The W1S1 Check-in and Chill Lounge and Bar

gettingby

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
2,748
Reaction score
170
Can I ask you guys about process? I know the idea behind W1/S1 is consistency, and it used to work well for me when I was starting out. Now, though, I find my stories taking longer and longer. The last two I sold took ages to write: one was more than a year old, and had gone through many many transforming revisions, and the other had been written, abandoned, and then pretty completely revised six months later. The one I'm finishing this week was drafted & abandoned more than a year ago, and it's only now that I've figured out what it's about.

When you guys are W1/S1ing, do you really write an entirely new story in two weeks (or whatever)? Or are you just making sure you finish a story and sub it?

For me, it's all about creating new material and sending it out. I want to constantly be creating. And I needed something like this challenge to put my work out there without overthinking it.
 

Sara K.

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2015
Messages
163
Reaction score
27
Location
London, England
Subbed a short non-fiction piece (about 625 words) to OOMK for their Internet issue, about 10 days ago. Should hear back after they close for submission on the 15th.

Also! My first ever fiction sub, with a short story having just gone out to Fantastic Stories of the Imagination. Time for that first kick-in-the-gut rejection to start hardening my writing skin ;)
 

ACFantasy

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
385
Reaction score
30
Congrats on the firs sub, Sara!

***

I finished my novel draft (woohoo!) It's done at about 96,500 words. I figure I'll leave it for a couple weeks, work on some shorts, then do the first round of edits. Try to cut it down a bit as I get it ready to send to some agents.
 

DarkSongofErrin

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
321
Reaction score
23
Location
Who knows
Finally did some minor edits to an old piece and re-subbed it. Probably should have done more to it, thinking back now.

Only 1 other piece out which I think I should hear a response soon. Hopefully.
 

ACFantasy

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
385
Reaction score
30
Random status update: up to 11 out. Expecting to hear back on a couple within a few days.
 

zanzjan

killin' all teh werds
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
VPX
VPXI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
9,728
Reaction score
3,208
Location
home home homityhomehome
Congrats and welcome, Sara K.! Remember, every 100th rejection, you're allowed to throw yourself a Big Damned Party. :)

11 out is awesome, AC. I have two out, one making the slow climb towards the average response time, the other having been the max pending time for that market on the Grinder for like three weeks now. Only some nail-biting author-anxiety there. :)
 

eyeblink

Barbara says hi
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
6,358
Reaction score
892
Location
Aldershot, UK
With rejections, as they say, whatever does not kill you makes you stronger. So congrats for acceptances and for rejections!

I had a rejection of a short yesterday from Black Static (I seem to be far better at recommending people submit to that magazine than writing something Andy likes enough to publish - though I have sold to him before). Within an hour that story was back out again to The 2nd Spectral Book of Horror Stories. Whether that editor (Mark Morris) will go for it or not, I have no idea, but it is a horror story so I'm submitting it.
 

ACFantasy

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
385
Reaction score
30
I've got something that might be good for Black Static, but I couldn't find any information on pay rates on their site. Any idea what they pay, Eyeblink?

###

Thanks, Zanzjan! I'm trying to push back towards having more stories out at once. I feel silly having stories written but just moldering on my hard drive. :)
 
Last edited:

eyeblink

Barbara says hi
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
6,358
Reaction score
892
Location
Aldershot, UK
I've got something that might be good for Black Static, but I couldn't find any information on pay rates on their site. Any idea what they pay, Eyeblink?

If I remember rightly, I got £30 for the story which appeared there six years ago, which was 4200 words long. I think it was the same for the two stories he took for Crimewave in 2002 and 2003. The one in The Third Alternative was back in the days (1995) when it was a black and white A5 quarterly, and it was a copy-only sale.

I can't speak for Interzone - I have been in there but it was when David Pringle was the editor.
 
Last edited:

Sara K.

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2015
Messages
163
Reaction score
27
Location
London, England
Thanks for the support guys :)

Will keep my fingers crossed for you eyeblink (with the anthology), & ACF with Black Static, if you decide to submit there.

---

Subbed a flash/short to Daily Science Fiction last night that I think fits their groove.
 
Last edited:

ACFantasy

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
385
Reaction score
30
Finished my first story of the month, and subbed to the Women in Practical Armor anthology.
 

ericalynn

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 19, 2013
Messages
136
Reaction score
12
Just heard from a place I'd submitted telling me that they'd (the fiction editors) sent my piece over to the poetry editors, where they were considering it as a prose poem rather than a short story. Not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, but I thought it was interesting!
 

JJ Litke

People are not wearing enough hats
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
7,997
Reaction score
4,475
Location
Austin
Website
www.jjlitke.com
Finished my first story of the month, and subbed to the Women in Practical Armor anthology.

I kept trying to come up with a good idea that one, but I'm running out of time. I'll probably get the perfect idea right after they close submissions.
 

ACFantasy

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
385
Reaction score
30
JJ:

Mine got Rejected from them. Ah well.
***

In other news, I finished and sent in my 2nd story of the month, "A Most Unusual Patriot", to Tellest.

Now I'm working on polishing up my UFO4 submission for next month, and also getting ready to take a second pass at my novel. 2nd draft, here I come!
 

_Sian_

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
5,867
Reaction score
909
Location
Victoria, Aus
Website
antagonistsneeded.wordpress.com
I got a very nice personal rejection from apex, but a rejection none-the-less. Ah well. It was a very nice rejection, I suppose. Although isn't that a contradiction in terms? *plods away to find other places to submit on grinder*
 

eyeblink

Barbara says hi
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
6,358
Reaction score
892
Location
Aldershot, UK
I got a very nice personal rejection from apex, but a rejection none-the-less. Ah well. It was a very nice rejection, I suppose. Although isn't that a contradiction in terms? *plods away to find other places to submit on grinder*

No, it's a good thing if you get a personal rejection. I can't speak for Apex myself as I've never submitted to them, but generally if your story was a no-hoper you'd get a form reject.

If your story is science-fictional, try Interzone? (UK print magazine, details here, takes online submissions. If you do submit there, please say hello to Andy Cox for me... :)) If you write horror/dark fantasy or crime, Andy also publishes Black Static and Crimewave, which are definitely worth submitting to as well.
 
Last edited:

JJ Litke

People are not wearing enough hats
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
7,997
Reaction score
4,475
Location
Austin
Website
www.jjlitke.com
Eyeblink is right, getting a personal R from Apex is really cool. If you're getting personal comments from pro markets, that's a great sign.
 

ACFantasy

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
385
Reaction score
30
Finished polishing my UFO4 submission. Now to wait for April 1.
 

eyeblink

Barbara says hi
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
6,358
Reaction score
892
Location
Aldershot, UK
Collection in sig has been proofread and should be in the world next week sometime. It's taken nine months to get to this point (which, given the premise of at least one story, is an appropriate timescale :)) or rather twelve years, as the oldest story in the book dates from 2003.

I now need a lie down.

Having written two short stories in draft in 2015, I'm going back to the novel in progress for a while before I do another one. As I did in 2013, I gave myself a New Year Resolution to write six in first draft at least in 2015.
 

LeadHead

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 19, 2012
Messages
309
Reaction score
52
Location
UK
Hey! New to this part of the forum.

Trying to get back in the submission game after my first acceptance a few weeks back: just subbed to F&SF, have an old flash that I'm polishing up for resubmission and ideas for new stories. I'm very excited!

Best of luck to everyone :)
 

JJ Litke

People are not wearing enough hats
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
7,997
Reaction score
4,475
Location
Austin
Website
www.jjlitke.com
I imagined this new story might have broader market options, but it's more the opposite. It's contemporary spec with kind of a twilight zone vibe, not true horror, not adventure fantasy, not literary. Maybe I'm overthinking this because I'm too tired. Sheesh. I'll go over it again tomorrow.
 

zanzjan

killin' all teh werds
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
VPX
VPXI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
9,728
Reaction score
3,208
Location
home home homityhomehome
Welcome LeadHead, and JJ, I hope the markets are being more cooperative for you this morning.
 

Aislinn

Head down
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 19, 2013
Messages
461
Reaction score
40
Location
Sydney, Australia
I've managed three stories finished, polished and submitted this school term which was about half of what I was aiming for. Next term should be more productive though. (Unless we decide to renovate the bathroom - a significant other possible use of my kid-free time.)

I've dug out my journal for the school holidays. The plan is to read over all the notes for this year's novel (The One That Sells(?!)) and wool-gather for two weeks.