Fiction Writing Face Off

Me Neither

2010-04-08T17:01:00.003-06:00

Bleh bleh bleh.

I did, however finish another novel, CANCELED.
Still cranking along with my 500 words a day - haven't missed in over six months.
Still submitting stories and queries left and right.

And still haven't sold a thing.

Bleh, indeed.

2010

2010-04-01T00:03:00.001-06:00

Haven't posted lately.

Bleh.

Ode to the Discouraged Writer

2010-01-19T21:18:00.001-07:00

A writer with a broken heart, too sad to pen his stories
Is like a bank account overdrawn, with steep penalties
When checks start bouncing back to you like rejections left and right
When pushing forward with this dream brings cold sweats in the night
When the coffers are empty and all the loans have been called in
The writer who ceases to believe has let the naysayers win
A starving artist with no dough must persevere regardless
The uphill struggle 'gainst competition and writer myths
Your world may be dark right now with no light within your reach
But forage blindly on and you'll eventually succeed
You knew it wouldn't be easy, only worth it in the end
So quit your whining, get to writing, there's more stories to send!

December Numbers - David

2010-01-01T09:42:00.002-07:00

Score - 1048

Well, 2009 has ended and 2010 is here. Overall, 2009 was a good year highlighted by the birth of my son on October 29th.

Writing-wise, it was also a good year. I completed four novels (though I know the last one will need a revision to fix a few things but it is complete) and wrote several short stories. I also sent out queries on one of the novels I finished and had two requests for full manuscripts.

I finished December with a word count of 39,358 giving it a fourth place finish on my top months of writing. I missed on my goal of having all top ten months in this year by two, hopefully I can fix that next year. I ended the year with 439,418 total words for the year. Not bad.

Not totally sure on my goals for 2010 yet even though it's already January 1. I think I'm going to aim for another four novels but also more short stories.

Here's looking forward to an awesome 2010!!!

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

2009-12-31T12:34:00.004-07:00

December was a rockin' month, as I wrote over 40,000 words (total TBD as the day ain't over yet). This is a new record for me. The month included two weeks over 10k, including a new record week of 10,575.

I also just completed three straight months of writing 500 words minimum per day (Sundays excluded).

My current novel, CANCELED, is at 50k words and rolling along.

I'd like to report exact stats for the year, but I only started tracking in March, so my stats would be incomplete. BUT, I can say that I have written well over a quarter million words for the year. I also have submitted short stories 122 times this year, with over 100 rejections (19 stories are still in the mail). I also sent out 75 novel queries.

Thanks to that blitz of novel queries for UNCLE SAM and ASSASSINWARE, I now have 1042 points.

Also this year (in November) I started my own website - www.michaeldbritton.com. However, it is not much more than a parking space right now. One day I'll open a store there, but don't want to spend the money for shopping cart functionality right now.

And now: my goals for 2010.

Write 250,000 words (probably three novels and twenty short stories, but any combination will do).
Submit short stories 100 times or more.
Make 200 or more novel queries.
Make it to at least one workshop in Oregon (dependent on finances)

Short and sweet.

2010 is going to be a great year!

November Numbers - David

2009-12-01T20:44:00.002-07:00

Score - 974

November was good, I guess. It's amazing to watch a baby grow and Kaden is growing well (thankfully). The downside is that October caught up with me this month and my numbers fell. I didn't make much progress at all on the novel (I've GOT to finish it in December to make my goal of 4 novels in one year). Even though I had way too many days under 1,000 words, I pulled a 3,766 word day on November 30th to save this month from not making my top ten - it came in ninth.

On the down side, I now can not make 2009 contain all of my top ten months. :( At best, it will hold the top eight. *shrugs* Oh well, now it's a goal for 2010.

I also sold my second short story this month (Yay!), a nice little Christmas story titled "Paper Snowflakes" which tied for thrid place in an online contest at The Cynic Online Magazine. I only made $25 for it (well well below pro rate) but it's nice to see it out there and I've recieved some nice feedback about it. That story is one I wrote in one day two or three years ago (I wrote it at the day job that day - so technically I already got paid to write it *snickersnicker*) and I originally intended it to be the first part of a short Christmas novel. I started the novel long ago but have never gotten back to it (which is why I don't take breaks from my novels now). Who knows, maybe I'll go back and write the novel one day. I sure am fond of that story.

