3

I received my 3rd acceptance of the year this morning, this time for a confession.

Published

My story "Mr. Private Eye Behind the Motel with a .38" appears in the just-released anthology Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books) edited by Andrew McAleer & Paul D. Marks. Order yours here.

Four

I finished and submitted my fourth short story of the year this evening. This one's a 2,700-word confession I started on the 17th.

Three

I finished and submitted my third short story of the year this afternoon. This one's a 7,300-word P.I. story I started on January 10.

Published 2x

My private eye story "Twink" appears in Heater, Vol. 4, No. 12, and my short mystery "Dead Things" has been reprinted in Big Pulp Annual 2016.

2

I received my 2nd acceptance of the year, this time for a confession.

Two

I completed and submitted my second short story of the year this morning. This one's a 2,000-word confession I started September 1, 2016.

1

I received my 1st acceptance of the year this afternoon, this for a historical erotic romance.

Published 2x

My story "Mr. Right" appears in the February True Confessions, and my story "Romance Rejection" appears in the February True Story.

One

2017 is off to a slow start. I haven't sold anything all year!

On the other hand, I did just finish and submit my first short story of the year, a 5,000-word bit of crime fiction I started on December 25, 2016.

2016 in review

45 acceptances (vs. 41 in 2015).

35 rejections (vs. 32 in 2015).

40 original short stories published and two reprinted (vs. 37 in 2015), 4 articles/essays published (vs. 3 in 2015).

I completed 56 short stories (vs. 41 in 2015).

I completed (to final draft) 169,430 words of short fiction (vs. 153,000 in 2015).

That's an average story length of 3,026 words (vs. an average of 3,732); the shortest story was 300 words; the longest was 8,000 words.

I completed and submitted an average of 1.08 short stories each week (vs. an average of .79 each week in 2015).

(I only track completed short fiction word counts, not words written for incomplete projects, nor words written for other forms of writing.)

Observations:

1) The increased number of completed stories and the decline in the average length of my stories is partially attributable to a mid-year attempt to crack Woman's World. I failed.

2) Woman's World and a few other publications do not send rejections. Non-responses are not included in the rejection count.

2017 Goals

I have three annual goals, and they remain the same as in previous years.

1) To complete and submit an average of at least one short story each week. This goal is completely within my control.

2) To receive an average of at least one acceptance each week. (Reprints and non-fiction pieces count for this goal.) This goal is under my control to the extent that I control how much I write and how much I submit. I do not, however, have any control over editorial tastes and requirements.

3) To continue to have one or more short stories published each and every month, as I have for several years now. This goal is under my control to the extent that I control how much I write, how much I submit, and how often I write seasonal stories (for example: Valentine's Day stories for February, Thanksgiving stories for November, etc.). I do not, however, have any control over editorial publishing schedules.