This bibliography is partly to make my own record as thorough as possible, and partly to show that even if you’re not currently selling or publishing, there’s usually something happening. You may call it “padding.” I don’t, as this list includes withdrawn titles with contracts for legitimate sales (previously listed), titles held for further consideration by editors for routine publication which sold to other markets later, or titles with my approval and acceptance by editors held in hopes of sales and publications which didn’t pan out [the near-misses], rewrite requests not resulting in sales of future published titles, and notable notices either counted as sales, or which are currently unavailable to me for confirmation from the more distant past.
Two titles were sold in 1992 (counted in #1 and #2), but withdrawn (in 1993 and 1994). Four additional titles were held for future sale and publication by two separate markets (which is rare)—one market tanked and one never launched (1996 and 1999), although some of these titles sold later. However, two sales in 2020, with contracts, galleys and payments received from the same publisher, won’t be in print because the market closed. One more urban fantasy short story was accepted for an anthology in 2020, but the project failed to meet its story quota and won’t be published. Another horror short story was a near-miss in 2021. See Near-Miss details below.
Some titles in this bibliography had early rejections but were eventually sold and published. Routine, or form-email rejections aren’t worth noting. However, Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers (OSFW) begins every monthly meeting with several Ritual Questions: Did anyone sell anything/publish/get paid/submit work/write/bring anything to read at the meeting, or have any “good” rejections—a personal rejection with comments by the editor on story content? Titles on #3 are listed with “good” rejections, which were later sold/published, or titles which meet that criteria including previously short-listed titles currently in circulation.
Twelve titles were accepted on first submission (2000, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023). There’s a variety of mileage between authors, and is sometimes—but not always—the result of an invitation to submit work to an anthology or collection. Selling on first submission is happening to me much more frequently.
*** Sold, sold later, sold\published, and notable notices (*** emphasis on sales and/or publication on this page, including confirmed notable notices or contest wins).
NM = Near Miss, even if sold later. Except for first submission sales, stories will have varied submission histories.
***”1984″ non-fiction essay, first submission sale by invitation to the Personal Demons CD anthology, Brian A. Hopkins, Ed., Lone Wolf Publications, 2001.
***”Again” h double-drabble, first submission sale to Guilty Pleasures and Other Dark Delights, publisher thingsinthewell.wordpress.com, Steven Dillon Ed., for e-book and POD trade paperback, August 25, 2019. Published October 5, 2019.
“The Antler Man” df urban/Iron Age novella (marketed as “Two Warriors and the Lost Women). 1: Rewrite request from Asimov’s, June 1994. Not accepted.
2: Held for “future buy” at Non-Stop Magazine trade paperback, March 1996. Market closed before sale. NM.
“A Swan, Hunted by Goblins” h short story held long-term for Non Binary Stars at Jayhenge Publishing. Anthology project cancelled in May, 2021 due to a low number of submissions. NM.
“A Swan, Trapped by Goblins” h flash fiction piece, rewrite request from Flash in a Flash, August, 2021. I queried but received no definite answer to this rewrite request.
“Black Rabbit” h flash fiction piece first submission sale to Black Hare Press for Run, Rabbit, Run, April 6, 2023.
***”Bones, Then Horns, Then Udders” df drabble, first submission sale to Eerie River Publishing’s Dark Magic: Dark Fantasy Drabbles of Magic and Lore anthology, Michelle River, Ed., on September 27, 2020. Trade paperback published April 27, 2021, (Kindle version slightly earlier) in May, 2021.
***”Bones, Then Teeth” dark sf short story “in the maybe pile” at Planet Scumm, September, 2021. Rejected.
2. A finalist for Crystal Lake Publishing’s July 2022 Flash Fiction Contest (1500 word version). Notified August 8, 2022 by Founder/CEO Joe Mynhardt. “Bones, Then Teeth” was posted on the Patreon Page August 19, 2022. Voting results from Patreon members were in on September 2, 2022. The story came in 14th place, and was ineligible for sale or publication at this market, but is definitely a notable notice. NM.
***”Bones, Then Teeth, Then Wings” df drabble, first submission sale to Eerie River Publishing’s Dark Magic: Dark Fantasy Drabbles of Magic and Lore anthology, Michelle River, Ed., August 13, 2020. Trade paperback published April 27, 2021 (Kindle version slightly earlier). Resold as a reprint to WYRMS at Shacklebound Books, April 07, 2022.
“The Call” h novelette sent up to the publisher by the editor for final approval at Black Gate Magazine, 2002. Not accepted (currently marketed as a long horror short story entitled “Weird Fairies”).
*** “The Change” hard sf flash fiction piece sold to Four Part Punk – Drabbles, a first submission sale to Black Hare Press, October 9, 2021.
***“Circle of Stones” s&s novelette, resubmit request by Realms of Fantasy, February 1997. Not accepted (retitled “The Lost Woman”).
***“Elixir of Life” sf short story, asked by Mindsparks to resubmit when market reopened, February 1994. Apparently, it didn’t.
***“End of the Line” long sf short story, sold to Midnight Zoo, October 1992. Withdrawn, pay issues. NM.
***”Fence of Palms” sf short story. This title has multiple sales/publications/achievements [see Numbers Subject to Change page].
*** “Fledglings/Crones” h short story co-authored with Karen Thrower, first submission sale to Bodies Full of Burning: An Anthology of Menopause-Related Horror by Sliced-Up Press, Ben Walker, Publisher, on February 28, 2021.
“The Giddy Flame” uf short story accepted on first submission to The Blue Light Special anthology, Sept. 2020. Project failed to meet its story quota, and won’t be published. NM.