Also in November, I sent out close to 70 queries (to editors and agents) for my novel NEW WORLD WAR. I've recieved several rejections (some form letters, some not) but I also had one editor respond the very next day asking to see the entire manuscript. She emailed me several times about it that Sunday morning before ever actually reading it. Haven't heard from her since (almost two weeks) so who knows.

So here are some numbers:
Total Words for November - 32,442
Total Words for 2009 - 400,060 (December still to come)
Total Short Stories Completed - 41
Total # of Short Story Rejections - 120
Total # of Short Story Sales - 2

I don't plan on sending any queries out during December (since New York publishing apparently all but shuts down during December) but I do plan on getting queries ready for the rest of my novels so I can send them all out in January and February.

Think that's it. Looking forward to December 2009 and all of 2010!

I did it

2009-11-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Wrote 2,497 tonight (in about an hour and a half) bringing me up to 25,453 for November. Wahoo!

November Round Up

2009-11-30T20:23:00.002-07:00

Well, my score has dropped back down considerably, to below the ONE GRAND mark.

This is because David an I decided to adjust the scoring system (as you can see on the left). Now, a novel submission is only worth 2 points (instead of 10) but we've added a 15 point reward for having an editor request a full manuscript (seeing as David ALREADY got a request for a full!).

So, I'm finishing out the month with 936.

I could've had a lot more, but decided to save my query blitz for the new year (maybe a week or two into January), at David's wise suggestion (since New York is pretty much on vacation for all of December. Why end up at the bottom of a pile of deleted emails?)

So, expect a big bounce in January.

For now, however, this month has not been bad:

15 short story submissions
32 novel submissions (queries)
Two weeks over 7,000 words
And as of right now, 22,956 words (I still have to do my 500 for today).
I'm now at two full months of 500 words a day (Sundays excluded) and into my 9th straight week of at least one submission per week (I actually have 34 short story subs in the last 9 weeks).

If I can write 2,044 words tonight (VERY unlikely), I'll meet my goal of 25k for the month.
However, I have already surpassed last month by nearly 3,000 words, so that is good enough. As long as I write more than the previous month, I'm good.

I'll update later with my total November word count.

Off to write!

New Score: 1164

2009-11-19T12:53:00.002-07:00

Yep, that's right: 1,164 points.

Thanks mostly to consistent short story subs and the huge deal this week of writing my query/synopsis for ASSASSINWARE and UNCLE SAM, then getting 16 and 15 queries out the door for those books, respectively (total of 31 novel subs in the last three days).

Woohoo!

I sure hope I get some bites . . . even a sale. :)

749

2009-11-05T15:57:00.001-07:00

I've made a huge jump in just the past four days, from 715 to 749!

I now have 28 stories out for sale.

David, I'm coming for your score!

October Numbers - David

2009-11-02T22:03:00.006-07:00

Score = 773

Wow. October was great in SO many ways.

So the biggest news is, of course, that my son was born on the 29th at 8:50pm. Kaden David Michael Schibi is awesome.

Now to writing news. I'm still working on SCION but plan to finish it in November. I set a goal at the first of October to beat 37,800 and boy, did I. I ended the month with a total word count of 47,023 (a whopping 1,517 per day average). I set a minimum of 1,220 words per day and hit it every day even through the birth. My previous highest month total was 43,304 making October 2009 my new highest month.

In addition to working on my novel WIP, I also wrote three short stories this month (two of which aren't quite finished yet) and started the synopsis of one of my other completed novels so I can get it out the door.

For the month of November, my number one goal is to finish SCION. That will be my fourth novel this year completed. In doing that, I'll probably set another new writing total for the month. Another goal for November that won't effect my numbers is to complete synopses of my other completed novels and ship them out the door (can't sell them if I'm not sending them out).

So, cheers to October 2009, I'll never forget it!!!

October Summary

2009-11-01T18:43:00.004-07:00

Well, I am pleased to say that October went pretty well.

I started regular writing again, after a crazy and irregular summer that included a trip to workshops in Oregon, selling our house, moving out, buying our new house, and eventually moving in, then doing tons of home projects.

Anyway, I wrote my minimum of 500 words a day every day in October (Sundays, as always, excluded). That means a writing streak of 31 days (or, technically 27 actual writing days). I still haven't figured out how to count that.

