There’s this new feeling to writing that I get nowadays. I haven’t done anything different, but different things are happening.
No. Agents aren’t breaking down my door to represent me (yet). Nor are all of my short story ideas suddenly Nebula or Hugo Award-worthy (…yet?). But I do feel more confident with my writing – I know it’s of a higher calibre than it was a year, or even six months ago. Plus, more people are taking notice of my work. I’m getting more personalized feedback (to go along with my rejections!), and in some cases, I’m being given specific suggestions from editors, followed by requests to re-submit with changes made.
I’m trying to be more selective of where I submit my work too. Many of my short stories are hybrid-genres. They aren’t just science fiction, or fantasy. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve spent all this time submitting to ‘traditional’ markets, when I should have been looking for some of those magazines or journals who feature alternative writing. I believe that’s why I was successful with “Flesh” last month (having it accepted for publication in Kzine). And so, I’m trying that again with my story “Solace for the Soul-less”…
I came across Sci Phi Journal the other day, an online science fiction and philosophy magazine. In it, they publish “stories that explore questions of life, the universe and everything and articles that delve into the deep philosophical waters of science fiction universes” (from their About page). “Solace” is set in the future, but isn’t about robots or space battles. Rather, it raises questions about identity and immortality. Hey! That’s exactly what Sci Phi Journal is looking for! So I’ve actually withdrawn “Solace” from consideration at another magazine, in order to try my chances with a venue that might generate not only some interest in my writing, but some dialogue about it too.
Next on my list of things to do: another batch of agent queries! On this note, here’s a good bit of advice written by Kathryn Craft, of ‘Writers in the Storm’, a writing blog that I follow.