Tag Archives: WRiting Feedback

Why I Provide Feedback on Submissions to BITC

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Keeping up with a weekly blog post and accepting story submissions on this site takes more work than you might think (or than I originally thought, anyway).

My motivation for maintaining this site is threefold:

  1. There is a panning-for-gold aspect where I KNOW there are solid stories being rejected that should be published for the world to see.
  2. Forcing myself to verbalize why I am rejecting a story makes me a stronger writer — at least in theory.
  3. As a writer myself, I got tired of getting form “Sorry, this one isn’t right for us” rejections that gave me no clue as to why my work was being rejected. As a way of giving back, I am trying to help others by providing feedback as to why I think their story may not be getting published.

A lot of my time is consumed by providing written, often detailed, feedback to authors whose stories I have rejected. I am often fearful that some may be offended or see me as trying to “rewrite” their stories when I do this.

Below are excerpts taken from email responses to rejections. These tell me my efforts are predominantly seen as helpful. I find joy in knowing most writers are earnestly grateful for my unsolicited advice:

“Thank you for your feedback on my previous submission! I edited the story based on it and found a home for it! “

“Wow, thank you for giving me feedback! I haven’t gotten that yet.”

“Thanks for the kind words and feedback, James!”
“Thank you for your constructive feedback – most appreciated.”

“Thanks for reading my story and for the feedback! You’ve raised some interesting points to consider in revising my story.”

“Don’t mean to bomb your inbox but I do want to say I appreciate your taking the time to provide feedback on my submission”

“Thanks so much for taking the time to read my work and even giving me helpful feedback”

“Thanks for the typo spotting and feedback, I appreciate it”

“You may not read this since this is a response to a decline on my submission, but I would still like to reach out and thank you for your time and notes. I really appreciate you going the extra mile in providing feedback and your points will be very helpful in sharpening this piece as well as future submissions.”

“Thank you for your thoughtful, detailed comments. They’re greatly appreciated!”

“Thank you so much for this feedback, James!”

“Wow, thank you for such detailed feedback!”

“Your detailed and constructive comments are very encouraging”

“Thanks so much for reading the piece and providing your generous feedback! I’m excited to incorporate your insights and hope that you can draw some joy in knowing that if I find a home for this story you’ll have played a part in helping make that happen. I truly appreciate your time and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!”

“Thanks for taking the time to read it and for the detailed feedback. I truly appreciate it”

“Just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to leave kind and specific feedback on the story.”

“I am amazed at the detail. MANY THANKS. A critique of this level is pure gold.”

“Thanks for the feedback! will use it to improve the story.”

“Thanks for your kind words, James.”

“Thanks for your close reading of my story! Your idea of continuing the narrative is a good one and I’ll take it up.”

“Thanks for taking the time to comment on my story- points well taken.”

“Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated!”

“Such helpful feedback. Thank you so much.”

Thank you to everyone who has submitted to Breaking Into the Craft and to those who come here to read short fiction and my posts on writing advice. There is a great feeling of community when I see the comments, site stats, and submissions.

Take care,

-James

Writing Short Stories:  Return on Time Invested

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Stories vary in the amount an author receives for publication. One of my stories, The Right Answer, has provided a lot in return for the amount of time it took me to write it. And that return has been more than just financial.

The financial side was good, as far as 3000-word fiction goes anyway.  I initially published it in Alex Shvartsman’s UFO 3 anthology (still available on Amazon, BTW) then later as an audio “reprint” on Escape Pod and Tall Tale TV.  I received a small payday each time it went live.

This is pretty good considering I wrote the story in one sitting. I did do a bit of editing later and then had to reshape it based on the feedback the market provided but as stories go, this one had a lot less of my time into it than some of my stories that have never been published.

But the most rewarding “return” I got was being able to see the feedback from those who read it.  I recall a highlight for me when it was initially published: A woman from Australia emailed me to tell me how much she enjoyed the story. She was eating cereal while reading it and nearly shot milk out of her nose at one funny part. It’s an indescribable experience to know that I tickled the funny bone of some stranger, on the other side of the planet, so much that they felt they needed to reach out to me.

Only recently did I notice that Escape Pod has a discussion forum (and do check this out) for stories they publish. It is thrilling to see people talking about the words I have put together.  There were a few people that didn’t like the story, which an author never likes to see, but there are many more who enjoyed it very much. The story is [meant to be] a comedy and tastes can vary quite a bit, so I do expect there to be some that give it a thumbs down.

Let me know in the comments down below what your experiences have been with feedback from those who have read your work.

-James