed to Clarkesworld. I’ve been finessing that for a few weeks to try and make it as much what I’ve read there as possible. Hopes are quite high, but it’s also a bad idea to get your hopes up at all. It’s not good for depression. Sent 2 People Is Not A Parade to The Colored Lens. I’ve sold twice there before, I’m not sure if the story is precisely their thing but it’s a pretty strong concept so it may land.
I did receive a rejection yesterday but it wasn’t challenge related so it’s not going on these stats.
EDIT: Later. No on 2 People Is Not A Parade from The Colored Lens. Not gonna lie, a same day rejection from a market who’ve published me twice is disappointing. Clearly that story is QUITE divisive.
5 stories subbed. 1 rejected. 0 accepted.
June 4th – Todays scheduled markets are Interzone and Occult Detective Magazine.
Sent The Safety Of Checkpoints to Interzone & The Hauntings to Occult Detective Magazine. I did think ODM was closed, but fortunately no, they turned out to be open.
2nd rejection, a quick form no from Clarkesworld on Ode To The Blind Harpist.
EDIT: Later. Received another non-challenge related rejection.
7 stories subbed. 2 rejected. 0 accepted.
June 5th – Another Monday. Sometimes I understand how Garfield feels. Todays scheduled markets are Nature: Futures and If There’s Anyone Left.
I still have something at Nature so I can’t sub there. I know the current sub will be rejected, but I like to maintain a good professional relationship there so I waited to hear back.
I’ve Fallen In Love With A Hologram, Again to If There’s Anyone Left.
EDIT: Much later. SALE! I Will Send Diamonds was accepted & sold to Bards & Sages Quarterly where it will appear in the October ’23 issue. This was subbed during the January Challenge.
8 stories subbed. 2 rejected. 1 accepted. Also received a non-challenge related rejection.
June 6th – Starting the day with my second sale in as many days! Not challenge related but it’s always nice to have someone appreciate your work.
Todays scheduled markets were Flash Fiction Online and Amazing Stories.
Sadly, FFO were closed, they reopen next month, I will certainly sub there again when they do. I subbed Transitional Period to Amazing Stories. I’ve had a sale there before so am hopeful for another. Got a fairly quick but polite no back from Interzone on The Safety Of Checkpoints, that was my 1st non-form rejection there so I am zeroing in on what they want a bit better.
EDIT: Later. Another non-challenge related rejection. They happen, it’s the most likely outcome of a sub, to be honest. Expect them. They still don’t feel nice, but it’s way easier to cope if you think they are coming.
EDIT: Later still. Another non challenge related rejection.
8 stories subbed. 3 rejected. 1 accepted.
June 7th – A week into the challenge.
The scheduled markets for today were Radon Journal & Fantastic Other. I subbed Volunteer To Be A Martyr to Radon Journal.
By the look of their website, I think that will work well there. Hopes are high for a sale on that. I hadn’t actually selected anything for Fantastic Other but had a quick look what they do and sent them Assessment. It’s a good, solid story which has come close with a few other markets.
EDIT: MUCH LATER! I also had an opportunity pop up in my feed on Facebook. Welcome To The Death Machine Factory Tour sent to Stupefying Stories. Bruce wanted stories from writers he has pubbed before, I more than qualify there.
11 stories subbed. 3 rejected. 1 accepted.
June 8th – Todays scheduled markets were Propagule and Qualia Nous Volume 2.
Both were open, easy to sub to. I like days like this, where everything is nice and straight forward. Subbed The Painted Beast At My Mother’s House to Propagule & Who’s Got The Button to Qualia Nous. I had selected a different story when I was compiling the list but decided to go with this one in the end.
13 stories subbed. 3 rejected. 1 accepted.
Jun 9th – Quite a nice day. I mowed the front lawn!
Todays scheduled markets are Asimov’s and Thank You For Joining The Algorithim.
I sent The Concentration Camp to Asimov’s Science Fiction & Making The Grade to Thank You For Joining the Algorithm. Heard back, Bruce Bethke received my story.
15 stories subbed. 3 rejected. 1 accepted.
June 10th – Todays scheduled market was Apex Magazine. I had also added Diet Milk a few days ago, as an extra.
No on The Concentration Camp from Asimov’s. Subbed The Guardian to diet milk & Debrief to Apex Magazine.
EDIT: Later. No on What You Can Do With A Non-trademarked Nut-based Spread from Cosmic Roots.
17 stories subbed. 5 rejected. 1 accepted.
Jun 11th – It’s a humid one!
Todays scheduled market was Space Brides (Wolfsinger). I added Make Your Presence Known a few days ago, as a secondary.
After checking the guidelines, my selected story wasn’t a good fit for Space Brides so I chose not to sub there. Subbed The Hauntings to Make Your Presence Known.
18 stories subbed. 5 rejected. 1 accepted.
Jun 12th – Another sale! The third in the last 7 days. I can’t say who yet but hopefully by the time this blog goes up, that will have changed. [On Patrol At Copperhead Bridge was sold to Cry Baby Bridge.]
