Weeks 27 and 28 — Year of Short Stories 2026

2026 is another year of short stories. In this weekly series, I track my short story writing, from idea and draft to submission.

This is the weeks of Jul 6 – Jul 19.

Stats

• Stories Finished: 3
• Submissions Currently Out: 3
• Submissions Total: 20
• Rejections: 19
• Acceptances: 0

Submissions and Responses

I had two form rejections come back this week: a magazine submission for Dr. Clipboard’s Miracle Wonder Drug, and an anthology submission for Taco Cat.

Not much to say for these. The anthology was a rather specific theme that fit the story, which is a theoretical leg up, but by no means a guarantee that it’ll be read in a positive light.

My open submissions list in Duotrope is getting thin, so I will be scouring the listings and sending out stories again this week.

Goals and Results

Last time, my goals were:

1. Revise Beneath the House in Caen to completion, or close to it.
2. Clean up and trim T.I.M., consider whether it needs another round of Critters.

Happily, I have now worked through all the critique revisions on Caen, so that will be included in my next round of submissions. It’s a horror/dark fantasy story, which will be a nice addition to my stable, since there are a decent number of markets for horror that I wasn’t able to submit to before.

Now I ought to get back to T.I.M., but I’m still feeling burned out on that story, so I may work on one of my other drafts. Estate Sale another horror story, so I may work on that as long as I am in a horror headspace.

I also have some critiques to catch up on, so I’ll be ready when it’s time to send those out for feedback.

Next Week

Goals:

1. Submit stories
2. Catch up on critiques
3. Clean up and trim T.I.M.
4. Other revisions: Estate Sale?