Absolute Gentleman

My story collection was rejected by Dzanc Books a couple of days ago. This one hurt a little more than the others considering that I really felt a connection with this publisher. The two guys I had been in contact with, Dan Wickett and Steve Seighman, were professional, responded to my emails right away, and I’d certainly recommend them to other writers. But this one hurt. The rejection overlapped a submission period for a short story contest, during which Dzanc will choose twenty-one short story collections to publish over the next few years. Twenty-one. I feel strongly that my book is among the top twenty-one collections yet to be published. I’m certain it is. So I feel lost.

To balance this bit of bad news, I revisited a magazine’s site that always intrigued me, Narrative. They’re holding a contest for stories written in the first person. I’ve never entered a contest before because they cost money, but more and more contest fees include subscriptions to the magazine or in this case, web content, so I feel better knowing I’d get something in return. So I paid the steep $20 fee and entered one of my stories. In exchange, I received access to what they’re calling “Narrative Backstage,” a limited access part of the site containing audio lectures, PDF articles on craft, and works-in-progress by notable writers. Authors featured include Robert Olen Butler, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Jenks, Amy Tan, Stuart Dybek, and Tobias Wolff. So the $20 was well spent. If you want a year of Backstage access, it costs $50 per year — all a good value, in my opinion, because the content changes often enough to keep things interesting.