I now have four consecutive weeks of over 3,500 words, and I surpassed by goal of 20,000 words for the month, finishing at 20,342. I made 19 short story submissions in October, and completed my YA novel, UNCLE SAM.

And . . . I have finally succeeded in attaining (for now) my goal of having at least 50% of my short story inventory out for sale. (I'm at 51% with 23 stories submitted currently).

My Fiction Writing Face-Off score is now up to 715.

For November, my word count goal goes up by 5,000 to 25,000 (a mere half of a NaNoWriMo), and I will continue my 2009 goal of a minimum of one short story submission per week. My other big goal for November is to submit both ASSASSINWARE and UNCLE SAM to at least one market each (though I expect to easily surpass that, once I get this whole query-writing and synopsis thing down).

I will also strive to keep 50% of my short story inventory submitted, though I know I will need to find some new markets to accomplish that.

Good luck with November, David and Paul! Here's to a fantastic writing and submitting month!

(And congrats to David and his family for their new addition, Kaden!)

How Many Fiction Writers Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb?

2009-10-19T12:06:00.004-06:00

It's simple: Twenty-nine

· One to secretly dream about one day quitting their day job to become a full-time lightbulb-changing writer

· One to tell everyone they're a lightbulb-changing writer, but never actually do anything about it

· One to come up with the idea to change the lightbulb in a new and compelling way (and then suggest a "collaboration" with someone who actually changes lightbulbs)

· One to start changing the lightbulb but not finish the job

· One to get THIS close to finishing, then decide it's all crap and throw it in the trash and start over

· One to finish it but then redo it over and over and over and over again

· One to finish it but then never turn the light on (put it in a drawer and not tell anyone)

· One to hire an agent to tell him how to change a lightbulb

· Ten to form a critique group to tell him how they each would've changed the lightbulb differently

· Ten more to give up on ever changing a lightbulb

· And one to actually do it, start to finish, once; turn it on, sell it, then do it again.

(Yes, I made this up myself.)

On second thought, I may have underestimated the number of giver-uppers. Perhaps that should be a thousand for every "one" who actually does it.

Now, "Let your light so shine..."

Smokin' on the Subs

2009-10-15T23:19:00.002-06:00

Just sent out 5 more stories electronically, bringing my total subs to 21 (a new high), which is 47.7% of my inventory. One more sub and I'll be at my goal of 50%! As soon as I get A SLAVE TO RACE back from Writers of the Future (it was my latest Honorable Mention), I will mail it to F&SF. (I'm just waiting because I don't want to have to reprint it.) Then I will have 22 of my 44 stories "in the mail."

So, I just pumped my score up to 621.

Now to write my 500 words for the day - which will bring me to 13 days on this streak.

Some stats, and some new goals

2009-10-07T11:35:00.001-06:00

I've only written 104 days since I started tracking my daily word counts back on March 7th, 2009.

There have been 183 eligible writing days since 3/7/2009 (since I don't write Sundays), so I have only written for 56.8% of the available days. Moving and job hunting, etc., sure set me back a lot this year.

Anyway, my total words since I started tracking is 134,921.

That is an average of 1,298 words per writing day.

So, given that I plan to write 365 (minus 52 Sundays) next year, = 313 days, I should shoot for 1,300 x 313 = 406,900 (or round down to 400k) as my writing goal for 2010. Rounding down to 400k allows me to miss completely on 5 days, or fall 300 words short for a whole month.

So, my 2010 goals are:

Maintain 50% of inventory in submission at all times
Write a minimum of 500 words per day, six days per week
Hit 400,000 words for the year (that's 33,333 per month average) - I know I can do it, since I wrote over 36k in May
Attend at least one Lincoln City workshop (preferably two or three)
Finish four novels and 26 short stories (that's one book a quarter plus a short story every two weeks)

By the end of 2010, I should have at least half dozen books under my belt (and hopefully subbed to multiple publishers) and about 36 short stories out for sale (which is double my current max).

If I am not published by 2011, I will throw in the towel. (Just kidding - I will never give up!)

Honored (again)

2009-10-07T11:30:00.002-06:00

Well, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. So they say.

Just got my fifth (5th) Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future.

That was my tenth submission to the quarterly contest, so I am batting .500 with them.

I just subbed my 11th attempt a couple of weeks ago, called STATUTE FORTY-NINE (the September challenge story for David and I).

