Submission methods: Optimism vs. Efficiency

[NicoleMD]

When you research markets for a particular short story, do you:

a) find one market, send it off, and then research another if it's rejected

or

b) make a short list of potential markets, and if the story's rejected, move down to the next one on the list

I've been doing a, which is probably a more optimistic approach, but b seems like it would save me time researching markets all at once.

How do you do it, and more importantly, is there a c that I should be aware of?

Nicole

[Mumut]

When looking for an overseas publisher I made a list of those which would accept my genre, would accept submissions from the author direct and would accept submissions by email. I was lucky first try!

[blacbird]

Well, Optimism is a nearly-certain route to quick depression, so I don't go there.

Then again, Submission itself is a slightly less direct route to depression. So I've pretty much stopped going there, too.

And I'm still depressed. Any recommendations?

caw

[Adam Israel]

I use method a, but I would call it pragmatic, not optimistic. Markets temporarily close to submissions all the time, sometimes without notice.

I generally have an idea of 2-3 top markets to send a piece to, but I still check whether their open and double-check guidelines one at a time.

[astonwest]

I keep an Excel workbook where I plug in the info for various outlets as I find out about them. Each story I write, I add a sheet and copy over several outlets which I want to send it to. I keep track of when I sent it to them, when I heard back, and what their response was.

So, to answer the question, I go with b.

[mikeland]

I'm a bit like astonwest. I've got a spreadsheet with 100 or so markets that I've researched over the past three years. I've got the basics in there on each of the markets (submission periods, preferred word length, previous submissions, simsubs or not, etc.). Then, when I've got a new story or an old one to send to a new market, I've already got all the research at my fingertips and I pick a likely target (or targets). Before I send, I check the website for any changes in guidelines, then off it goes.

[C.M. Daniels]

So long as you follow the submission guidelines, go for efficiency.

[astonwest]

Before I send, I check the website for any changes in guidelines, then off it goes.That's the important part (I usually check Ralan for updates, and then the particular outlet's site just to double-check). I have one particular outlet on my list which seems to change their guidelines every month or so...keeps one on their toes.

[MumblingSage]

I try for route B, and then prepare a few drafts of submissions in my email. If a story gets rejected, I can send it out again that day (after checking to see the market is still open, double-reading guidelines, etc). It makes rejection sting less, since I do all my work when I'm feeling good and just have to click buttons after a reject.

[dgiharris]

I'm in the midsts of figuring all of this out.

I've noticed that all of my acceptances where with 3 magazines I was extremely familiar with, while my other submissions (the ones I didn't research so well) were all rejected, some with a handwritten note saying they loved the story but wasn't right for them *sigh*. Typical rookie mistake.

So now, i'm changing gears and taking more time making sure that i've read a few articles from the publisher in question to make sure my story 'fits'

I know, sounds obvious, but I was really in the 'fire-and-forget' mode concerning my babies.

As of last month, i've been doing a better job of targeting, hope it pays off. Only time will tell :)

Lastly, I also keep a spreadsheet of all my submissions, deadlines, targets, WIPs, etc. Highly recommend it.

Mel...

[Troo]

I've noticed that all of my acceptances where with 3 magazines I was extremely familiar with, while my other submissions (the ones I didn't research so well) were all rejected, some with a handwritten note saying they loved the story but wasn't right for them *sigh*. Typical rookie mistake.

We had some epic fail over at Pantechnicon. We make it abundantly clear both on the website and in the submission guidelines that we're a science fiction, fantasy and horror magazine. So what do I get?

Romance.

What's worse is that it was an absolutely amazing story. So I had to read all 10,000 words of it, searching frantically for some hint of genre compatability (because, you know, often something just turns out to be a genre story right at the end).

I had to turn it down. It wasn't remotely publishable by us. But it was one of the most amazing stories I've ever read, and I found it deeply frustrating that such a brilliant author couldn't identify a potential market properly before flinging this story out into the wild.

