Exclusive submissions.

Don't you just fucking HATE exclusive submissions? I do. The problem is, most of the places I want to submit require them. Why? Is their time so much more fucking important than mine?

Here's the problem. I write a story, edit it, then send it to a single market. Because I'm sending it to a very popular, professional market, the average turn around is two months minimum to six months maximum. While that story languishes, I could be submitting it elsewhere.

Paying markets have writers over a barrell and we all know it. But, and this is a big but, some folks are better at playing the game than others, some folks are busy networking, some folks just write a story faster than I do and send out to more markets. And they probably subscribe to HellNotes (I don't) and have more access to new or hidden markets.

What am I bitching about? I don't know really except I have four stories out to professional markets with another one getting ready to go. It's been two and a half months on those four that are out and I haven't heard a word. They are all exclusive.

When I reach a point in my career--and I will--that people are coming after me for stories, I would like to say that I'll never send a damned thing to exclusive markets. But I'd be lying because to reach that point, I'll have to sell to those markets. Like it or not, they make the rules and when they publish stories, they make the authors.

Next time, multiple submissions. Maybe.

Jb