Here's hoping (as usual) for a win this next time.

Update - Missed Numbers

2009-10-06T23:10:00.001-06:00

I have to post an update to my score. I just realized I never added the points for completing the novel that I finished in September. So that, combined with my recent completed and submitted short story, make my current score 736.

You may all now return to your regular daily activities.

Ah, September, We Barely Knew Thee . . .

2009-10-01T13:22:00.002-06:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . oh wait, that's been done already.

It was the best of times, in that we got into our new house.

It was the worst of times in that I barely wrote anything all month. The last word of fiction I wrote in September (the 4,004th word) was on September 8th. Sad. Very, very sad.

But I am going to get back on track, starting today. I intend to write my minimum of 500 words, 6 days a week, no matter what.

As for submissions, etc., I submitted one story early in the month to a Good Housekeeping contest, then at the end of the month did a blitz of six stories via snail mail to my top six markets, for a total of seven submissions in September (which well surpasses my 2009 goal of one per week). I also received a number of rejections during the month, bringing my current total to 95.

Total points: 594. (Hey David - you neglected to post your score.)

And with 18 stories (out of 43) currently subbed, I decided to have a new goal of always having 50% of my stuff submitted. Right now I stand at about 42%.

So anyway, I will just let September 2009 fade into writing history, and commence anew for October!

Current goal: finish UNCLE SAM.

(David: What will be the challenge short story for this month? It's your turn . . . )

September Numbers – David

2009-10-01T13:09:00.005-06:00

Score = 674

So, we moved this month. That hurt my production quite a bit. I also discovered online tournament poker at Full Tilt - I’m still fighting that one . But I did manage to keep this month from being one of my worst.

My total for the month was 32,242 (1,075 wpd avg.) – a solid ninth place in my top ten months list. I felt okay about that finish considering from Sept. 9 – Sept. 15 (when we moved) my highest daily total was a whopping 863 (two other days were in the 700s and the other four were just above 500). But, on a positive note, I never missed a single day of writing the entire month.

Through the first nine months, I’m averaging 35,622 words per month. I am at 320,595 words for the year and seven chapters into my fourth novel (of this year). My total word count for last year was 286,417.

My goal for the month of October is to beat 37,800 words and to get some sort of schedule down for writing (which mostly involves me limiting my online poker playing – focus, David, focus.). Once I can settle into a routine I know my writing totals will go up.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.

Just glancing at my inventory . . .

2009-09-29T11:31:00.002-06:00

...and noted that I have 18 stories out right now. I am pretty sure that's a personal record. I decided to keep a note on my "Face-off scoring tab" to track that record. And I just decided to make it my goal going forward to ALWAYS have at least 50% of my total inventory in circulation. Right now, that would be 22 stories, so I'm currently 4 stories short for that goal.

It will always be a moving target as my inventory grows, and will surely be a challenge to find enough markets for those stories. But it will also drive expansion of my sales opportunities.

Now all I need to do (aside from finding more markets) is grow that inventory and start WRITING again . . . I intend to start taking lunches and dedicating that time to the endeavor. I intent to start today.

An end of month report will be coming soon . . .

August Numbers - David

2009-08-31T21:22:00.002-06:00

Score = 674

Well, I finished the month of August much better than I thought the month was going to go. My total number for the month is 35,045 (1,130 a day average). That total earned my fifth highest month award (beating out the previous 5th highest month by a whopping - brace yourself - 26 words).

The cool part is that this month puts me over the annual total for last year by 1,936 words. And I've still got four months to go. And did I mention I just quit my day job? I'm pretty excited to see what I can do in the next four months (of course, we will be moving in a couple of weeks so that might slow me down a bit).

Welcome, Paul C. Tseng!

2009-08-27T09:08:00.003-06:00

We have a new member of the Fiction Writing Face-Off!

Paul Tseng is an accomplished writer and musician who has decided he is man enough for the challenge! ;)

We'll let Paul introduce himself. But we're glad to have him aboard, and we look forward to the additional motivation to write and submit, and the extra set of eyes for first reading of our work.

Enjoy!

Another Jump (Michael)

2009-08-26T22:08:00.002-06:00

I got a super-quick rejection from COSMOS - two days after submission I got an email whose only words were: "Not right for COSMOS, sorry." Wow.

