What I do with this Duotrope thing now depends entirely on my goals. Since it compiles statistics for both acceptance rates and response times, it would be relatively simple for me to blast my stories out to some on-line lit mags with a quick turnaround and near-non-existent standards, and thus bolster my publishing resume. More than one appears to exist for almost that exact purpose. Prestige in the world of literary magazines doesn’t exactly appear to resonate far outside the world of literary magazines, so I don’t think holding out for only the most exclusive is strategically-wise or rewarding. Also – I am not good enough a writer at this point to run in those rare circles.
The other extreme, though, should be avoided as well, I think. Anything that churns that much material and with that little scrutiny probably doesn’t have much of a readership. I want to be somewhere that makes at least an attempt to promise quality, and at least a semblance of an audience that wants it. Like so many things, I can visualize this as the sliding scale, and I just need to find the sweet spot between the extremes that meets my goals.
I can also learn from the site which magazines pay their authors; but making money directly off the stories isn’t much of a pursuit – even at the supposed “big money” outlets I’d be lucky to make over $100 off a short story. If you break down the hours I put into it, that doesn’t exactly make it a good-paying labor. So why sweat it?
No – I remain confident in the plan as it’s coming together; get placed in some magazines that provide at least both a minor imprimatur of quality, and outside confirmation that I know what the frak I’m doing and am not wasting peoples’ times with these stories. Then use the visibility and resources at the mags that have published me to whatever extent I can to promote a self-published collection which includes the published stories and a few others.
Maybe I only sell 20 copies to friends/family and 10 copies to strangers who read me out of one of those mags; but I’ll have produced something tangible, and that will feel good.
Judging by the statistics I see, some of the targets I selected in my last blast are ridiculously exclusive. If I get a couple of hours to myself sometime this month (HA!), it might be wise to line up 10-20 more submissions out of this batch of stories. Once you know your goal, there’s nothing against improving your odds.