What I Sold in 2012: Short Story/Poetry Writer

I've got a new story out, 'Alms Race'  at  at Interstellar Fiction and a poem, 'On the Last Day Comes the Indefinable' in the last ever issue of Jabberwocky. I was also delighted to make Matthew Bennardo's list of top stories from non-SFWA qualifying venues. That's the first list I've ever made. I am quite pleased

And today I sold a poem to The Lorelei Signal and to Eternal Haunted Summer. Blimey. 

I was wondering if to post a what I've sold post this year. But then I read few writers posts like Milo's Alex's and Alexa's post and it inspired me and reminded me of a few venues that I'd forgotten about.  

So in the spirit of inspiration, and not at all in the spirit of bragging (okay maybe just a little),  I offer you my sales of 2012:

Story Sales as Kelda Crich

1. 'All Seeing Ring' in Stupefying Stories upcoming
2. 'Brennan the Rave' in Aoifie's Kiss upcoming March 2013
3. 'Jiang Shi in Chinatown' Edge of Sundown anthology upcoming
4. 'Phreaking Red Box' in Roar and Thunder 2012
5. 'Circling the Stones at Arbor Low' After Death Anthology upcoming

Story Sales as Deborah Walker

1. 'Captain Clone' in  Ray Gun Revival  2012      
2. I Honour my Ancient Ancestors reprint in Eschatology 
3. Three Brother Cities  in The Gruff Variations: Writing for Charity anthology  2012   
4. Orb of Pestilence in Stupefying Stories                             
5. 'Ezra's Propehcy' reprint in Sorcerous Signals 2012
6. 'Ezra's Prophecy' in Mystic Signals 2012
7. 'Nebuchadnezzar's Legacy' in Bent Masses 2012
8. 'Frog Sleep' reprint in Will Aliens Sing anthology 2012
9. Welcome to the Greatest  Show in the Galaxy in Fantasy under the Big Top anthology 2012  
10. 'Confessions of a Museum Bunny' non fiction in SFWA blog 2012 
11. 'New Animal Farm' in  Schrödinger's Mouse upcoming
12. 'Looking Good' reprint in Cosmos i-pad edition
13. Speed of Love in  Daily Science Fiction 2012
14. 'Hatsuyume'   in Kasma's At Years End anthology 2012        
15. The Venus of Willendorf   in  Unidentified Funny Objects anthology 2012                       
16. 'Unmoveable Sky' reprint  in Toasted Cake  upcoming
17. 'Alms race' in  Interstellar Fiction 2012            
18. 'Frozen Hive of Her Mind' in   Proxima 2012  
19. 'Drink Deep and Long the Circean Poison'  Arc 2012
20. 'Glass Futures' in Nature's Futures 2012
21. ' First Foot' in Nature's Futures upcoming 
22. 'Dr Millicent and the Wall' reprint in  A Big Book of the Strange, Weird and Wonderful 2012

Poetry Sales as Kelda Crich

1. Contact in Nameless upcoming
2. 'Crocodilopolis' in Nameless upcoming 
3. 'Dark Crabs Feast' in Death's Head Grin Feb 2012
4. 'In Glorious Lamentation' in Death's Head Grin Feb 2012
5. 'Moon, Hunt, Death' in Nameless upcoming
6. 'Phoenix Woman' reissue in Future Lovecraft anthology Prime Books edition 2012
7. 'Shadow Whisperer at the Black Hole Hotel' Dark Horizons 2012
8. 'They Call me the Red Hood' Sorcerous Signals Nov 2012
9. 'They Call me the Red Hood' Mystic Signals 2012

Poetry Sales as Deborah Walker

1. 'Epona Matins' in  Eternal Haunted Summer 
2. 'Sea monkey Aliens' in Star*line 
3. 'Jade Moon Rabbit' in Spillway 2012
4. 'Mermaid's Downfall' in Tales of the Talisman  upcoming         
5. 'The Great Whore' in Mirror Dance 2012
6. 'Perseus' in Mirror Dance 2012
7. 'Trouble in Golem Town' in Polu Texni 2012
8. 'Jenny Green Teeth'  Under the Juniper Tree 2012
9. 'unzipping the membrane' reprint tweet in  7x20                                              
10. 'shred of crumpled paper' reprint tweet in  7x20                                                        
11. 'meniscus of my mind' reprint tweet in  7x20                                                                    
12. 'a silent swallow' reprint tweet in  7x20                                                                  
13. 'spring brings new life' reprint tweet in  7x20                                             
14. 'On the Last Day Comes the Indefinable' in Jabberwocky 2012        
15. 'red goo in the bathtub' in  Eye to the Telescope 2012
16. 'Bee Maidens of Parnassus' in Welcome to Wherever Birthday Anthology 2012
17. Green Fae in  Space and Time upcoming           
18. 'Old Yellow Wait for Me' in   Bête Noire 2012                   
19. 'Trash Cat'  in Dark Metre 2012                   
20.  'Remember Winter' Dark Metre  2012           ' 
21. 'Cybernetic Mary' in  Dark Horizons  2012            
22. 'In the Labyrinth' in Mirror Dance 2012       

Writing Advice from Neil Gaiman: Read Outside your Genre

I enjoyed the Neil Gaiman's advice writing posted on Roland E. Yeoman's blog here.

