Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Can you believe it’s February already? Time for another issue of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

I’m feeling a bit more insecure than usual. I found out by accident that I wasn’t selected for our “Dark Matter” anthology (didn’t even get a form rejection, either), and Zombies Need Brains rejected both of the stories I sent in for their two anthologies. I’m not giving up, though. I’ll rework most of my rejects and see if I can shop them out to a magazine. Not sure what to do with the Aztec god story for “The Modern Deity’s Guide to Surviving Humanity” …

I use The Submission Grinder to keep track of all this stuff for me, by the way. If you don’t already know about it, you should definitely go check it out. Totally free! And it keeps track of every story you’ve ever written, who you sent it to and when, whether or not it was accepted, and even (if you want) how much you got paid. 

They also have a search feature that lets you find magazines and anthologies who are looking for submissions. I find the website invaluable, as do many of the writers I know who are working on short pieces (up to novella size). Before we leave the topic os insecurity, let’s look at this month’s question:

February 3 question – Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?

I have made several online friends over the years. Most of them are in a writer’s group whose blog I started to read because of the historical information they wrote about. I got to know some of the other writers and ended up joining the group, which is called Western Fictioneers. We all write westerns or historical fiction. I know—this persona writes science fiction. However, that’s how my alter ego met many of my friends.

I’ve had online friends since the days of AOL and dial-up internet services. We used to chat every couple of weeks about all things writing-related (as well as anything else that came up). Still in contact with some of those folks, though we communicate through email and Facebook now rather than chat groups. And I’ve made friends in real life who turned out to have great blogs that I enjoy reading, as well as Facebook friends who blog.

I look forward to the day when my name will attract folks to my blog, but for now, it’s just me and the vast emptiness that is the internet. I keep posting, though, because one day, those readers will be looking for me.