New year, new resolve

It's that time of the year again when we make new year's resolutions, and when we review how we did last year.  And then set new goals for this year.  And, as usual, I got sucked up into this at the turn of the year.

December can be a difficult time for me, as I come to terms with the fact that, after another year's effort, I'm no nearer to my publication goal.  It's compounded  by the opening of awards season.  Around this time of year, SF writers start putting out posts detailing the work they've published during the year which is elegible for nominations.

I thought it was only me who got grumpy when I saw these announcements, but it turns out that I'm not alone.  A great many well-published authors also get down at awards season when they're not nominated for any awards.  The rejections never stop.

Through the magic of Twitter I've discovered that a huge number of well-published authors still get down if they receive a rejection.  There has been an ongoing discussion in the SF community this year about safeguarding mental health in the face of rejection.  Yes, many well-published writers still see rejection as a major determinant of their mental state.  I am not alone.

So for this year I've resolved to pull back from submitting short stories to the big SF magazines again. Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine published their 2018 stats on Twitter.  They had over 11,000 submissions, of which they'd buy around 30.  Those are ridiculous odds, especially for an unknown author, and I'm simply not taking that on this year.   This year I'm looking for new places to send my work, publishers who are in tune with me, my voice, my beliefs and values.

For me, that means seeking out feminist publishers and smaller presses for my work.  People I've never submitted to before, who seem to be more in tune with me.  So far this year, I've found feminist homes for two pieces of work, and I aim to seek out a whole lot more.

The goal for 2019 is to break through the door of fortress publishing,  and the best chance of doing that is by submitting to indie and smaller presses.  That's alongside querying the next book to agents,  and writing the new environmentally-themed novel.  Ultimately, all this activity comes down to one master resolution: I will never quit.