Well, now I've gone and done it...
So, I sent off a 1,000-word zombie erotica thing to that "Rigor Amortis" thing phiala brought to my attention. Kind of a minor sort of thing but not really, as I've never worked up the balls to submit anything to anybody before.How do I feel about it? Sort of nauseous, actually. I don't really expect anything to come of it, so I can't quite put my finger on why I feel slightly terrible. Insecurity, I guess.
But, you know, what do I have to lose, right? I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?
(Don't answer that. It probably involves, I don't know, rabid ferrets or something, right?)
Anyway, figured I'd let the few of you who don't tweet know that I've now officially joined the ranks of writers awaiting rejection notices. That'll be all. No, wait, not quite: I am grateful and would thank everybody who's been encouraging and supportive. Seriously, you're part of the reason I grew a pair, finally. Thank you.
Comments
The main difference between my first submission and yours - aside from a few years - is that you're a far better writer than my 15 year old self. Hell, you're a far better writer than my 44 year old self (and I usually like what I write).
If anyone has a chance at this, it's you, Eric. Good luck.
At which point an editor will show up and crush your dreams under their uncaring boot heel because you made the mistake of convincing yourself that your story was PERFECT for the magazine/anthology/etc.
Rinse and repeat.
tl;dr: Good on you, and welcome to the club. And honestly, I do think the Stephen King method works, even if my friends all think it's an indication that I'm mentally imbalanced that I keep all of my rejections in a stack pinned to the wall over my desk.
Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil
While I'm not sure I'll actually keep a wall, I've gotta say King's On Writing is hugely inspirational and I can see the merits of it. If I don't pin them up to a wall, it'll be more about not being sure which wall to victimize than any sense of whether or not it's "imbalanced." I don't think it is imbalanced, and if it is, who wants to be balanced, y'know?
Interestingly, there's a potential for this one to end up being a "N/A" a la Dr. Phil's space station experience: there are people interested, but no firm deal with a publisher or anything.
At the very least, I guess this puts me a step beyond Kafka's Big Pile Of Stuff In A Desk That I Want Max Brod To Burn When I Die, right?
At least rabid ferrets won't be as bad as marmosets, if such occurs...
Congrats on breaking the barrier. If the story is as good as your posts they’ll love it!
Which Olympics? Both. I don't see why it needs to be a seasonal thing at all!
And really, the worst that would happen is you get a form letter.
I just entered the caption contest for the New Yorker, which I've always wanted to do. Maybe we both can be winners and become a famous creative family like the Coppolas!
I call dibs on being the crazyass Nic Cage figure!