Pro Markets Acceptance Rates

I like to look at TheGrinder periodically to see which science fiction short story markets have the highest acceptance rates, so here they are as of the beginning of October for your convenience.

SFWA Markets	Accept
Nature	0.1728
Daily Science Fiction	0.1088
Unlikely Story	0.0877
AE	0.0825
Interfiction Online	0.0789
Escape Pod	0.0645
Flash Fiction Online	0.0534
Beneath Ceaseless Skies	0.0524
Cricket	0.0434
Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show	0.0333
Writers of the Future Anthology	0.0304
Lightspeed Magazine	0.0278
Analog Science Fiction and Fact	0.0267
Fantastic Stories of the Imagination	0.0213
Strange Horizons	0.0156
Tor.com	0.0153
Crossed Genres	0.0145
Apex (starting with June 2008 issue)	0.013
Clarkesworld Magazine	0.0079
Asimov’s Science Fiction	0.0075
Buzzy Mag	0.007
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction	0.0054
Cicada	0.0049
Nightmare Magazine	0.0048
Cemetery Dance	0
Cosmos	0
Grantville Gazette (starting with May 2007 issue)	0
Highlights	0
Odyssey	0
Galaxy’s Edge Magazine	NA
Star Citizen Jump Point Magazine	NA

Timely Lilies, Lilacs, and Death Is Live!

I published my first short story today.  It's a little darker than my novels have been, but very Tin Baxter.  I entered it in Amazon Select to see how things are different, and I'll try to report back anything noteworthy.  But for now -- STORY!

Character for Veracity Now Live on Smashwords!

Up there now: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/555665.  Guess this means I'd better get back to work and start another one....  I'm thinking gothic horror this time, with some light detective dissolution thrown in.  I should have a formal announcement on what's coming up next month, so watch out!

Character for Veracity Is Live!

My second novel, Character for Veracity, is now available on Amazon and soon from Smashwords.  Time to celebrate!

Character for Veracity Is 100% Done!

Or at least the first draft is....  But this is the best part, imo, spending a couple of weeks with a good book and some light revising and we'll get it loaded up.  Feels good!

The Trivial Thing in Trade Paperback

My first book in hard copy: check it out!

Here Is the Cover for Character for Veracity!

Getting close now....  I've been hanging on to this for a while so glad to have a minute to load it up.  Enjoy!

Character for Veracity is 82% done!

Winding down to the end now.  Definitely not ending up as I expected, but it's starting to take on more of a dark Treasure Island feel, which I'm liking.  Just need to wrap up a few loose ends and it'll be up, I'm thinking by the middle of the month!

Hiatus!

Taking a break from the blog to pursue writing under a pen name.  I started self-publishing under it at the beginning of the year and so far have found it more gratifying than the submit-and-re-submit-and-re-submit grind.  I may post another 6 months statistics at the end of the year, and at some point I'd like to compare my earnings from self-publishing with my 3 years of attempts in traditional small market publishing, but there won't be much else for a while.  I don't plan on submitting any more stories for the rest of the year at least, but we'll see what happens....

Character for Veracity Is 68% Done!

Over two-thirds of the way done now.  Not going to finish by the end of July, but making good progress.  Cover reveal should be coming soon....

Character for Veracity Is 51% Done!

Over halfway done!  This one has definitely gone a lot more smoothly than The Trivial Thing.  I think I'm starting to get the process figured out.

Character for Veracity Is 35% Done!

Over a third of the way there (and only halfway through campnanowrimo.org...).

Sunset in the Westerwald Is Live!

I have a poem up in Bete Noire Magazine's Issue #19.  This one addresses the dissonance between the Americanized fairy tale stories we're all familiar with and the Germanic originals.  It's available on Smashwords, here!

New Smashwords Edition/Author Page

Have The Trivial Thing up on Smashwords up now too:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/554078

And another new author page:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/vjalrik

New Amazon Author Page

My author page at Amazon is now live!  Pretty snazzy:

https://www.amazon.com/author/vanalrik

The Trivial Thing Is Published!

Check it out on Amazon.

!!!

The Trivial Thing Is Finished!

It took about six times as long as I was planning, but it's done!  At least the first draft....  But hopefully I can review it and get it published by the end of the month.  I feel like I've said that before....

Fifth Six Months Statistics (Only One Month Late!)

But still late....

From November 2014 through April 2015, I only finished two new stories, and they were both drabbles, so only 100 words apiece.  Not too productive on the short fiction front, but I've been working on other projects....  I only submitted twelve times and to only seven markets (three times to Daily Science Fiction, twice each to Apex Magazine, Flash Fiction Online, and SpeckLit, and one each to Devilfish review, Wisdom Crieth Without, and Terraform).  Not too impressive, but I had a lot of other things going on, other projects, personal matters, excuses....  The results weren't too impressive either.  Though I did have the two acceptances to SpeckLit, I had eight form rejections, one never responded (magazine closed), and one is still pending.  I got another rejection on a previous submission and another never responded as well.  The average response time for the fifth six months was 30 days.

My Submission Plus-Minus was 0.38.  Not bad considering everything else.  That makes my lifetime Plus-Minus -1.41, reflecting six acceptances out of 7.41 expected.  Progress....

The Trivial Thing Cover

Here's the big reveal....  Should be finished and out soon.

The Trivial Thing Is 80% Done!

It's been neglected quite a bit the past few months, but I'm getting back up to pace.  Cover reveal should be coming soon....

Another (Missed) SFSignal Listing

I managed to miss another listing for one of my stories on sfsignal.com.  Pretty cool, though it shows how often I ego search.

Fourth Six Months Statistics (Six Months Late...)

I'm getting really good at delaying these reports.  Last time it was three months late, this time it's six....  The only question is whether this trend will continue linearly or exponentially (I plan on posting the next report today, but we'll see).

From May 2014 through October 2014, I again only finished three more stories.  I submitted twenty-six times to seventeen markets (five times to Drabblecast, twice each to Daily Science Fiction, Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi, Lakeside Circus, Nature Futures, and the Colored Lens, and once each to Apex Magazine, Bastion, Black Denim Lit, Crossed Genres Magazine, Domain SF, Flash Fiction Online, Pithy Pages, Plasma Frequency, Space Squid, Stupefying Stories, and Timeless Tales).  One of my submissions to The Colored Lens, "The Right Decision," was accepted, as was my submission to Black Denim Lit, "Zertanzten" (forthcoming).  Six rejections included personalized comments (Bastion, Goldfish Grimm's, Lakeside Circus, Nature Futures, Stupefying Stories, and The Colored Lens), and two never responded (Crossed Genres and Space Squid).  The average response time for the fourth six months was 20 days.

Submission Plus-Minus: I started out calling this my "over-under," but I think the plus-minus statistic from basketball better captures the spirit of it (but it's still not really a great fit, so when I think of a better name, it'll likely change).  This number just captures the difference between the number of acceptances I should expect to have based on The Grinder acceptance rates and the number of acceptances I actually get.  For the fourth six months, my submission plus-minus was -0.07, meaning I got just barely below what I should have expected based on the number of submissions I made and the markets I submitted to.  Not bad!  My overall plus-minus since I started submitting through the two years is -1.75, reflecting 4 acceptances out of 5.75 expected (I've still got a lot of early rejections to climb out of).

On to the next six months.

"The Right Decision" Is Up on TCL Website Today!

This story was published a few months ago, but the free version just went live at thecoloredlens.com.  Nice to have something to report on...hopefully more news will be coming soon.

The Trivial Thing Is 67% Done!

Entering the final stretch....

"A Case for Vegetarianism" Is Live!

Drabble #2 at SpeckLit!

Halfway there!

The Trivial Thing is officially at the 50% mark (and only a month behind schedule...)!  Let's see if I can finish the other half at a better pace.

"On the Metabolic Requirements of Non-Sentient Constructs" Is Live!

I have a drabble (100 word story) published on SpeckLit today!  They publish in twos, so I should have another one coming out soon.