Todays scheduled markets are Flash Frog and Shoreline Of Infinity (flash theme).
Shoreline Of Infinity hadn’t announced the theme yet (or have extended the climate fiction theme) so I didn’t sub there. I subbed Second Front to Flash Frog. After a brief chat with Carol at Wolfsinger, I’ve decided to give them a go. Subbed Wedded Bliss to Space Brides. They can decide if it’s a good fit or not.
20 stories subbed. 5 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 13th – Quiet day, just the 1 sub.
Todays scheduled market was Electric Spec.
I was considering subbing to somewhere else as well, but it was just so humid, I was finding it difficult to do anything. King For A Day subbed to Electric Spec. Had a non challenge related rejection.
21 stories subbed. 5 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 14th – By heck, it is WARM! Todays scheduled markets were The Dread Machine and 34 Orchard.
Because I sold a piece there not that long ago, I chose not to sub to 34 Orchard. Subbed To My Amazement to The Dread Machine. Also received a non challenge related rejection.
22 stories subbed. 5 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 15th – Another humid day, and of course, I have a cold. Not hayfever, but the sneezes. Again. First up, a rejection. No on Second Front from Flash Frog.
Todays scheduled markets were F&SF and Flash Fiction Podcast.
I still have a piece at Flash Fiction Podcast so I couldn’t sub there. Not a big deal, but I’ll be annoyed if I get a rejection from them in the next week or so. I will have to check how busy their queue is and when they close, if they close. I subbed Ode To The Blind Harpist to F&SF. I’ve never got very far with them so this might be the one. Or not.
23 stories subbed. 6 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 16th – Guess what? It’s still warm here in the UK. Stupid humidity.
Todays scheduled market is The Dark.
I subbed Feeding The Ghosts Of The Abandoned Asylum to The Dark. It’s a weird one, but I hope it takes longer than a few hours for them to tell me to fuck off and die. We’re now into the back half of the challenge. At least my cold seems to have buggered off. Again.
24 stories subbed. 6 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 17th – Probably the hottest day this month so far.
Todays scheduled markets were Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Factor Four Magazine.
I subbed Once, A Humble Bard to Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Life In The Death Squad to Factor Four Magazine. Got a rejection on The Painted Beast At My Mother’s House from Propagule. I’m also doing a zoom course on flash fiction today. I’ll let you know how that went tomorrow.
26 stories subbed. 7 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 18th – Good course yesterday. No actual writing done, but lots of useful things covered. Another warm day, we’ve had rain but you can’t tell. That writing course was mostly tips and tricks, no actual writing took place.
Todays scheduled market was Newmyths.
As June doesn’t seem to be a brilliant month for markets, I am honestly thinking about going back to May for next year. We’ll see what happens when that rolls around, I guess? Subbed The Ripples Of Time to Newmyths.
EDIT: LATER – No on To My Amazement from The Dread Machine.
27 stories subbed. 8 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 19th – Problems with Virginmedia email today. I’m going to wait, and sub as late as I can if it gets fixed today. I can send but not receive email.
EDIT: LATER- Inbound email still broken so I am going to roll the dice and sub, hoping it gets there safely. EDIT: EVEN LATER- I can now receive email, getting the sub out while it’s working. Subbed King For A Day to The Future Fire.
28 stories subbed. 8 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 20th – Thankfully it’s a much cooler day today. Things are easier when it doesn’t feel like you are baking alive.
Todays scheduled markets are Brilliant Flash Fiction and Flash Point SF.
Subbed On Common Ground to Brilliant Flash Fiction. Sent I Screamed Into The Cosmic Void And All I Got Was A Lousy T-shirt to Flash Point SF.
EDIT: A BIT LATER- Got a non challenge related rejection.
30 stories subbed. 8 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 21st – A couple of rejections came in while I was burning the midnight oil. No on 38 Days from Nature: Futures. It was subbed during January’s challenge so I’m including the stats here. And a no on Ode To The Blind Harpist from F&SF. I honestly do not know what else I can do to get beyond form rejections there. I spent several weeks giving that story a good immersion & sensation pass & it was still a form no.
Todays scheduled markets were Planet Scumm and Seize The Press. Planet Scumm said it was reopening summer 2023 but it’s still closed so nothing is going there. I sent Terrance Thinks It’s A Good Idea to Seize The Press.
31 stories subbed. 10 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 22nd – We’ve had rain but it’s still pretty damn warm.
Todays scheduled markets are James Gunn’s Ad Astra and The Other Stories. I made the call not to sub to James Gunn. I hadn’t listed anything to send there and decided they are a bit on the tough side to know what to send. Gimme That New Time Religion to The Other Stories Podcast.
32 stories subbed. 10 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 23rd – By ‘eck, petal, it’s warm! Two rejections today. No on I’ve Fallen In Love With A Hologram, Again from If There’s Anyone Left & on The Guardian from Diet Milk A non-challenge related one received also.