Anyway, that is one more rejection (1 point) plus I just realized I've finished three short stories in the last five days, so that's another 21 points.

New total: 561.

Short stories in inventory: 42
Current submissions: 15
Rejection total: 90

Now I must work on the UNCLE SAM novel, get it finished, and get it out!

Michael Surge

2009-08-24T22:14:00.004-06:00

Just a little surge, as I managed to make three submissions today (all electronic).

DREAM SOLDIERS went to Cosmos Magazine.
PROWLER went to The Smart Set website's "Something Personal" department.
A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND went to Nature Magazine's "Futures" flash fiction department.

All three are markets I was previously unaware of, all three pay pro rates.

New score: 544.

A poor writing day (74 words) but still feeling pretty good about Saturday's 4,709 words. :)

Michael update

2009-08-20T21:36:00.005-06:00

Okay, things have been crazy with the move (and it ain't over yet!) - but I am TRYING to make some time to write and deal with the business end (submissions).

I received a rejection this evening for MIND OVER MATTER from Strange Horizons, so I turned around and sent them one of my new ones, DECISIONS, DECISIONS, and while I was at it I sent another of my new ones, TURN THE PAGE to Abyss & Apex.

So that's one more rejection and two new subs today.

Score: 529 (I think I did something wrong on my last post)

Total short stories: 39 (still working on finishing a couple)
Subs: 13
Rejections: 89

Still need to get to finishing the UNCLE SAM novel.
That's all for now.

Michael Latest

2009-08-04T20:45:00.004-06:00

David, those are awesome word count numbers, man!

I'm now at 537 points.

Stories = 39
Current subs = 15
Rejections = 82

I'm going to fall behind for a few weeks while we get out of this house and into our new one.

But I did still manage to complete another story today (writing over 2,000 words in just over an hour). And I plan to keep subbing despite the life roll.

Keep on truckin' dude!

July Numbers - David

2009-08-01T10:16:00.002-06:00

Score - 642
Whew. I'm SO glad July is over. Not my favorite of months.

My numbers for the month are: Total Words - 31,006 (currently in the tenth spot on my Top Ten months) with 1,000 words per day average.

Perhaps the coolest number I have running right now is my annual total. Currently I'm at 253,308 for the year. And I'm in the middle of my third novel with the goal of writing another one before the year is over. Last year, my total for the year was 286,417. So I'm 33,109 away from breaking my annual total from last year. Right now, my average words per month is 36,187. So I should be able to top my annual total from last year in August and still have the rest of the year to smash it into little pieces. Yay!

Michael = 529

2009-07-29T14:41:00.002-06:00

Got a rejection today from Drabblecast (PROWLER), but turned around and sent them another (THE BUS). Also, submitted my story for the Esquire contest, a story called TWENTY-TEN (per their rules).

So, here's what I've got:

Stories: 38
Current submissions: 16
Rejections: 81

Plus the novel points, which almost never change for me (right now). Hopefully once we get moved I'll be able to hammer out the rest of UNCLE SAM and add 50 points for a completed novel (plus get it subbed for more points).

Michael = 523 points

2009-07-27T23:47:00.004-06:00

And in the next couple days I'll be at 528 (after I submit my story for the Esquire contest).

I have three more stories to finish (that I started at the workshops) and then I REALLY need to get my novel, UNCLE SAM, finished.

Rejection count is currently 80.
Finished, sellable stories in inventory = 38.
Current subs = 15.

The word count (streak) points kick in on Saturday!

Time to sleep now.

Quick Update (Michael)

2009-07-21T16:12:00.002-06:00

Just got back from an AMAZING week and half of workshops on the beautiful Oregon coast!

Received a few rejections while I was gone . . . also subbed one while I was away, and just subbed 3 more via the web. (David, if you haven't subbed three stories to Glimmer Train's open subs for July - you still have a week or so!)

I added two sellable works to my inventory while at the workshops, and have some story starts that I'll be wrapping up soon. THEN, I really need to get my UNCLE SAM novel finished up.

So anyway, I just broke 500 points (YAY!) - Actual score is now 506.

Mid-July Update - David

2009-07-14T18:31:00.002-06:00

Current Score: 618

Well, it's official: July is one of my least favorite months. It's hot. There's no football. I want to be in Oregon for the workshops Michael is attending but couldn't make it.

