2008 - the year of the rat - was an interesting year... On one hand, one of the best to date, but the lows this year were damned scary. CrazyHorse in the hospital with pneumonia. Wolverine and his constant battle with the skin issues (we’re taking him to a dermatologist after the holidays see if we can’t find SOMETHING to help him). Ambulance for me and my bee sting (but this was good as it was minor and forced me to actually go to the doctor and I now have my epipen). Hubster got his promotion. We’re starting to catch up with everything even though our ideal dream is probably twenty years away – we want a farm with horses and pigs and cows and assorted yummies.

 

On the writing side of things - this was my best year to date! I did a complete revision on Thosha Tol - needs another before I start sending it out. I wrote a complete rough on Purgatory’s Queen. I sold my short story collection, Hardwired Humanity. I have no idea how many words I wrote - as I’m horrible at keeping track. I can’t even tell you how many stories or poems I wrote this year.

 

My stats were OK. Didn’t hit my goals but I’d been expecting to have Thosha ready to query too and that didn’t happen. I did, however, send 121 submissions out. With 13 acceptances and 90 rejections and an acceptance rate of 10.74%. No where near my goals but maybe next year. (there are still submissions out there of course so those numbers will eventually change).

 

Short fiction accepted in 2008: Switch (Hardwired Humanity), Venus and the Birth Of Zephyrus (Hardwired Humanity), When Closed Eyes Open (Hardwired Humanity), The Wreck of the Griffin (Hardwired Humanity), Canned Man (Hardwired Humanity), Evolution of a Shadow (Hardwired Humanity), Moronar’s Chosen (Flashing Swords Summer Special*), Scabs (Everyday Fiction), Left Behind (Anthology Builder), In the Midnight Hour (Espresso Fiction), Fireworks (Abandoned Towers),

 

Poems accepted in 2008: The Man I Never Knew (Peeks and Valleys), Trinity (Sounds of the Night), Tomb of the Ancient Goddess (Big Pulp), Soul Scrapbook (Big Pulp), Crow Queen (Aoiffe’s Kiss*), Tryst (Oysters & Chocolate), Dambala (Niteblade), Resurrection (Mirror Dance), Symbiosis (Mirror Dance), Seduka (Mirror Dance)

 

Nonfiction accepted in 2008: My Mother’s Playbook (Things My Mother Taught Me), Beacon (The Sigurd Journal),

* Markets on my most wanted list for 2008

 

I've only really been keeping good records since 2004 but it shows a lovely trend - it does!

Year /  Total Submissions /  Total Acceptances / Total Rejections / Still Under Consideration / Acceptance Rate

2004           80                            8                                    72                           0                                             10.00%
2005          123                          13                                 110                          0                                             10.57%
2006           90                            9                                    81                           0                                             10.00%
2007           207                         25                                 181                          0                                             12.08%
2008          121                          13                                  90                           18                                           10.74%

Total           621                         68                                 534                          18                                           10.95%

Factor in that I had a baby in 2006 (which is why the numbers are so low for that year...) I'm not doing too bad. Could be better. It could always be better but Next Year may have some surprises in store for me and my database...
 

Tags: 2008, statistics

So, I'm going over 2008 and I'm ready for it to be done... I am reorganizing the hard drive - finished, revising, and starts of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. If there is such a thing as a writer who writes too much - I think I fit into that category. I need to get better at finishing. Right now, I have 35 poems, 7 stories, and no essays that I have out in the submissions process.  16 essays being revised and 33 essays started. 13 stories being revised and 122 started (tho that's just the typed starts. wouldn't want to touch the snippets done by hand!), and 230 poems typed in various stages of prep. These don't count published stuff, those are in a whole different file now. I think my main goal for 2009 is just going to be to FINISH stuff. I didn't count the novels either. I've got two completely drafted and in revisions and eight others in various stages, some more complete than others. yeah. Time to get some things finished... Maybe I'll take december off from submitting to - focus what time I can on putting things together, finishing and polishing for 2009 submissions. Because those numbers are craziness. On the upside, in going through everything, I realized that I've had 20 stories published, 48 poems published, and 8 essays. Some of those have been accepted but not seen daylight yet. That's actually not all that bad overall. Add in my collection and I'm doing pretty skippy. I'd like to see next year double those numbers in that file though.

Tags: 2008, tracking