Submissions

Keep sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow - perhaps it all will. - Ecclesiasties

I just checked my submissions tracker (an Excel worksheet I made up) and discovered I only have two outstanding submissions. Bad writer, no cookie.

Worse, I only had TWO submissions in June. My goal is at least one submission somewhere each week.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother with short story subs as my ultimate goal is novel publication. Then I remember that it is great practice for when I'm subbing my full length stuff. For my last short story I had to write a query and a synopsis, something I've yet to do for my novels (well, the synopsis anyway -- I have played around at writing queries for all my novels). It also builds up my resume to give me some credibility and, hopefully, will pay for some of my expenses.

I also like to take a step back from my novels now and then, and writing a short story truly helps because I'm not starting a whole new long project, but I do get a taste of something new when I feel like I'm beating my head against the wall.

What about you? Do you ever write shorter stories? Do you submit them? What are your feelings about whether having shorter stuff published helps your chances with an agent or editor?