Musings on Marketing

[wyld_dandelyon]

I've been looking through Duotrope's Digest and a number of magazines' submission guidelines, thinking about where to send several of my stories next.  It feels like slogging through mud.

I joke about collecting rejections, and I'm resigned that it is an inevitable part of the process. 

However, watching myself  read these guidelines, I see myself imagining why this editor and that editor and the other editor are likely to may reject the story.  And that doesn't help my mood, or the process of actually getting the story out the door (or, more likely these days, through an online submission window). 

In the meantime, in the back of my head, I'm getting ready for that job interview tomorrow.  I think I have a new answer to the question, what skill would you like to improve.  I definitely need to get better at marketing myself! 

We spend so much time being told not to toot our own horn, to be modest, and so on.  And too much time being told to find our weaknesses and to stay aware of them so we can improve on them (or, sometimes, use other skills to compensate for them).  And identifying ways we can improve is important.  But it's not the only thing that's important.

Being able to be happily excited while figuring out how and where to share your work with the world is important too. 

So, I guess, now one of the goals I'm working on is getting better at selling myself and my skills, both mundane and fantastical.

Anyone have some tips to share?

Comments

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

I think one way you can help yourself is researching the market. Check out what is currently being offered by that market. Then explain why you are a good fit.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Knowing the market is, indeed, good.

With submitting short stories, most editors don't want to hear/read explanations, they often barely glance at the cover letter until after they've already read the story, or (in the case of rejections) as much of the story as they're ever going to. If the story doesn't sell itself, the only factor that might change their minds is being popular enough that your name on their magazine will increase bookstore sales (or, I suppose, internet clicks).

I wrote this piece because researching the short story market was being difficult and depressing. Any thoughts on how to make it less so?

However, as for job interviews, yes, getting more comfortable with and skilled at that explanation process would be good. (-: