Not writing, but what follows

I was hoping to write something substantial here this evening, but I’ve run out of time. Instead, I spent a couple of hours sending stories out. I’d had five short story rejections, including several very positive ones, over the past fortnight, and wanted to get those stories back out into the world. They’ll probably be back soon without acceptances, but if they haven’t been submitted somewhere then there’s no chance.

The problem is, sending out a short story takes longer than you might think. I have to identify suitable markets, read their submission guidance, pick the most appropriate one, get my story into their preferred format (hooray for markets using standard manuscript format, that’s five to ten minutes saved), write the cover note and send it out. All that’s assuming that they take electronic submissions. If not there’s printing and posting as well.

Hence sending out five stories took two hours and all the mental energy I could spare on a Sunday night. I feel satisfied at a job well done, but here’s hoping I also feel more inspired later in the week.