For December’s creative challenge, I
decided I would submit a short story a day all month. The reasons why
I decided to do this are so many that I don’t know if I’ll be able to
organize my thoughts on the subject.
For starters, I have been feeling low
lately. This happens to me from time to time. It usually happens in
the fall and into the early part of the winter. I really loathe the
winter. I live in Colorado, and I do appreciate the fact that it’s
sunny all winter. It’s dry. It’s brown. It’s really fucking dirty.
And to circle back around to the submission process, when I feel
down, the rejections that will inevitably come my way just don’t
affect me negatively. In the event that I get a publication, well, it
really improves the overall feeling.
Also, I feel like every few years when
I don’t feel relevant anymore, a few publications make me feel like
I’m still here, I’m still alive. To put it into perspective, my last
publication was in the fall of 2020. That’s a long time ago.
Then there is a practical element to
this. When I submit to magazines, I treat it like research for my own
magazine, Umbrella Factory Magazine.
After all, UFM got
it’s start because of a rejection letter I got back in 2009.
The
other thing I know, and this happens almost without fail, 90% of
these submissions will be rejected. If not rejected, then ghosted.
That leaves me with the 10% that will run in a magazine somewhere. If
I submit all month, 31 submissions, if all goes well, I can count on
3 publications.