April Submission Blitz – Things I Won’t Do

While I will write cover letters and resubmit stories until I’m blue in the face, there’s a few things I won’t do to try to increase my odds of getting published. I won’t submit anywhere where a submission fee is required – contests included. I won’t pay for a venue membership to get “preferential treatment”. I won’t buy editing services from the publisher in order to improve my chances of acceptance. And I won’t support a kickstarter campaign in the hopes that it will give me a competitive edge in the slush pile either. I’ve seen all of those “opportunities” come up at one point or another, but I’m in this for the long run, earning my way into the game. I’m not on the hunt for possible short cuts I might be able to buy, or some publishing lottery I hope to win.

When I submitted today’s story, they had the option of just making the submission, or submitting and paying $5 to enter their editor’s choice competition (3 prizes of $100? – that’s a small prize for that kind of entry fee.) And you could purchase one of their memberships to get preferential treatment (that’s exactly how they described it.) I may have little chance of an acceptance as a result of keeping my money in my pocket, but if that’s the case, so be it. I hold to the advice that unless you are self-published (and are paying for things like editing or cover art), the money should flow from the publisher to the writer and not the other way around.

I submitted a story that has already received several rejections, so I’m not holding my breath, especially since it will likely be parked at the bottom of the slush pile because I didn’t pay. Nevertheless, it’s still worth a shot.

More tomorrow…