Saturday, May 12, 2007

Productivity and Postage

I finished a new short story today, but preparing to mail it was a challenge.

A few days ago I saw the editorial calendar for a magazine I frequently contribute to. Yesterday morning I had a story idea that I thought would fit an upcoming issue. I wrote most of the opening scene and some notes for the second scene right away. Last night and today I wrote the balance of the story. After proofreading and minor edits, the final draft clocked in at 4,300 words.

As I was preparing the envelope and SASE I realized there's no way I'll get the story in today's mail and postage rates change on Monday. I haven't been to the Post Office to purchase stamps of the new denominations.

Luckily, my bucket o' stamps came to the rescue. I have a small butter tub filled with stamps of various denominations that I've collected over the years. Every time rates change I find myself with stamps that don't equate to anything useful. Today the bucket o' stamps proved useful. I was able to cobble together postage of the correct amount for both the outgoing ms. and--heaven forbid--the returning SASE.

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