The year 2020. What shall we say about it? Perhaps the less said the better.

I’ll focus on the short fiction market for my stories, fully realizing that there were many far more important (and dire) things that happened in 2020. But hey, this is a blog about writing, so I’ll stay in my lane.

When all hell started breaking loose in March, I suddenly had no time for writing. Although stuck at home, I have a small business that went on life support. My business mainly sells to schools, and suddenly schools were remote and not looking to buy hands-on projects (3d printed robot kits). I had to navigate PPP rules to keep my employees getting paychecks, and spent a lot of time drumming up business where I could. No time to focus on writing.

I neglected my slush pile funnel, going down to only 6 stories by midsummer (normal was 14 to 16). There were a few reasons for this. First, no new stories. Second, many publications shutdown their submissions for months, cutting the number of markets significantly. Third, I wasn’t really thinking about writing or maintaining my slushpile subs.

Even while this was going on, I was getting an unusually large number of “second round” and “final round” notifications. These kinds of notifications mean that you’ve made it past the first reader and sometimes also mean you’re in final consideration. Even so, at most places you still only have a smallish chance of making the sale (one in three to one in ten depending on publication). Still, you have to pass through this phase to get a shot at a sale, so it’s good to get such notices.

This motivated me, once my business was stable in the fall, to start writing again. I wrote five stories in October. One of them has already sold, to FFO (“My Lakeside Graveyard”, Horror, Flash). Two others are in “second round” at different publications right now.

The other two I wrote in October, I am still waiting for markets to open back up before submitting (they are scheduled to open in January so just a few more days to wait). I also wrote stories in November and December that are still being workshopped and prepared for marketing.

I got Covid-19 myself in early December and was hospitalized for 3 days. I was never in serious danger, but I heard the moans in rooms around me of those who had more severe cases. I’m just fine now and grateful for modern medicine.

So, only one pro sale this year. Fittingly, it was a horror story (and I don’t write much horror).

But there were bigger issues to worry about, as we all know, so I’m happy enough that all my family members and myself just survived.

I am looking forward to 2021. With a vaccine ramping up, the end of the Covid nightmare is in sight. Schools are starting to buy my robots again so my small business should recover. I have a bunch of stories in inventory and several markets are starting to revive their slushpiles, so I’ll have places to send them. I’m motivated by the large number of “second look” notices I got this year, almost fifty percent of my submissions. The creative juices are flowing, I’m waking up with solid ideas a few times a week.

In short, things are turning around, both for me personally and I’m pretty sure for the whole world. Onward to better times in 2021, and not a minute too soon!