Persistence Pays Off: Another Story Finds a Home
Hello Funny People,
Screenshot of AADM on Substack
Screenshot from the Submission Grinder
Screenshot of the Acceptance Email
This recent bit of news was definitely a pleasant surprise. But a welcomed one, I must say. Turns out my motto is correct: persistence does indeed pay off.
THE BIG NEWS!
So, those of you who've been reading this will know that this year was one for the records for me. Two of the four stories I sold and had published—"The Culebre of San Moreno" (Flash Point Science Fiction, September 2023), and "Boltstone and the Water Fey" (Fall Into Fantasy 2023, Cloaked Press)—were stories I'd been working hard for a long time to see into print.
Well, recently, I've had yet another success on that front.
My fantasy flash story "The Dragon Guide's Diary," a story even older than the previous two will finally make it into print come 2024 via a (fairly) new venue called Androids and Dragons Magazine.
A Brief Bit of Backstory
"The Dragon Guide's Diary" is a story I've had in my in-progress files for several years. I originally wrote it with Daily Science Fiction (DSF) in mind, as from what I'd read of their backlog, they tended to favor slightly odd flash pieces, particularly ones that played with form and voice.
However, just as I was about to send my little story out into the world—it was the next story I was planning to submit to them—DSF closed down operations. So I had to look elsewhere.
Last year I nearly broke into FPSF with it though, but it sadly didn't manage to make it over the last submission hurdle.
Rejection from FPSF
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If an editor is faced with only so much money left in the till and two stories they like, they're always going to go with whichever they like more. It's a fact of the submission process and can't be helped. What that kind rejection left me with, however, was a sense that this story was good. It was something I could keep believing in, so I kept it out there, hoping the right editor would finally take it in hand and put it out into the world.
Androids and Dragons Magazine
I did a little research on this new venue, Androids and Dragons (AAD) Apparently, the EIC started it as a paying publication over on the much maligned platform Substack.
I happened across the listing over of the Submission Grinder while looking for another venue to send this poor little story to when I spotted it. I figured, "Well...my story has a Dragon in it...and it's in their word count. What the heck?" Which is a pretty good summary of how writers submitting their work tend to think.
While I have to admit that I'm not thrilled the zine uses Substack as their host site (for...reasons, IYKYK), I will be happy to see the story get out into the world.
As a final note, Jenna Moore, EIC of AAD. gave me permission to commission my own accompanying art to go with the story. So, my friend Devora Johnson, the pen behind both this blog's spiffy logo and my character art of Boltstone, will be producing the art to go with this story. I've given her the design specifications and she's already doing the basic sketches for it.
You won't see it until the story goes live in April, but I expect the final piece to be quite the item.
— IMC 🙃
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