To cast or not to cast

I asked a writer friend of mine once how she had gotten so much in print so fast. Of course, her work is amazing and deserves to be printed. But alot of folks are good writers and yet their stuff never sees the light of day.

She said, in words that I'm paraphrasing, that she cast a big net. She submitted like it was going out of style and she had a shit load of it left. Her advise though, was to be careful. She said she had gotten some things printed that in hindsight, she wasn't thrilled with. Whether she meant the story or the publication (likely some of both) I don't know.

But of late, I've tried to take this to heart a bit. I have a tendency to let time get away from me. I will look back over a submissions list and see that it's been nearly a year since I sent out "this" and even longer since I sent out "that."

I've been making myself put ass to chair and read and research and send things out. I've gotten a couple of things printed this season...one that i've been submitting (randomly) for a long time and one that I had just finished.

Thanks to the popularity of online submitting, I've gotten loads more out than when it cost paper, ink, and postage.

But, as I edit an online journal myself and therefore, only take electronic subs myself--I see the downfall here as well. It's darn easy to cast a line with the wrong bait on it.

When I was putting out money to print and send, I was careful about how I used those funds. Since online it free, it's tempting to just send your stuff out everywhere and see what happens. This can be a dangerous thing. And what a pain in the ass for the editors.

I see that in my own journal. I get alot of great stuff and alot of stuff that was cast out in a big net with no thought. It overloads my inbox and makes it hard to give everyone the through read that they deserve.

So my advise, find a happy medium. Don't let time get away from you. Submit and then submit again. Take youre time and make good choices. Dont' contribute to mass mailing and overloaded editors. What's it's costing you could be a chance to be read and published.