Hurdles in Breaking New Ground
Posted by

We are breaking new ground, going in directions unknown, into territories, which only we imagine. In light of the unique situation in which you find yourself, what types of challenges or hurdles are you facing with your work?

0
Replies
  • Hi, Sharon! It's nice to see you here again.

    If the online magazine uses Submittable (www.submittable.com) for their online submissions, all you have to do is go to the Submittable website, log in, go to your active submissions and withdraw the story. If you emailed your story, send another email the exact same way, to the same person. Tell them the name of your story, the date you sent it, and that you have to respectfully withdraw it from their consideration. (Don't forget to apologize for any inconvenience.) If you snail-mailed it, do the same thing.

    If the Anthology doesn't pan out you can always resubmit your story to the online magazine in the future.

    Good luck! And don't worry! This sort of thing happens a lot. They're not going to penalize you for it. :)

  • For myself, the current hurdle I am facing has more to do with submission rather than writing. I am hoping you guys can help. Hi Chrys, everyone, - it has been a while since I was here last, but I am back knowing that I can reach out to people who have experience in submitting and publishers and get the help I need. I have made enough mistakes in the past to realize that I need to be very careful about how I proceed.

    I am hoping someone can assist me in the proper way to handle a submission issue that has come up for me.

    I just recently submitted a story for consideration to a small and brand new online magazine. However, on the very next day, I received an announcement from another online magazine, an all-call, if you will, for submissions to an themed writers competition for a planned Anthology by the e-zine.  The all-call for the latter publisher is open only for the month of May and is for a specific theme, a theme which appears to be perfect for the story I wish to submit.

    I have contacted editors from both publishers and they both said they do not have issues with simultaneous submissions, BUT the first publisher, the one I submitted to the first, has specified that they only want stories that have NOT been published before. 

    How may I handle this in a professional manner? Do I go ahead and submit to the Anthology competition and hope for the best? Or do I say "ooops never mind, may I withdraw the submission?" to the entity I submitted it first? 

    I could really use some advice.

    Thank you!

    Sharon Ferguson

  • Yes Chrys, a little. I am switching POV every other section of my book and am now in Section II. and into the villain. I am having a hard time getting into her devious head but I am getting there. I am in a Novel in a Year course on month 3. Every month we are to write between 30 and 45 pages to meet our goal. So far, so good but like the A to Z challenge it is pressure.

  • Right now my challenge is getting into the frame of mind to write. With the A to Z Challenge, and life in general, I haven't been writing much. Aside from that, I am writing the sequel to Hurricane Crimes. I only had the beginning and the middle of the story mapped out, which is unusual for me. Normally when I start a new story I have every piece of plot planned and I know exactly what I want to happen. So after I write a couple more chapters, I'm going to be in a bit of a stalemate until I can figure out what needs to happen to bring me to the end. 

    What about you Stephanie? Any struggles with your writing?