And for some reason, I'm struggling with my writing.

I currently have 16 short stories submitted, 76 rejections, and one sale. I'm doing well at keeping that number of submissions up and need to continue to find other markets to sub to.

Gotta find my groove again...

David Update - 7/1/2009

2009-07-01T22:23:00.002-06:00

Score 611

Got my new short story submitted to Drabblecast but also recieved my SASE from Talebones Magazine informing me they were currently closed but would reopen in a few months. I don't count that as a rejection since they didn't look at the story - just bad timing.

I've got a few more words to write for today and then I'm going to sleep. Very tired.

June Summary (Michael)

2009-07-01T14:14:00.003-06:00

Week One: 8,419 words
Week Two: 8,967 words

Ah, yes, I was on track for a fabulous month . . . but then I got the reading assignments for my one-on-one tutoring with Kris Rusch (focusing on setting), and had to quit writing for the month.

I still have to read most of the second book, and there's still a follow-up assignment to come!

At the very end of the month, I picked up writing again so I could get a submission in under deadline. This month, I had a 3,828 word day (6/3) and a 3,833 word day (6/29). Man, it could've been a major month if I didn't have to do that reading.

As it is, I finished with only 23,155 words for the month. Of course, I only wrote for 14 days, which means my daily average was 1,654 per writing day - not bad at all. At that rate, if I'd written all other normal writing days (that is, non-Sundays) I would've got 43,004 for the month!

However . . . I really did well on submissions for June, submitting 21 times during the month! (That's five times as much as my "story a week" goal.)

And, since submitting is as important as writing (see Heinlein's Rules), I feel I more than made up for my lackluster production numbers with my phenomenal distribution numbers. :)

Oh YEAH.

End of June Numbers - David

2009-07-01T10:50:00.001-06:00

Well, the month of June was a rough one for me in more ways than just my writing. But I still managed to produce a respectable number of words (at least for me). This month came in sixth place in my top ten months with 34,765 words, only 254 words away from fifth place. My daily word average was 1,159.

And now, July is here and the slate is wiped clean. Time to start anew and aim to beat the numbers I just recorded. Onward and upward!

Two steps forward, one step back . . . or something like that

2009-06-30T10:27:00.002-06:00

So, I got a rejection in the email this morning from Chris East at Futurismic (for FORCES, the whacky story I'm determined to sell - 8 rejections so far).

So it's (+1) point for the rejection, and (-5) for taking that story out of the mail. Net (-4) points.

But then I re-subbed to Futurismic (PHILATELIST'S GOLD), which is (+5) points.

So my net so far today is (+1) point, total 469.

But the day is young . . .

Michael has a killer day

2009-06-29T22:47:00.003-06:00

So, I wrote 3,833 words today, in order to create a whole new story to submit to the Destination: Future anthology (the story is called "OtherPlace"). If they don't like it, I've got a ton of other markets to send it to.

So, I finished it and submitted it, so that's (+7) for the completed story and (+5) for the sub.

That brings me up to 468 points.

YES!

P.S. 3,833 is nine more words than my best day since I started tracking in March. Wahoo!

Michael's latest

2009-06-29T09:19:00.003-06:00

Okay, so my two rejections brought me down to 451 (+2 for the rejections, -10 for the two stories out of circulation).

So, I turned around DEAD DAMES, sending it off to The Drabblecast. (+5 = 456)

And today I hope to finish my WIP (+7) and submit it to Destination:Future (+5) so I hopefully will be up to 468 by end of day today, or tomorrow some time.

Last shot at Destination:Future and a David Update

2009-06-29T00:16:00.003-06:00

Score: 604

Whew. Just finished a new short story called Remember Me which is a redrafting of an old Star Trek story I wrote for the now defunct Strange New Worlds competition. I also just emailed it off to Sophy who is editing the Hadley Rille Books Destination: Future anthology. A tough nut to crack.

Also, I have one of my other stories printed and packaged to go out tomorrow.

So two new submissions and one new short story push me over the 600 mark, up to 604. Hopefully, I'll be able to add a sale soon.

Now, off to bed!

Rejections Abound

2009-06-28T20:45:00.002-06:00

Got two more rejections tonight (via email).

I'll update my score tomorrow (and get those stories sent back out, hopefully!).

Points Update (Michael)

2009-06-26T22:32:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I just sent SEER out to Tor.com, and SUPERTHREAD is going out snail mail to Sheila at Asimov's first thing in the morning.

So, new total points is 459.

The other part of my goal (reaching 1,000 by end of year) is to NOT fall below 450 again for more than a day. :)

Cool Rejection

2009-06-26T21:29:00.003-06:00

Unfortunately, one of my strongest stories just got rejected from Asimov's - one of my favorite markets that I'm trying to crack.

But the letter was personalized, and it had a line that was, for me, very important (bolded, below):

Dear Michael,

Thanks for letting me see "Seer." I'm afraid, though, that the story doesn't work for me.
Hope to see more from you in the future.

I'm sorry not to have responded sooner to you about Facebook. I'm keeping that page private - just for my friends and family. We will be starting an Asimov's Facebook page soon, though. I'll try to let you know about it once we do.

Sincerely,
Sheila Williams
Editor

So, at least she remembered me as one of the no-doubt dozens of people who've tried to "friend" her on Facebook. And for me, that bold line is GOLD - it means she thinks my writing is good enough, and is just waiting for the right story from me.

Wahoo!

Now . . . to find someone who WILL buy "Seer," which is really one of my best tales to date.

Score update: 449. (Add one for the rejection, subtract 5 for the loss of a story in circulation.) That net loss of points, by the way, is a great motivator to get it back out there as soon as possible!

Goals

2009-06-26T09:04:00.002-06:00

I've decided I'd like to shoot for having 1,000 points by the end of the decade (12/31/2009).

I think I can do it!

David's Update 6-26-2009

2009-06-26T08:44:00.003-06:00

Score 587

My current novel WIP has kinda ground to a halt. Not sure why. I was excited to start writing it. For some reason, I have taken a break from it and started two different short stories. As soon as I finish the two shorts I’m going to go back and start cranking on it again.

I think I kinda wrote myself bored with it so that tells me I’ll need to go back and rip up some of what I wrote (where I started to get bored) because if it’s boring to me ...

This is my third novel of this calendar year (2009) and I can now vouch for one thing we were told by other professional writers: each time you sit down to write a novel it's a different experience. I have written each of these novels in completely different ways. Not on purpose, that's just the way it's happened. Weird.

Michael Update

2009-06-25T17:19:00.009-06:00

453 points

Got home to a rejection tonight, THE DARKNESS, from Alfred Hitchcock's. +1 pt
Snail-mailed "Predict THIS" to F&SF tonight. +5 pts
Snail-mailed REMEMBER to Alfred Hitchcock's tonight. +5 pts

I also subbed (+5 pts) to Strange Horizons today (MIND OVER MATTER), so that's three subs for today. Not bad.

Welcome to Michael & David's Fiction Face-off

2009-06-25T13:43:00.006-06:00

This is where we will keep track of our "competitive" professional fiction careers - really just a way to urge one another onward and support each other as we strive to succeed as professional commercial fiction writers.

You'll find the scoring system we're using over on the left side of the blog.
Here's the definitions of those point categories:

NOVEL POINTS:
Outline: this means you've completed a preliminary outline for a novel
Query letter: you've written a query that can be used for most submissions
Pitch: you've written a pitch for a completed novel
Synopsis: you've written a full synopsis for a completed novel
Completed: the novel is done, ready for sale, and you won't touch it again
Submitted: you've subbed the novel (either a query, chapters, or the whole ms)
Sold: a contract has been offered and signed

SHORT STORY POINTS:
Completed: the short story is done, ready to submit, and you won't touch it again
Submitted: the short story is "in the mail" - either though a snail-mail or electronic submission
Rejected: the story didn't sell to that market
Sold: a contract has been offered and signed

STREAK POINTS (starting 8/1/2009):
Weeks of 3,500 words: the number of weeks in a row in which you wrote at least 3,500 words.
Consecutive sub weeks: the number of weeks in a row in which you have submitted at least one short story to a pro market.

BONUS POINTS
If you break a personal monthly word count record, you get 5 bonus points.

We'll also post highlights of our experiences - highs, lows, successes, falures - as we move forward. This may be a place to post "good" rejection letters, or to share new markets we've found. You'll also notice links on the side to some favorite sites.

Mostly, though, we'll just use this space to report our weekly scores.

Gentlemen, start your keyboards!