I wanted to write this down as a written archival document on how I started writing and where I am as of today. Let's go back in time: I started writing when I was around 9 or 10 years old. My first story was The Mission. I haven't looked at those pictures in a few years and I'm rather happy that I took the time to scan everything into the computer so I have a record to remind me of how far I've come.
I've tried for many long years to have my stories published. I started submitting to Dragon Magazine at the time I was about 15 years of age. I've had a few stories published in zines and also a few poems.
(Real quick: I'm listening to Richard Wagner's Prelude to "Das Rheingold" as I write this. I sometimes like to mention what I'm listening to so that I can reflect back and see what my state of mind is. Again, I'm writing this for me as a journal entry so I can easily find this if I need to remind myself that being a writer isn't always all rejection and frustration.)
Back to my story: I had a few pieces published in zines and I had my "Fires in the Sky" Dragonlance article published in the "Legends of the Lance" Wizards of the Coast newsletter. I also had some Magic: The Gathering articles published on the now defunct Grimmoire.com Magic site. From there, I started writing for other Magic sites--just to write--as well as sending in some "how to" writing articles to the Science Fiction & Fantasy Workshop newsletter. Then last year an idea hit me: Why was I sending all of these articles out to people for free? Why didn't I do some research and try to have my articles published in magazines?
My first success was the " Start Your Own Blog in Two Easy Steps article that I had published in SFWA's Spring 2005 Bulletin. From there, I had the "How to Create Podcast" article published in the Bulletin and I started sending more queries out the magazines and websites that I read.
A good resource for me, in the beginning, was the Absolute Write website. I didn't receive any great leads from this site, but I did learn a lot. I try to read through the threads every now and again. After submitting my short stories out (still with no major success!), I decided to keep writing articles. This past month my article "Playing Vintage on the Cheap" was published in Issue #6 of the Beckett Magic The Gathering magazine. And when I looked through my mail today, I saw that my free copies of the Spring 2006 issue of "The Bulletin" (by SFWA) had arrived. I ripped opened the envelope and saw that my article "Using Technology to Be More Efficient" was featured on the cover. Now I try my best not to get all giddy and excited, but I have to admit that I'm happy as a clam that my byline is on the cover of a Magazine. I'm proud of my accomplishment.
Taking a step back: I've a long road in front of me, but I've realized two things.
1. I need to take chances and try to pitch ideas to editors. Many times they say "no," but sometimes they say "yes." 2. Fiction, though I like to write it, doesn't pay jack these days. The money that I am making from my writing is through the sale of my articles.
And now a message to myself:
I've wanted to be a fiction writer since I was 9 years old. I've received rejection, after rejection, after rejection over the years. I still have not given up, but I am amazed at how difficult it is to break into the fiction market. A goal of mine is to see my article printed in Asimov's, but that goal is still beyond my reach.
I keep trying, writing, failing, but I have had some successes. I just wanted to remind myself that it's not all failure. There are successes , but it has taken me a long, long time to get where I'm at. But the message to myself is this: Don't give up. Keep trying. Keep plugging away. Maybe by the time I'm 65 I'll have my book published! Ha.
