The Rejection File

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This is the chronicle of my attempts to get published. What got rejected from where (and sometimes what got accepted). I think too often people are in the dark about how long it takes to get anything at all published. Here's my attempt to shed a little light on the subject.

Persistence or stupidity? I think getting published involves a little of both. I'm truly grateful to the editors who have taken a chance on my work and even the readers who have taken the time to scrawl advice, thanks or even smiley faces on my rejection notes. It's the moments of acknowledgment that keep me in this at all.

Read my article on rejection at absolutewrite.com

Around the Campfire
11
accepted--MOTA IV anthology, triple tree publishing, came out in Sept. 2004
Ballad of Dick Gaylord
16 at least
up on www.dirtpress.com may eventually be out in print
Barrydapple Road
7
won third prize in the Clark College Fiction Contest
The Responsibilities of a Bus Pass
9
published on long story short website
Calamity
5
published on www.storyone.org
Disappearances
7
still trying
Facepaint
6
appeared in Sojourn, Summer 2003
FenderBender
around 15
will be anthologized in Sleeping with Snakes, should come out in spring 2005
The Fire Down Below
8 and counting
still trying--semifinalist for the Nimrod contest
Firecracker
12
available on www.fictionwarehouse.com
The Great Sperm Caper
10 and counting
still trying :(
it got an honorable mention in a Nidus contest
His Master's Voice
4
won 2nd place in the Writers Challenge contest
Sally Gets a Haircut
9
came out in the first issue of Plum Biscuit, the publication of the NY Writers Coalition www.nywriterscoalition.org
Mr. Quackers
8
published on www.storyglossia.com
also turned into the short film "Ducking Saundra"
Natural Resources
8
won third place in the Seacoast Writers Association contest and will be published in their anthology.
Trajectory
6
published in the Spring 2004 issue of Pebble Lake Review
What I Needed to Believe
2
won second place in the Confluence 2003 contest
Snow Angels
6
won first place in the Oregon Writers Colony Contest
Just Wild About Harry
13 and counting
still trying :(
The Life of Riley
11
published in the first issue of Heat City Review
nominated for a Pushcart Prize 2005

Hot Property

8

published in the premiere issue of the journal of The Image Warehouse

A Love Letter to the Ocean

4 and counting

published on Moondance.org

They Married

6 and counting

still trying :(

Echo and Narcissus

8

won second place in the Andre Dubus Award in Short Fiction, published in the 2004 edition of Words and Images.

Measure Once, Cut Twice

4

published in the SNReview online

Where Is Home?

3

won second prize in the 2004 Spanish Moss Competition for fiction

Inflight Entertainment

7

published on facsimilation.com

Peaces

10 and counting

still trying

Pimples and Wrinkles

5 and counting

still trying--some good feedback so far

Sending Eli Home

6 and counting

still trying

Date-Stamped

10 at least

Published in Big Ugly Review #4
Hidden Agendas issue
www.biguglyreview.com

What the Nose Knows

3

still trying, was a semi-finalist in the Ernest Hemingway festival contest

Toward the Light

5

still trying

Bluff

1

still trying