A Year in Review: 2018’s Writerly Resolutions

December 31, 2018December 31, 2018 ~ Kelsey Sorge ~ 1 Comment

For 2018, I decided to make a writing-based resolution. My goal was to submit to every magazine within two major publishing imprints: Cricket Media and the Highlights Group. That meant submitting my writing to seven different magazines for children (Cricket, Spider, Ladybug, Babybug, Highlights, High Five, and Hello).

In the interest of transparency and ownership over my successes and failures, I’ve decided to share a number of statistics pertaining to my writing ventures in 2018.

–

Total number of submissions in 2018: 37

Fiction submissions in 2018: 17
Poetry submissions in 2018: 16
Nonfiction submissions in 2018: 3
Craft submissions in 2018: 2

Place of submission

Total number of submissions to Cricket Media in 2018: 12
- Cricket: 2
- Spider: 3
- Ladybug: 3
- Babybug: 4
Total number of submissions to Highlights group in 2018: 10
- Highlights: 4
- High Five: 3
- Hello: 3
Total number of submissions to miscellaneous literary magazines: 16

Intended audience

Submissions for children: 25
Submissions for adults: 13

Number of submissions by month

January: 12
February: 13
March: 2
April: 0
May: 3
June: 1
July: 5
August: 2
September: 0
October: 0
November: 0
December: 0

Acceptances and rejections

Acceptances: 7
Rejections: 30
No reply: 1

Rejections by type

Form rejections: 27
Personal rejections: 3

Longest response time

9 months, 21 days (rejection with invitation to revise and resubmit)

Shortest response time

One hour (acceptance)

Accepted pieces

“Iggy Flint” (poem) | Forthcoming in Cricket
“Changeling” (flash fiction | Read it here at Enchanted Conversations Magazine
“Still Don’t” (tweet) | Read it here at Nanoism
“If Geese Could Spell” (poem)| Forthcoming in Highlights High Five
“Giraffe Cord-keeper” (craft) | Forthcoming in Highlights
“Dashiell’s Dress” (fiction) | Forthcoming in Spider
“Chalk Dust” (poem) | Forthcoming in Highlights Hello

Lessons learned

It takes a long time to hear back from magazine publishers.
It takes even longer to actually be published.
I am best at keeping New Year’s resolutions during the first two months of the year.
Having a job where I need to be at work all day really affects how much writing and submitting I accomplish.
I must have thick skin because REJECTION HURTS.
BUT SERIOUSLY, WHY DON’T THEY LOVE ME?
MY PARENTS THOUGHT THAT PIECE WAS REALLY NICE, THOUGH.
Acceptance eases the bitter sting of the aforementioned rejections…but only a little.
Writing for children’s magazines is not necessarily the way to garner fame and fortune.
(Especially fortune.)
I still don’t actually know what I’m doing.
But I think, having reviewed the numbers, that I can safely say that I met my 2018 writing resolution.

What should my writing resolution for 2019 be?

cropped-signature

Seven Books

July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 ~ Kelsey Sorge ~ Leave a comment

You may have seen (or taken part in) that recent Facebook trend to post seven covers, one per day, from books you love. You aren’t supposed to offer any explanation, but you are supposed to tag other book lovers so that your newsfeed becomes filled with books instead of pictures of things like your ex-girlfriend’s dog’s third birthday party.

I was recently tagged, but instead of making seven distinct Facebook posts in which I feel smug about how I am more literary (and therefore better in every conceivable way) than you, I’m going to make one blog post and then post THAT to Facebook. I don’t have the time or the wherewithal to spread this thing out over seven days, but I do like to feel smug and literary.

So, without further ado, here are some book covers. (And some brief explanations because I’m not always great at following directions.)

1kristythomas — Shout out to Ann M. Martin for 1.) teaching me about raising guide dog puppies, and 2.) convincing me that I will suddenly develop Glaucoma and go blind.

2.frogtoad — If Toad isn’t a thinly-veiled metaphor for the dangers of drugs, then he is, at the very least, a user.

3. poisonwood — Number of people who I’ve recommended this book to: 6,789. Number of people who’ve read it based on my recommendation: 0

4. tuck — My very first existential crisis.

5.thefeast — The best damn book that no one has ever heard of except me.

6. piedra — I credit this book with teaching me Spanish.

7. animals should — Everything about this cover is offensive to my corneas.

More Important Lists

November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 ~ Kelsey Sorge ~ Leave a comment

Reasons I’m not writing:

My dog is chewing on my laptop.
My baby is chewing on my laptop.
The skin on my knuckles is so dry that it cracks when I try to type.
My yard is covered in leaves, and while I haven’t actually raked them, I’ve dedicated a significant amount of time to thinking about how I ought to be raking them.
MAKING LISTS IS MORE FUN.

Reasons I am writing:

The world is dumb and stupid and scary, and sometimes writing is the only thing that makes sense.
I’m a kickass writer. (I am also, as you can see, quite modest.)
I have a lot going on in my head, and if I don’t write about it, my husband has to bear the brunt of my neuroses.
If I don’t meet the 50,000 word goal for NaNoWriMo, my students won’t respect me. (They may also jeer and/or throw things.)
I’m sick and tired of how insipid most children’s books are.

I want to read stories about stolen shopping carts, pillows covered in glitter, dogs wearing tutus, shampoo with magical properties, dilapidated boarding houses, and shifty glances between people who don’t like each other but share an uneasy respect.

So that’s what I’m writing.

Wish me luck.

Signature