My Year in Writing and Submitting Flash
Rejection, Persistence, and Love of the Game
2024 was a personal publishing record for me. I published 10 different stories in nine publications; nine stories were fiction, and one was nonfiction. I submitted 45 different pieces over 12 months for a total of 134 submissions.
My work was published the most in March; three pieces were published that month.
Before acceptance:
“You Must Pay the Rent” was submitted five times, “Leftovers on the Dashboard,” was submitted two places, and “The Last Hall Monitor,” also two places. I wrote about the stories behind some of these stories in a previous newsletter.
“Cloudburst,” published in October, is my most submitted piece of all time, with 30 submissions before its publication. I revised it for a year and a half before it was accepted.
Others had more typical rates, 16, 11, 7, 6 submissions before someone said yes, a good reminder that your work has to find the right publication and the right reader. I think timing plays a role, too.
Two major celebrations for me were my nomination for the Best of the Net Anthology for a piece of flash CNF, and making it onto the longlist for the Smokelong Workshop Prize. (The company I’m in here is fire.)
I can’t wait to see what 2025 brings!
I Got Paid. A Little.
Both Flash Frog and Does it Have Pockets are publications that pay writers, and that published my work this year. It doesn’t come close to the output I spent in fees for submissions, but I’m not keeping close tabs on that disparity. It is, of course, always nice to get paid.
Flash Frog is the highest-ranked publication (#258 on Brecht de Poortere’s ranking of literary magazines) to host my work so far. My coming-of-age story “Uniform” appeared in Flash Frog in August. Flash Frog’s acceptance rate is very low! Just 1.2% in 2024, which makes me particularly jazzed to have placed a story there.
I Learned from Great Writers and Editors.
I spent the year reading the work of other flash writers. I participated in a year-round workshop, attended two retreats, and did a couple of other in-person workshops. I also participated in some virtual prompt clubs which were fun, and a nice connection to some other writers. I learned the most from reading other writers I admire, and from the connections I now have to other writers and editors — getting to know some of the people in the writing community has been so valuable and wonderful this year.
My monthly accountability group and my accountability partner have been great — and close friends and family who follow along this emerging career of mine, coming out to readings, and commenting on stories I share, are all super encouraging and light me up from head to toe.
I can’t recommend getting into a workshop or finding your personal writing community enough.
The Rest of 2024
When I wasn’t writing, I was keeping plants and dogs alive, baking and cooking for my family, recovering an ancient wicker couch, enjoying some sunny summer and winter escapes, and generally trying to find joy in an increasingly anxious year.
Substack for Writers
I started this Substack on a whim in January 2024 and have grown a nice little subscription base. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and learned from my experience. Thank you for reading!
If you’re into writing and submitting, particularly flash, here are some Substacks I recommend:
Coming Soon
I’ll be teaching a workshop series on submitting your work in partnership with A Reason to Write. The workshop is FREE and on Zoom, so please sign up and tell your writing friends.
Great stats! And thanks for the shout-out! Happy New Year!