Hello!

Happy June July August September October. Wow, it’s not really close to midyear anymore, is it…

Never too late for a check-in, I say!

This year, I set myself a few goals, which you may recall were:

• Complete 460 short story submissions and write 24 short stories (roughly 2 a month)
• Query mermaid book 10 times
• Edit superhero book and send to beta readers
• Edit tree book and send to beta readers
• And… if I have time… edit superhero book again and start querying

And, well, a couple of things happened…

A Series of Events, Books, and Thoughts

Tia Tashiro at WorldCon

I went to WorldCon 2025 and had a conversation with Tia Tashiro, who has been published in many of my dream markets like Uncanny and Apex. She told me that she submitted stories for ten years before she got published. When I asked why it took so long to be accepted anywhere (clearly her work was up to par), she said it was because she would submit it to the high-tier markets, then, if they didn’t like it, she’d stop submitting that story and start working on a different story to submit.

This made me really rethink my submission strategy. She decided that stories that weren’t high-tier were not worth her time, instead of working her way down the list like I do. And, while it took longer for her to get published, her work shows. All her publications are in dream markets of mine, and she’s been asked to talk on various panels about her passions and process.

This made me start thinking about how I approach my writing.

Writing Retreat with Friends

Right after WorldCon, I went on a writing retreat with a couple of friends. During it, we discussed a press we’re starting, and a few other nuts and bolts about writing. Throughout the discussions, I learned just how different all of our writing processes are. These are writers I admire, whose works I hope to emulate one day. I heard their strategies and how they determined a story was done, and I realized sometimes I submit half-baked stories (or, well, a lot of times). Now, this has brought me many acceptances, but sometimes it’s for stories I don’t think are done yet. The retreat helped me determine when a story is done for me.

Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer

I started and finished Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer. This is an illustrated book on writing. I found it really interesting, and it gave me a whole new perspective on how I approach writing and my stories. Quickly put, it gave me practical tools.

Rejection Relief

Rejection relief was the nail in the coffin. Normally, when a writer gets rejection, they feel upset (even if it’s just for a bit), then they submit again or decide to give the story a rest. Historically, though, because I’ve been so focused on submitting, I’ve felt happy about getting a rejection because it would mean I could submit the story again and get closer to my goal. However, over the last few months, a new feeling has come with it: relief.

Now, before I say anything else, I think that every market out there is amazing. They put in the work, they read the stories, and they put the stories in front of people. Markets help writers write and readers read. They’re a key part of the ecosystem.

However, I found that, sometimes, I was feeling relief over getting a rejection, not because I wanted to send the story out somewhere else, but because I didn’t actually want that story with that market for whatever reason. I thought the story could be placed somewhere else, or I didn’t think it was a good representation of my current work anymore. I feel like if I had gotten an acceptance for that story, I would have felt upset because it wasn’t the story I wanted published in the place I wanted. And, if I felt that… why submit there at all? For the metrics? All I was doing was wasting my time and wasting the market’s time.

Where Does That Leave Me Now?

After this series of events, I decided to change my short story goal. I know this means I technically won’t ‘meet’ what I set for myself at the beginning of the year, but I’m recognizing that my writing process is changing, and it won’t be as easily measured until I figure out a system.

Of course, I decided this about a week ago after a several-month process of figuring this out, so my goal isn’t changing that much, but it is a bit. And I’m allowing that to be okay. I don’t need to achieve quantifiable things to be a writer (even if I still enjoy a good spreadsheet).

My new goals are:

• Complete 460 430 short story submissions and write 24 short stories (roughly 2 a month)
• Query mermaid book 10 times
• Edit superhero book and send to beta readers
• Edit tree book and send to beta readers
• And… if I have time… edit superhero book again and start querying

And here’s my progress on each goal:

• Complete 430 short story submissions and write 24 short stories (roughly 2 a month)
  • I’ve submitted 335 times, which puts me on track for my goal (I should be at 326 right now).
  • I have written 17 short stories and should be at 18, so I’m getting close to being on track
• Query mermaid book 10 times
  • I’ve queried the book 5 times. Waiting to hear back from this current agent!
• Edit superhero book and send to beta readers
  • I not only edited the book and sent it to beta readers, but I also revamped the whole thing and rewrote it this summer at the Novel Architects Kansas Workshop.
• Edit tree book and send to beta readers
  • I have not touched this story all year, but I’m planning on looking at it once my superhero book is off in the querying trenches.
• And… if I have time… edit superhero book again and start querying
  • Working through my last (hopefully!) round of edits! I’m on track to be querying by early next year.

And, because I know there’s a high probability (badum tiss) you’ll want to see the data, here are some screenshots:

(You can see August is where I started to think about changing my process.)

Thank you for checking out my corner of the world. I hope you have a lovely day!

~Camden