Went so far as to reformat a story in preparation of sending out after making quite a number of tweaking changes. And can’t get myself to call it ready.
There’s a point where you know what you’re mailing out to literary journals is not junk. It’s not half-bad at all, you think, and you ARE pretty much up on what the short story market is looking for currently–and I mean, as of this very morning–and yet you know it may not be as really perfect as it should be.
Well, I’ve learned something else as well: it never will be.
The best thing to do, and this is only with something that you have some confidence in, is send it out. The submissions rules and reading times are more strict and restricted than ever. The waiting time is even longer. Sometimes you just have to do it so that you always have something in the pipeline, something going on; proof that you’re taking your writing seriously in the hope that someone else does too.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology