How many markets do you try before giving up?

MumblingSage · May 29, 2008

To say it shortly, I have some stories that have been around the block a few times

, with no sucess, and I'm wondering if I should stop trying them as they are and instead pull back and regroup.

We're talking four, five markets here. Is that too few? Should I keep trying? Or is it time for a rewrite, or perhaps dropping the whole thing?

johnnysannie · May 29, 2008

You want to quit after 4 or 5 markets? :roll:

Unless you're getting a detailed rejection that leads you to believe that your fiction is dreck, I would continue submitting until that manuscript found a home.

It may not be a problem with the work but the markets.

Market research - as in finding the right market for any individual piece of work - is very important.

Keep trying - and good luck!

mikeland · May 29, 2008

Sometimes it takes a while to hit the right editor at the right market on the right day. I've had stories accepted after going to 17-18 markets. I've had stories that hit it in the low single digits. (No holes in one yet.)

However, I also have a couple of stories that have made the rounds at 20 plus markets. A couple of those are in the drawer for now. But I've got this one story that I've sent to 35 places. I love that damn story. It should be mothballed, but I just can't bring myself to smother it. (I just sent it out again two weeks ago.)

So I guess for me, hitting 20 is the magic number where I start to think about whether the story should be shelved or completely overhauled.

steveg144 · May 29, 2008

Everything I've written that hasn't been accepted somewhere is still making the rounds. Largest number of submissions before getting a piece accepted was 27. Smallest number before getting a piece accepted was 1. Given the number of outlets out there (esp. with the explosion of e-zines), you can probably spend the better part of a decade circulating a piece before you run out of places to submit it. Persist!

Summonere · May 29, 2008

Ditto the abovers.

I've sold stories in as few as a single launch, one went out thirteen times before selling, and I've got one floating around still after 33 rejections. Rewriting seems to be a consideration only if you're getting rejections that consistently note a deficiency somewhere.

Kate Thornton · May 29, 2008

I don't give up - I may rewrite or revise, but I don't give up.

Everything I have sent out (except one, which I am keeping for a possible market down the road) has been placed.

Don't give up - rewrite if it needs it, though.

blacbird · May 29, 2008

You give up when you lose count. That's what I've done.

caw

Mike Coombes · May 29, 2008

I target specific mags, having researched the market, so if I get a dozen rejection the story gets recalled for re-evaluation. Often it's the story, not the market.

The Scip · May 30, 2008

I have yet to give up on any story.

waylander · May 30, 2008

What everyone else said. I don't give up.

Phaeal · May 30, 2008

I will shelve a story after I've sent it to every possible market on the planet. And then I'll be on the look-out for new markets to open up. Then out that story will go again.

Four or five rejections? No big deal. I routinely get those, because I always submit first to the same few dream markets: Asimov's, Analog, SF&F for SF & F; Glimmer Train, The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly and so forth for mainstream and literary. These guys will NOT hear the last of me until they accept something! It's up to them to end their suffering.

Gray Rose · May 30, 2008

I shelved a story after it has been to seven markets and gotten detailed personal rejections from two of those markets (ASIM and Shimmer). The personal Rs showed me why the story does not sell as is. I am in the process of reworking it, and then, sure enough, I will send it out again.

All of my shorts are now shelved, in fact, because they all need tweaking. The tweaking is relatively minor for two, so these will go out again in June. the rest? I do not believe in sending a story out until I am 100% satisfied with it.

Polenth · May 30, 2008

I plan to keep sending stories till I run out of markets. I do re-read each story between submissions and make changes as needed. If that means holding it back for a full re-write, I'll do that. They'll be on their way again after that.

Disa · Jun 8, 2008

There's no giving up. I'd say, if you've researched and sent your pieces to every suitable market and it still isn't accepted. Put it aside for a period of time and go back to it later, look at it with fresh new eyes and see whether you feel it can be improved. Then research every acceptable market again and start all over. Really, there's no such thing as giving up

Pike · Jun 8, 2008

Would I be beating a dead horse if I majorly dittoed the above posts?

Pike

greatfish · Jun 12, 2008

Well

It might be fair to consider the types of rejections you've been getting. From what I've read, a generalized letter that says something along the lines of "Sorry, but the story is not what we're looking for right now" is a sign that your story didn't stand out to the editor and may need some heavy revising, while a personal rejection with specific details means an editor probably saw promise in your story and would have been more willing to publish it if the corrections noted had been made. I read this in an article written by an editor of the Atlantic Monthly, and while it may not be true for all editors, I bet its true for a lot of them, so it would probably make a fairly good guide to help you figure out if your story is as close to publishable as you think it is.

williemeikle · Jun 12, 2008

"Give up?" ... sorry, I don't understand

I recently sold a story ten years and forty rejections after I wrote it. And by sold I mean really sold, to a paying market

Willie

Shweta · Jun 12, 2008

I have stories that are still going round after serious rejection-pounding, and a few that I've pulled after 2 or 3 rejections.

It's partly the type of rejection (forms from places I'd normally get personalized Rs from are a big hint that I should rethink) and partly that sometimes I realize a rejection is right and I cannot fix the piece.

Basically unless I would be happy to see it in print, it's not getting submitted. But if I would, I'll send it round till hell won't have it.

Disa · Jun 13, 2008

Shweta said:
Basically unless I would be happy to see it in print, it's not getting submitted. But if I would, I'll send it round till hell won't have it.

Have you got the email address of hell? I didn't send my rejects there yet

Red-Green · Jun 13, 2008

It's a crapshoot for sure, so after 3-4 markets, no, don't pull it. I hit a hole-in-one at a serious old school lit mag with a story that I now consider utter crap. One of the best stories I've ever written has been rejected by...let's see...ten different markets now. It's out at #11 and I'm still hopeful.

C.M. Daniels · Jun 18, 2008

How many markets are there? Keep chugging!

starrykitten · Jun 20, 2008

Ditto, ditto. The kind of feedback you're getting is important too--"thanks but no thanks" is different than "please learn to type before you submit again."

Also, look at the kind of markets where you're submitting. A big part of the publishing game is finding a venue that gets what you're trying to do. If you're trying top-tier journals right off the bat, it's highly unlikely you'll get even any helpful feedback. But there are also some snooty small presses and genre-specific journals.

I think it also depends how much you believe in a particular story. If it touches you, chances are, it will touch someone else eventually, and that's worth keeping up.

Another thing to mention is that literary magazines from colleges and universities often have student editorial boards which change often. If it's been a few years, you'd probably have a whole different set of tastes there.

As much as you can, think of submission as something you kind of do in the background while you do your actual writing.

How many markets do you try before giving up?

MumblingSage

Inarticulate Herb

johnnysannie

mikeland

Call me Pookie

steveg144

Crusty Polemicist

Summonere

Kate Thornton

Still Happy to be Here. Or Anywhere

blacbird

Mike Coombes

Guru

The Scip

...walks this way.

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Gray Rose

Beware of the Thorns!

Polenth

Mushroom

Disa

Pike

Chivalry ain't dead

greatfish

williemeikle

The force is strong in this one.

Shweta

gone

Disa

Red-Green

KoalaKoalaKoala!

C.M. Daniels

Cinnamon, sit. Bad fish!

starrykitten

practical experience, FTW