This is what I took from it:

Writers should write. Yes. I agree. And I also liked the analogy comparing writing to dry stone walling. (Because I'm from Derbyshire).

Writers should finish what they start. Yes. Broadly in agreement with this. Although my execution can be a bit patchy.

Writers should read outside their genre. Ooh. Not so good on this one. I read  science fiction, horror, and fantasy short stories all the time. A little bit of history and a few classic novels--old favourites re-reads.

When I do read outside my genre, it's usually specific research for a story. And not in great depth. So for my current short story, I've been reading about lymph, vampires through history and Restoration spectacle plays. But only the wiki articles on such.

Tell a lie, I do read a book my very six weeks outside my genre for  book club. By eek, I can't say that I love it. Well I love book club, but not my mates' reading choices.

I'm very interested in your responses. Do you find that reading outside your genre helps with your writing?

The Short Story Writer: Coping with a Dry Spell

If you write and submit short stories, it's likely that you'll go through a dry spell at some point. That's a period of time when you've not selling either nothing at all or much less than you'd like.

And these droughts can last months or even years and can be very discouraging. So I thought that I'd look at strategies that can help a writer overcome these lean times, to help you manage their feelings while experiencing a dry spell.

It's not advice, as such, as some of these strategies are contradictory. But I hope if you're experiencing a dry spell and feeling bad about it, you can take something away from this.

• Remember that you're not alone. Many writers experience times when they're not selling and many feel that they're never going to sell again. Many writers take years, decades to make that first sale. Participate in writers forums for moral support.
• Remember that writers are the worst judges of their own work. Keep on subbing.
• Take a writing holiday. But be clear to set a return to your writing. Recharge the creative well with whatever takes your fancy.
• If not a complete writing break, try something new. Work on critiques for writing friends. Read craft books.Consider self publishing. Write on your blog.
• If you've sold a story before consider reprint subs. These can be a real boost. And they're risk free. You've already sold the story, right?
• Concentrate on what you can control (production and submitting) rather than what  you can't (acceptances). 
• Celebrate what you've achieved in the past.
• Beware of feelings. Don't get caught up with non-productive rejectomancy
• Remember the time delay. Stories often take months, even years to sell. 
• If you're subbing to very competitive markets, consider selling to a more 'approachable' market. 

Have you ever experienced a dry spell? Or maybe you haven't sold anything--yet. What strategies do you use to cope?

Win a Kindle Fire Loaded With 13 Books

Books on Fire Contest To Give Away Kindle Fire HD Loaded with Books

The Books on Fire contest, which runs through the end of December, is giving away a new Kindle Fire HD loaded with 13 books of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. Sponsored by authors Judson Roberts, Ruth Nestvold, Luc Reid, William Hertling, Annie Bellet, and Del Law, Books on Fire can be found on the Web at www.kindlebooksonfire.com . In addition to the first prize winner of the Kindle Fire, ten second prize winners will win three eBooks of their choice from the list on the contest Web page. To enter, participants simply announce their three top book choices from the book list through any of these methods:

• Twitter (to @WinBooksOnFire )
• The contest's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KindleBooksOnFire, and/or 
• The contest Web page.

eBooks included in the prize pool include:

• William Hertling's artificial intelligence thrillers Avogadro Corp. and AI Apocalypse
• Del Law's merged worlds fantasy novel Beasts of the Walking City
• Annie Bellet's crime novel set in the fantasy city of Pyrrh, Avarice, and her story collection Till Human Voices Wake Us
• Luc Reid's novel of Vermont backwoods magic Family Skulls and his collection of flash fiction Bam! 172 Hellaciously Quick Stories
• Ruth Nestvold's romantic Authurian novels Yseult and Shadow of Stone, as well as her collection The Future Imperfect: Six Dystopian Short Stories
• Judson Robert's deeply-researched, adventurous Viking novels Viking Warrior, Dragons from the Sea, and The Road to Vengeance

See the contest Web site at www.kindlebooksonfire.com for full details.

Who are these handsome strangers?

Duotrope: Things Change

I've always been a supporter of Duotrope, using it heavily, promoting it when I could, donating money (directly and sometimes asking a story fee be donated anonymously) and diligently reporting all my submissions.

It was a good relationship. I was happy to donate my money and my data to the writing community, hoping that some newbie would benefit, as I benefited when I started out.

Come January that relationship will change, as virtually all the features will go behind a pay wall. That's their decision. And I wish them well as a new business.

But although I'm a frequent user, I won't be using it in future. As a more established writer, I can find the data elsewhere, for free (Ralan.com for instance) or from my twitter feed, or writing groups. For me, the goodwill has gone, and I'm hearing this a lot from my writing friends.

This makes makes a me a little sad. So, I'll leave you with a Duotrope screenshot. The more observant of you, may recognise the story featured.

Money Flow From the Writer at Publisher's Weekly

Duotrope's Facebook page