Daniel Kason

During the month of November, I submitted 4 stories to publications, including Hexagon SF Magazine (1^st submission), Reckoning (2^nd submission), Uncharted Magazine (7 total rejections; 4 form letters, 3 positive), and Bourbon Penn (1^st submission). I’ll keep submitting to Uncharted until they ban me or publish me. Their choice.

This month, I received 5 rejections from publications, including Inner Worlds Magazine (1^st rejection), Escape Pod (3 rejections, all positive), Analog (4 total rejections; 3 form letters, 1 positive), Interzone (6 total rejections; 5 form letters, 1 positive), and The Colored Lens (7 total rejections; 2 form letters, 5 positive, with 1 hold request).

In terms of positive rejections, Escape Pod considered a weird story I wrote about a sentient piece of aluminum. They responded that the story “had a great big idea at its core, but we wanted more development of the character and conflict beyond the initial premise.” Escape Pod is one of the leading sci-fi podcast markets, and it would be incredible to land a story there. Meanwhile, The Colored Lens considered my take on Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” but with my Dad jokes. They responded that they “appreciated the tone and the concept, but I think I would have preferred a tighter plot.” I’ve been submitting to The Colored Lens for years, and even received a hold request. Like Uncharted, it’s felt like I’ve come just short of landing a home for a story in this market several times, and I just need to keep at it.

Finally, this month I received two hold requests. The first is from Sally Port Magazine (1^st submission), who wrote, “You’ve got a great story here.” Second, another story was shortlisted by Andromeda Spaceways Magazine (2 submissions, with a positive rejection). The story passed through three rounds of readings, and is now being passed up to two editors. They noted that even at this stage, only 1 in 20 stories make it from the shortlist to acceptance. Both publications will need months to make their final decisions, so I probably will not hear back anytime soon. Regardless, I haven’t received a hold request in a while, and having two in one month is incredibly promising. This is good motivation to keep writing and submitting.

And that wraps up November. Still no acceptances, but this is my most encouraging month yet, with several positive rejections and two hold requests. Hopefully December will bring even better news.