Submitting short stories to mags?

[BlueAngel]

I just made the exact mistake you mentioned, I forgot to reformat it. I sent it already, but do you think it would be a bother if a sent them a second email with the correct format? They want the standards sfwa uses, which I just looked at. Is this page it? http://www.sfwa.org/writing/format_rothman.htm

[BlueAngel]

After feeling like an idiot and seriously revamping the format, I've resent it, so hopefully, I won't have my chances crushed. BTW, I submitted to Aberrant Dreams. They were one of the only ones open to subs and taking the genres I write, so this will be the first submissions if I don't get in. I'll have to wait anywhere between 1-5 months. I'm not overly excited, but I do feel satisfied that I did something to persue this.~Angela

[BrianC]

Just be realistic in your expectations. That is as important as submitting to the proper market and following the required formatting. It's possible to write your first short story, send it off to one market, and have it accepted right away. Hey, you're off and running! It's possible and, sometimes, it actually does happen but it's very rare.

The more frequent truth about following the path of short fiction as a means of building a career as a writer is that it takes time and lots of effort to see any results. Very few writers see immediate success. Most accumulate quite a collection of rejections. You must keep writing and polishing your stories (this is more important than the writing, actually), send the rejected ones out again as soon as the rejection comes in, keep writing, keep submitting. You must believe in yourself even as the submission go out and the rejections flow in.

Over time, as you grow as a writer, you get a few pieces published. Then a few more. Then your name begins to garner some recognition. Acceptances come easier, and more frequently. Even the awful stories that you wrote in your beginning days may find a home merely because they've got your name on them. The next thing you know, people are asking when you're going to come out with a book-length effort.

Patience and persistence are the neophyte's only weapons.

[Rocket Sheep]

Angela, print the story out and put it in a manila folder with a list of other publishers who will take this type of story in the order of preference and every two months send a copy to the next publisher on the list.

Don't wait for the rejections... altho it is lovely when a magazine takes the time to reject you... don't be at their mercy, get your own plan. Take control.

Now go write your next story.