Submitting: once a week, or once a month?

[BlueAngel]

Trying to decide when to submit shorter pieces during the year. Work, life, and other things can cause procrastination, so I'm trying to set a schedule for myself so I'll just do it then.

Anyone have set times when they submit stuff during weeks/months? Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

~Angela

[Window Bar]

The most sustainable approach (especially with short stories, as opposed to novels) would be to have half a dozen or more pieces ready. Even with all of the prior calls on your time, it shouldn't be too much trouble to do one per week, at least via electronic submission. It sure beats the old days, when a nicely typed copy and a self-addressed stamped envelope was required.

But yes, try for at least one per week, and don't let a week slip by without meeting your quota. If you do only one per month, it will take four times as long to break in.

Best of luck to you -- WB

[PeteMC]

It's figuring out where to send stuff that vexes me. I know there's Ralans et al but when you read submission guidelines it seems to be more "we don't want x, we don't want y" rather than "we're actually looking for z".

Well that's not strictly true, but the usual value of z is something like "original, well written stories". Well, duh.

I might have to start looking at themed anthologies and try and match what they want with what's sitting on the hard drive or something.

[robotosaur]

Like WB said, if you have several good, strong pieces, then a once-a-week submission rate sounds good. I'd caution you to make sure you're balancing time to write with your time to submit--I know I can get caught up in the submission process pretty easily, and it means less time spent on creating new material.

[Taramoc]

Since I discovered Duotrope.com, submitting is a breeze.
The tracker feature (what you sent where and how long ago) is a life saver.

I particularly love the Random market feature, I discovered so many place where my stories fit just because of that. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

[BlueAngel]

Thanks, guys.

Actually, I format every short piece I do once I've finished/edited it to my satisfaction. So, that one step is remove from the process. It's the reading guidelines and sending out emails that is left.

I'm thinking of sending out one or two pieces at a time, to maybe 3-4 publishers each. How does that sound?