How long?

[macandal]

Or maybe I should say, how many? Or maybe a combination of the two? [How long did it take you to get] [How many times did you submit before you got] your first short story published? Just wondering. I've had no stories published anywhere so far but I just started this year, in July. I've had two rejections, though (for the same story). I have a story pending at Glimmer Train.

[Jamesaritchie]

Or maybe I should say, how many? Or maybe a combination of the two? [How long did it take you to get] [How many times did you submit before you got] your first short story published? Just wondering. I've had no stories published anywhere so far but I just started this year, in July. I've had two rejections, though (for the same story). I have a story pending at Glimmer Train.

I sold the first short story I wrote to the first magazine I submitted it to. Then I sold the next two short stories to the first magazines I submitted them to. Then the first agent I contacted took me on, and sold my first novel to the first publisher she sent it to.

Only then did I start receiving rejections, and there have been plenty along the way. Because of a thread here, I actually counted all the rejections I've received along the way, and there have been 265. Though one stinky short story can draw a couple of dozen before I give up on it.

But it can happen all sorts of ways, so don't sweat the rejections. Some writers sell their first story, some do not. William Saroyan received 4,000 rejections before selling his first short story, and Erskine Caldwell wasn't too far behind him. Both of them turned out all right.

[arrowqueen]

Yep. I sent in over 40 before I sold my first short story - but got my first novel accepted on the second attempt. (and I hadn't even written it yet.)

Everybody's story is different - but one of the main things you need to succeed is sheer thrawn, bloody-mindedness.

Luckily, most writers have this in spades.

[AdamH]

Since I started writing seriously (about 3 years now) and not just as a hobby, I got my first short story published about 2 years later. I went through about 10 rejections during that period with various other stories. Mind you, I didn't submit non-stop. I was careful to pick and choose where to send them. After about 2 rejections per story, I get bored with it and move on to something new. It's a fault. A few of them I think could really find a home with a bit of reworking. Hmmmm...now I feel inspired to send them out again. Thanks, Macandal!

If everyone on this board answered this though, you'd find that there's no real way to gauge a writer's skill level at weaving stories against the number of rejections he or she has. JAR and Arrowqueen pretty much said that.

[Jamesaritchie]

If everyone on this board answered this though, you'd find that there's no real way to gauge a writer's skill level at weaving stories against the number of rejections he or she has. JAR and Arrowqueen pretty much said that.

No, the reason it actually takes some writers much longer to get published has nothing to do with skill or talent. Even highly talented and skilled writers sometimes take a long while to get the hang of understanding just what individual editors really want.

No matter how well a story is written, if it's not right for a particular magazine, the editor will say no. Though if it's good enough, he will usually ask the writer to keep trying.

Writing a good story isn't enough. To sell with any regularity, you have to write a good story that matches what an editor wants, and this can be tricky.

This is why it's so important to read, and study, the magazines you want to write for.

[pdr]

To be little Ms Echo , it's as everyone here has said. If your writing skills are reasonable then it's your marketing skills that help you quickly find a home for a story. You can never stop scanning the guidelines and the market mags because in there will be the prefect home for that next story. There are markets in SA, NZ, OZ, Can, USA, Uk, Eire, and a lot of English language mags in Europe. You can sell the same story to most of them then antholgies then the www.

[PeeDee]

but got my first novel accepted on the second attempt. (and I hadn't even written it yet.)

Geeze. I'm thoroughly envious. Off topic (perhaps the subject for a private message, or another thread) but how DO you mysterious folk sell novels you haven't written yet?