[astonwest]

I usually get tripped up by the sub-genre listings with certain outlets...I may consider something "dark sf" that isn't the same outlook as the editor.

[ChimeraCreative]

I have pretty good duotrope kung fu, so I go with option b. ^_^ I have a list of places I wanna submit to broken down into categories of how badly I wanna be published there.

-An

[Troo]

I usually get tripped up by the sub-genre listings with certain outlets...I may consider something "dark sf" that isn't the same outlook as the editor.

That's where reading an issue or two comes into play. We don't just suggest it to try and boost our circulation ;)

[astonwest]

That's where reading an issue or two comes into play. We don't just suggest it to try and boost our circulation ;)Indeed, but when you have too much on your plate already, one sometimes has to skip the read-through on many outlets.

[scope]

I begin by making a list of all the publishers who handle the genre of my work. When done, I look up each publisher in Preditors and Editors and other sources to see if any have "bad" reps (if so, I delete them). I then look at each publishers website and try to determine which ones would be a good match for my work (previosly books published, total number of books published the prior year, do they have a book similar in subject to mine, do they take unsolicited material or must everything go through an agent, etc., etc.). Doing the foregoing narrows my list. While on the publishers site I look for the name of the editor to who I would need to submit. As much as possible I then research each agent. The list keeps getting smaller. Given the publishers still on my list, I go to the library and look at some of the books they have published (would mine be a logical fit for them? -- does mine fit into a series they already have?). The list gets smaller.

Given the publishers still on my list, I now have a kind of "feeling" as to which would be best. Accordingly, I rate them -- 1 to 4 (1 being most desirable). From that point it's off to the submittal races.

[Troo]

Indeed, but when you have too much on your plate already, one sometimes has to skip the read-through on many outlets.

This is a false economy. A quick skim-read will tell you whether a publication is right for you, and it saves everyone time - you in sending it, and the editor in reading it.

[astonwest]

Maybe in around 2-3 months, after things calm down with my almost-finished WIP and the novella officially releases.

[Phot's Moll]

I usually pick a market as soon as I have an idea I want to work on and then write the story with that publication in mind. If it's rejected (which happens more than I'd like) I then look for another possible market (and sometimes edit the story to suit)

I have a spreadsheet with details of the markets I regularly sub to and I'm trying to add to this.

[Alpha Echo]

Well, Optimism is a nearly-certain route to quick depression, so I don't go there.

Then again, Submission itself is a slightly less direct route to depression. So I've pretty much stopped going there, too.

And I'm still depressed. Any recommendations?

caw


Geez. I wish you were joking, but I know better. This applies to me in all areas in life, including submissions.

[antebellum]

I use Method B as well, with a spreadsheet. Though, I'm not proud to say I submit so rarely I may as well be doing Method A!

[MicheleLee]

I keep a business notebook (which is lined differently than a normal notebook) and each story gets a page. There's a large unlined space next to the binding. I put a post it there and as I'm looking for markets I jot down the name on the post it if I think the market would b e good. So if I'm looking to submit story A but I find a market that I think would be perfect for story F (but that story is already out) I jot it down on Story F's post it so that next time it's time to submit I already have an idea of where to send it.

Once you get to the point where you are looking at the same guidelines over and over you might find that this saves time. I still check the submissions before sending, in case something has changed or they are closed. But I have little lists of potential markets on each page.

[Keffington]

You should always be working on your knowledge of the markets you'd most want to sell to. That way once you finish a story you can go, "Hm, this sounds a lot like a story from X magazine or Y ezine."

Do your research before you send it out as far as which markets sound like a good idea. Then double check when you're sending the story to market #2/3/4/etc to make sure that the market is still open, has the same fiction editor, blah blah blah...

I tried to do the optimistic method, but it made me dislike rejections. Every time I got a rejection, it meant I had to go figure out where to send the story to next. Aaah! I'm kind of nuts, though, and that was really the only thing I didn't like about getting rejections.