State of the Meerkat, Saturday Edition

[lagilman]

The contract for Gin & Tonic #3-#4 arrived in my inbox, and has been gone over. I will say that reading the marked-up pdf on my iPad mini was more enjoyable than trying to wrangle the legal-size paper Simon & Schuster still uses.  Anyway, it reminded me that #3 is due in SEPTEMBER, not October as I had in my mind, so the pace on that's been picked up a bit.

I'm still knee-deep in reading submissions for Entangled, trying to get back into the editorial mindset of "scan-for-brilliance."  I know the skill set's intact, it's just taking a while to reclaim.  Two projects that were almost-but-not-quite, and one that's probably-not-sorry.  This is the brutal part of the editorial job, and the one that many people sneer at, but my job here is to find the best stories I think will sell the best, not to make allowances or be gentle.  :-(

Meanwhile, I'm working on the on-spec manuscript, and juggling my two long-term freelance clients, and going through the final stages of production for PROMISES TO KEEP for the kickstarter release.

So yeah... if I've been quiet lately, all that would be why.

I still haven't seen either Iron Man #3 or the new Trek, mainly because I'm a social movie-going creature and nobody's schedule seems to be syncing up with mine.  *sighs*  But soon.

Coming up:  BEA and the related chaos thereof, and then a brief pause before I'm into the whirlwind of HEART OF BRIAR's release, and the related book-pimping. The sightings-and-signings page has been updated, and will continue to be updated on a probably-weekly basis... (so if you have a bookstore or book festival you think I should swing by, let me know!)



Originally published at Writer. Editor. Tired Person. You may comment here or there.

Comments

[controuble.livejournal.com]

Got mail yesterday and found a Sylvan Investigations bookmark inside - YAY!

[jamileigh17.livejournal.com]

Yay on the bookmark arrival (it immediately went into the shiny autographed bookmarks collection file I have)! And yeah, I'd be curious to compare notes on the submissions you're getting. I've been interning as a reader for a while there, and the frustrating ones are the ones where they're ALMOST there but not quite... And it's obvious that another pass or two by good critiquers would take care of it.

[elsceetaria.livejournal.com]

As someone who is still trying to get her writing to where she wants it and still struggles to keep her stride consistent to finish short stories even without burning after a few thousand words and never wanting to return (I know most people's brains don't work this way, but mine does and needs a little retraining - writing a 28K word paper that went over length at one point has helped some), it can be frustrating when you get a form rejection on a story. I at least, however, understand that means the story needs more work for that publication and not that the editor is a Meany McMeanypants. It's their job to find the best story.

I apologize that that portion of the comment seems to have exploded into chaos at some point. It would probably be best to stop here.

[lagilman]

A form rejection means "we get a thousand submissions every month and personalized rejection letters take 2-3x as long as a form letter, meaning it will take EVEN LONGER to get back to everyone."

It's time management, that's all.

(which is why when you do get any kind of personal response, it's to be put in the WIN category, even if not the SALE column.)