***”Gold Rabbit” h flash fiction piece first submission sale to Black Hare Press for Run, Rabbit, Run, April 6, 2023.
“Hard Time” sf short story, previous minor contest semi-finalist, held for further consideration at Edge Detector, Sept. 1995. Nope.
***“Homeland,” epic df short story short-listed by Cronegirlspress.com, rejected 01-16-2020. Sold to the invitation-only anthology, The Spell Books, Vol 3, Nabu Carnevale fantasy edition, at Tell-Tale Press, February 3, 2020, with galleys and contract received. Paid on March 26, 2020. Withdrawn, market closed before publication of the trade paperback. MOBI file (ebook copy) was sent to contributors only on June 7, 2020. NM.
***“The Home Town Boy” 1. Uf short story, rewrite request from Best of the Mid-West, June, 1993. Rejected. This title has multiple sales/publications/achievements. See Numbers Subject to Change page].
2. Honorable Mention in one of the 1998 or 1999 Year’s Best anthologies, but I can’t definitively say which.
3. Reprint sale to Jayhenge Publications for the Grandpa’s Deep Space Diner anthology, first submission sale of this version, November 15, 2021.
*** “Imp of a Particular Night” vampire-themed horror short story, retitled “Parasites, a Tale of Route 66.” Sold to the invitation-only anthology, The Blood Tomes, Vol 3, Nabu Carnevale horror edition, at Tell-Tale Press, January 2, 2020. Galleys and contract received. Paid on February 14, 2020. Market closed before publication of the trade paperback; story was withdrawn. MOBI file (ebook copy) sent to contributors only on June 7, 2020. NM. This story was resold in August, 2020.
***”Manifest Destiny and the Iceland Girl,” first submission sale to The Were-Traveler women-writers-only issue, Women Destroy Retro Science Fiction, Maria Kelly, Ed./Publisher, December 26, 2020. Published February 15, 2021 on The Were-Traveler website. Paid 02-16-21. “Manifest Destiny and the Iceland Girl” was the first story in the TOC.
“The Moon Song Goddess and her Ultimate, Lonely Hearts Club Band” f short story, Honorable Mention (4th Place) in the 1991 N3F Writing Contest; Through the Corridor editor S. Manning asked for permission to hold—which was granted—for a new magazine that never launched, July 1995. NM.
***“Noodle You, Noodle Me” df novelette sold to Harper Collins hardcover anthology Horseman/Starman, February 1992. Editor missed publisher deadline, withdrawn. NM.
***“Original Child” h short story, first submission sale by invitation, published in Extremes: Fantasy & Horror from the Ends of the Earth CD anthology, Brian A. Hopkins, Ed., Lone Wolf Publications, April 2000.
“The Plague Maker,” vampire-themed sf short story held for “future buy” at Non-Stop Magazine trade paperback, March 1996. Market closed before sale. NM.
“Rebellions” a humorous holiday h short story and somewhat political, accepted by co-editor Tom Easton at B Cubed Press October 1, 2021, for The Protest Diaries. Then publisher/principle editor Bob Brown reneged on this sale March 9, 2022, calling it “unauthorized,” presumably by Easton. I had received galleys, but no contract. Paid a kill fee, after expressing my extreme displeasure for losing a good paying sale. NM.
***”Red Rabbit” h flash fiction piece first submission sale to Black Hare press for Run, Rabbit, Run, April 6, 2023.
“Rouge” s&s novelette. 1: Through the Corridor editor S. Manning asked for permission to hold—which was granted—for a new magazine that never launched, July 1995.
2: Held again for further consideration at Bones, July 1996. Market closed. NM.
“Sister Jessah and the Haystack People” s&s novelette, after initial submission of first three pages, entire manuscript requested by the Acquisitions Editor at Savage Realms, October 22, 2021. Ultimately rejected by same March 12, 2022. What OSFW calls “a good rejection.”
***”The Twilight People” h short story. 1. First submission sale to the Winter Holidays horror anthology, The Blood Tomes, October 2018, published online and Amazon Kindle December 20, 2018. Market closed, no online availability.
2. Reprint sale to Tell-Tale Press for The Blood Tomes, from the Winter Holidays anthology. A trade paperback edition was published March 1, 2020. Market closed, no online availability. Trade paperback copies available directly from me. Use Contacts here on the website.
“Victorian” h flash fiction piece, a first submission sale to Black Hare Press for anthology Love Me, Love Me Not (dark drabbles), January 6, 2023.
*** “Wasted Treats” h flash fiction piece, a first submission sale to Black Hare Press for Nom Nom, Halloween (dark drabbles), June 8, 2022.
***”White Rabbit” h flash fiction piece first submission sale to Black Hare Press for Run, Rabbit, Run, April 6, 2023.
One of my worst regrets in the #3 Bibliography (although it’s never fun to be rejected), is the sale of “End of the Line” to Midnight Zoo, withdrawn over a pay issue (reduced from the amount I’d contracted for.) I had two pro sales at the time, but this was an amateur mistake. I was also receiving bad advice from a bigger name writer I should have ignored. I denied myself another sale and publication, and when I look back at it, what difference did it make what they paid me, especially when I was basically an amateur writer? Stupid.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, when Tell Tale Press closed on June 1, 2020 (the exact publication date of the trade paperbacks), two publishing opportunities listed above were suddenly terminated. The MOBI files (ebook copies) of both anthologies were sent out to only the contributors, and in my opinion, are simply wonderful. This was a missed opportunity for the authors involved. Worse, it was entirely avoidable due to the editor’s online rants (for which she apologized, but too late).