Todays scheduled market is Analog. Thirty-Eight Days In An Electric Tyrannosaur subbed to Analog. I also spotted a market last night which I specifically wrote a story for, if it doesn’t land there, there are other drabble markets as it’s a 100 word story. Subbed Duty Free to the Hiraeth Drabble Contest.
34 stories subbed. 12 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 24th – Hey, how ya doing? Sorry, you couldn’t get through. If you leave a message, I’ll get back to you. Of course it’s another warm day, because why the fuck wouldn’t it be?
Todays scheduled markets, and yes, there are two. Haven Spec Wet Theme & Metaphorosis. Subbed Rhythm Of The Rain to Haven Spec Wet Theme & Taken By The Squads to Metaphorosis. It’s too fucking sticky to be typing.
36 stories subbed. 12 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 25th 23 – If you guessed it’d be warm today, you win! Have 3 litres of fresh, warm sweat. We’ll deal with rejections first, because I have some. No on Taken By The Squads from Metaphorosis, on Once, A Humble Bard from BCS & on Hansel & Gretel & Wilhelm from Illustrated Worlds.
Todays scheduled market is Penumbric. I subbed You Are Needed On The Bridge to Penumbric. It’s a weird one, and a bit on the dark side. We’ll see if it flies there or not. It’s nice to be this far through the challenge with less than 20 rejections. Unsure if markets are taking longer or I am finally picking stories which fit better. BCS sent nice feedback which is rare. I asked Illustrated Worlds if they might consider a R&R. I’ll let you know how that went.
37 stories subbed. 15 rejected. 2 accepted.
Jun 26th – An actual cool day where I wasn’t constantly melting from the heat! WOO HOO! Dealing with rejections first, no on Debrief from Apex & on In The Natural Language Processing Station from Lightspeed.
Todays scheduled markets were Orion’s Belt and Not One Of Us. Subbed War Driver to Orion’s Belt & Running With Scissors to Not One of Us. I did also make another sale. Again, hopefully by the time the blog goes live I’ll be able to announce it. [Welcome To The Death Machine Factory Tour was sold to Stupefying Stories.] This is my 100th story accepted as a writer. It’s taken 9 years.
39 stories subbed. 17 rejected. 3 accepted.
Jun 27th – Lovely and cool. Mmmm.
Todays scheduled markets were Etherea and Mythaxis. Or at least they would have been if I hadn’t misread the date for Mythaxis which is actually next month, so nothing is going there today. I subbed Top Field Tanks to Etherea Magazine.
40 stories subbed. 17 rejected. 3 accepted.
Jun 28th – Yeah, let’s not talk about the warmth today.
Straight into todays scheduled markets, which were Dark Void Magazine and Fairy Tale Review.
I had nothing long enough or dark SF set off Earth enough for Dark Void. After reading the guidelines more carefully, I realised my sub to Fairy Tale Review wasn’t suitable for the issue they were doing next, I’ll hold that and sub it there in the future. So I ended up subbing to Meat Is Murder to Cosmorama.
EDIT: MUCH LATER. No on On Common Ground from Brilliant Flash Fiction.
41 stories subbed. 18 rejected. 1 accepted.
Jun 29th – I discovered that my last sale has brought me to the magic 100 acceptances. Quite the landmark for a writer. Here’s to the next 100. I’ll deal with rejections first. No on War Driver from Orion’s Belt.
Todays scheduled markets are Three-Lobed Burning Eye and Calliope Interactive. I can’t sub to Calliope as I still have a piece waiting to hear back about with them. Subbed Running With Scissors to Three-Lobed Burning Eye. I’m not worried about being stung with sim-subs as I rarely get far with them.
42 stories subbed. 18 rejected. 3 accepted.
Jun 30th – And just like that the month is over and done. It felt like it’d never start, never end and now it’s done with. No on Life Is Grim from Augur’s Fancy & Fantasy.
Todays scheduled markets were Anotherealm and Bards & Sages Quarterly. I shitlisted Anotherealm recently, for taking almost a year to send a form rejection. I think I added them because I was struggling for markets at the 1st compilation. Rejections first. No on Terrance Thinks It’s A Good Idea from Seize The Press & on Volunteer To Be A Martyr from Radon Journal.
Subbed The Ripples Of Time to Bards & Sages. I also decided to try one of the bonus markets and subbed Second Site to Hellarky Vol 2. I also subbed We Grow The Legs Last to Stupefying Stories. That was by invitation, please don’t send Bruce stories, he is not open for general subs. I can’t confirm if my subs went out or not, Virginmedia are pissing about with the email server. I’m hoping they went.
45 stories subbed. 20 rejected. 3 accepted.
Summing up.
3 related sales during a challenge month equals the all-time best. 4 sales in a month is also a new record.
I don’t know when the next public challenge will be. I’ll probably do something myself for September. I’ll probably do next January & decide if Sept is open to anyone else nearer the time.
