Submission Strategy

Miriel said:

Some writers never feel that their work is ready. I tend to be one of these, and submit instead when I know that the story is the best I can make it, and more editing will make it worse/beat it to death.

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I rarely feel my work is ready either, but that doesn't mean I would submit to crappy markets. (There are fantastic markets which do not pay, not the issue here.)

The editor of Whatever Spiffy Genre Rag is not going to look at your story three years from now and say, "Wow, this is the same gal who submitted that pile of rotting goat meat three years ago. Rejection!"

But, if you submit to a lesser market and get accepted, all hope of submitting that story to a more prestigious or financially rwarding market is out. You lose absolutely zero by trying. (Unless it's a hard copy only submission and the postage is big.)

I don't write much short fiction, but if I did, I'd be shooting for creds and SFWA membership, so I would only aim at paying markets. I'm sure I could get my work pubbed in e-zines no one's heard of for no pay, but what would be the point? I need to hone my craft, not look for easy validation.

I start at the top/favourite and work down, but never very far as the rain of rejections breaks my will and I collapse into fretful hibernation. All for a few pennies/cents a word.