I've been meaning to post an update on my 2024 writing progress. Here it is.
Overall, 2024 was disappointing. I expected more success. In the past two years (2023-2024), I have more than doubled my number of
submissions made each year compared to 2022, and yet, I have not seen an increase in my accepted pieces. In 2023, 470 submissions and 4 accepted, and in 2024, 428 submissions and 3 accepted. Compare that to 2022, with 129 submissions and 3 accepted. Yeah, certainly not an easy industry...
I can say that I’ve
been happily surprised by the massive increase in my submissions made during
2023. And that has consisted of exciting content that I can't help but send out. While
part of that is just my own addiction to submitting my work to markets in the
hopes of furthering my fledgling career, another part of that comes down to the
only writing group I’m engaged with these days (Fireside Quills). I already thanked them in our
private discord, but I really am grateful to all of them. Keeps me motivated when I often
feel like I have lost all motivation in this irritating industry.
For those interested in my stats from 2024, read below for a brief overview. Otherwise, if you have read any of my work and enjoyed it, do let me know. I’ll try to figure out a better way to share my work with readers moving forward. Just submitting to markets as I have been is clearly not enough.
As of now, I have three publications coming out this year.
-My flash fiction piece that was going to be published on New Year’s Eve in Myriad: Kinship will still be coming out on January 14th. This month!
-I have a story in Alternative Leadership to be published by B Cubed Press (not sure when, but soon).
-I also have that horror story coming out in June in Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell to be published by Tundra Press. I posted a sneak peak at the final cover of that here.
Please give these stories a read when you can and let me know what you think. I’ll keep you all posted with other news in the future.
Good luck to everyone this year! - RJK LEE
* after posting my stats on Substack, I decided to add more stats on 2015 to now, so see below for both last year's stats and those from 2015 on
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FINAL STATS for Writing Submissions in 2024
Quick look
Total submissions: 428. Accepted: 3. Pending:84. Rejected: 460.
See further breakdowns below.
TOTAL
Submissions made in 2024: 428 total, including 3 acceptances, 84 drabbles or flash pieces, 258 short fiction or novelettes, 1 novella, 73 poems, 4 reprints, 5 pitches, and 1 collection
ACCEPTED
Pieces accepted in 2024: 3 total, including 2 short stories
and 1 flash piece.
NEW WORK
29 new pieces written and completed (not including the countless
revised, re-expanded, or revamped work), including 21 short stories and 8 flash
fiction pieces.
PENDING
Submissions still pending from 2024: 84 total, including 6 drabble or flash pieces, 46 short stories or novelettes, 23 poems, and 1 reprint.
REJECTIONS
Total rejections received in 2024: 460 total, including 109 drabble
or flash pieces, 263 short stories or novelettes, 1 novella, 77 poems, 5 pitches,
4 reprints, and 1 collection.
Rejections of submissions made in 2024: 343 total, including
73 drabble or flash pieces, 210 short stories or novelettes, 1 novella, 50 poems,
5 pitches, 3 reprints, and 1 collection.
Rejections of submissions made in 2023: 117 total, including 36 drabble or flash pieces, 53 short stories or novelettes, 27 poems, and 1 reprint.
WOTF
Submissions to Writers of the Future 2024: Q1 rejection, Q2 rejection,
Q3 honorable mention, Q4 honorable mention
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2015-2025
2015-2017 included a lot of novel drafts and an attempt to pitch a few at an Oregon writers conference. 2018-2019 consisted of recovery from a major life disaster. Since then, my primary goal has been to reach 100+ rejections a year (of short stories, poetry, etc.) to keep myself motivated and take the inevitable struggle for acceptances more positively.
As you can see below, the number of acceptances per year have plateaued at about 3, despite the significant uptick in submissions and rejections. I’m hoping to do more about that this year, perhaps reducing submissions and bringing my focus back to novels.
2025: 34 submissions so far, and no acceptances yet (but three stories due for publication)
2024: 428 submissions, 3 acceptances, 460 rejections
2023: 470 submissions, 4 acceptances, 392 rejections
2022: 129 submissions, 3 acceptances, 126 rejections
2021: 162 submissions, 3 acceptances, 138 rejections
2020: 140 submissions, 2 acceptances, 115 rejections
2019: 5 rejections
2018: 0
2017: 8 rejections
2016: 7 rejections
2015: 5 rejections
