The 2008 Writing Year In Review

[mmerriam]

December Stats
Submissions Made: 3
Sales: 0
Rejections: 4
Other: 0
Publications: 0
Crits Given: 1
Approx Word Count: 11,242
Stories Circulating: 10

2008 Stats
Submissions Made: 65
Sales: 11
Rejections: 41
Other: 9
Publications: 7
Crits Given: 111
Approx Word Count: 195,000
Short Stories Finished: 5
Poems Finished: 1
Novels Finished: 1
Collections Published: 1
Award Nominations and Honorable Mentions: 2
Works-in-Progress: 5 (4 short stories and 1 novel)

Rija's Tale


It turns out I had nice, solid numbers this year. Sales-to-rejection ratio is slightly skewed due to most of the stories sold having been rejected multiple times the two years previous. Nice word count this year, up quite a bit from last year. I finished fewer pieces of short fiction this year than I have in years past, and two of the five finished were written specifically for requested projects.

I've started trying to re-sell some of my older pieces by way of Anthology Builder and various podcasts. No movement there yet. Honorable Mentions in Years Best Fantasy and Horror and Writers of the Future Contest were pleasant surprises. Still no agent and still no sales to "Big Time" pro markets, but I got into some nice small press magazines. This year's focus was more on novels than in years past, with the completion of Last Car to Annwn Station, finishing the first draft of Dark Water Blues and getting about 60% of Rija's Tale written.

I have to remember as I move forward into 2009 to only set goals for myself that I control.

I have no control over whether an agent will decide I have the right novel and what it takes to succeed, and offer me representation. I have no control over whether or not I finally break into the "Big Time" pro markets, whether for short fiction or novels. All I can do is submit the best work I can create and hope the editor wants to buy it.

What I control is the writing. I can work even harder. I can learn more about the craft of writing. I can make sure I finish, workshop, polish and submit my various projects. I can try experimental things and take my work in new, different directions. I can remind myself to not be angry when those experiments fail (which they will more often than not). I can learn to write shinier stories, catchier queries, and a more exciting synopsis. I can work to continue to grow as a writer, learning from those who have gone before me, while assisting those who are just beginning to start down the path of being a writer. I can be professional in all things that matter.

Reach. Grasp. Fail. Fall. Get up. Dust off. Try again.

Because if you're not reaching, grasping, failing, and falling as a writer, you're not striving hard enough to improve, and if you don't get up, dust off, and try again, you can't succeed.

Here's hoping we all find some success (whatever that means to each of us) in 2009.

In Deep Peace,
Michael Merriam
Hopkins, MN