Baseball as a Metaphor for Writing

From my January 31, 2005 Xanga blog:

Sometime within the past two years, I began using baseball as a metaphor for my freelance writing career.

For example:

Striking out. A rejection.

A single. Any one of the following: receiving an acceptance, receiving payment, receiving a contributor's copy, receiving or being short-listed for a writing award.

A double. Any two of the following happening on the same day: receiving an acceptance, receiving payment, receiving a contributor's copy, receiving or being short-listed for a writing award.

A triple. Any three of the following happening on the same day: receiving an acceptance, receiving payment, receiving a contributor's copy, receiving or being short-listed for a writing award.

A homerun. All four of the following happening on the same day: receiving an acceptance, receiving payment, receiving a contributor's copy, receiving or being short-listed for a writing award.

Stealing a base. A contributor to an anthology I edited receives or is short-listed for a writing award.

A walk. An editor requesting a submission based on a query, or an editor requesting revisions to a submission. Because this does not constitute a sale, but could very well lead to one, it doesn't count as a hit. However, it does get you on base.

I don't strike out as much as I used to, and I've stolen a few bases. Hitting singles and doubles happens frequently, but triples are rare.

And I've yet to hit a homerun.