We’re well into 2014, but I still think we’re in a time of
reflection, goal-setting, and planning for the months to come.
At the end of 2012, I wrote a
blog post about my annual tally of lit journal submissions. It was “the
year of 100 submissions,” as I had made—and achieved—that specific goal for
2012. For 2013, though, I didn’t set a defined number for my submission goals; I
merely wanted to keep up a rhythm of getting polished pieces out the door amid
the busy schedule of traveling, speaking, and major project deadlines.
As 2013 rolled into 2014, I was curious what that meant on
paper. If I hadn’t set a specific numeric goal, did that mean my submission productivity
dropped? It did, in some ways; yet I am super excited that my actual results
weigh in with similarity.
During 2013, I made 46 submissions to lit journals (that’s
46 batches of poetry, short stories, and short nonfiction). Sure, that’s a significant
drop, but my results came in very close percentage-wise to the previous year.
Out of those 100 submissions in 2012, 11 were accepted for
an 11% hurrah rate. Out of the 46 submissions made in 2013, 5 received a yes
for a 10.869% celebration rate. Not bad.
Also significant? There are 12 submissions from 2013,
particularly from the late fall, that have not yet received a response at all
just yet. So, there’s still some outstanding hope in the mail.
What does this mean? I don’t know. Quality outweighs quantity
or something like that. More so, I think it means the better I define and
understand where my work fits, the more chance it has of finding a home there.
Shall I set a goal for 2014? Maybe. I already know how busy
this year will be on the road, teaching, and with two books on the agenda…. But
I really do want to keep sending my work out into the lit journal world. So I think
a fair goal is to surpass what I did for 2013, which means I’ll aim for about 50
submissions in this new year.
What about you?
