I’ve been reading and writing and reading some more. I’ve been thinking about submitting some short stories in 2018 and maybe some Creative Non-Fiction. So, I have also been researching the markets.

Rejections are a source of pride. Rejections are tangible proof you are a writer. Well, maybe not so tangible in the days of email submissions.

I used to watch my mailbox for SASEs in my own handwriting. I used to keep a ledger with a record of postage, paper, envelopes, copy expenses and market research. When I was trying to home my stories and articles I would buy magazines locally or send off for copies to be delivered.

Things have changed. Now, I can do much of my marketing and submissions using the internet. But the price of being online may be more than what I spent in the 90s and the 00s.

Oh, right, back to why I started this post.

I cannot name my source but I read that some, many, rejections are not because your work sucks the big one. Your work may be rejected simply because the upcoming issue already has three stories about breast cancer and they need some comic relief in the issue.

Many magazines have an editorial calendar of themes and submission deadlines for those themes. You may scour their websites or go ahead and shoot off an email asking for the calendar. It will help you plan. You may want to hold onto the Thanksgiving story until after the Spring Solstice. August would have been a great time to submit that Valentine’s Day short.

What are you planning or even planning on planning for 2018?