Remember last time when I posted my project list for the next eight months or so? Well, there have been some changes to that list. First, the market I was to send "The Persistence of Memory" to pushed up its deadline to October 14. I knew that I couldn't get the story done in time, so I pushed it aside and finished "Inheritance." It is with my critique partner now. "Revelations" is still good to go if I can finish it in time, so that leaves me with "Love and War," "The Hunger," and "Blood is Thicker."
My...goals, I guess, changed when I saw that the market to which I was going to send "Blood is Thicker" changed from paying to exposure only. I then became doubtful about the market for "The Hunger" because, if I could finish the story, I'd only get, like, six bucks tops. Thursday night, I revisited the website for "Love and War" 's market. The covers for their other publications were terribly unprofessional. I understand that costs can be high, especially for a press that is just starting, but no one will take them seriously with covers like that. (Plus, I wouldn't be paid very much for my story, either.)
I don't mean to sound entirely superficial or mercenary, but I do hope to become a professional writer. When I started submitting things after college, I aimed high, sending stories to professionally-paying markets. My writing wasn't up to snuff. I developed the attitude that I just wanted to be published, so I sent my stories to markets that would have me. That lucked out for me a few times, but ended poorly in others. (Two of the markets are now currently dead.) My writing is better now, and I'm going to be more discerning.
So, I'm going to submit to markets that are semi-pro and up now. That's not to say that I won't send some flash fiction to a token or non-paying market or send a story to a charity anthology if I'm feeling altruistic. I'm just going to have the attitude of someone who wants to make her living from writing, not a hobbyist.
Wish me luck.
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