15 March 2025

Never Surrender


  

A few weeks ago, something good--and unexpected--happened to me, publishingwise: a story was accepted by one of my favorite markets, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The thrill I got from that acceptance probably doesn't mean a lot unless I tell you this: It was my first acceptance there in three years.


Confession time

EQMM has been a tough market for me, ever since I first started submitting short stories for publication, back in the mid-90s. I like to think I work hard on everything I write, and I try to research the magazines as well as I can, reading a lot in whichever one I submit stories to, and I've had some modest success with most of the mystery markets available to us over the years. But not so much at EQMM.

I've made a total of seven sales to EQ in the thirty-one years I've been submitting stories to them, and while I'm proud of (and grateful for) each of those acceptances, I should also explain that I've received many, many, many rejections from them. In fact, it took me six years of rejections to finally break into EQMM, and that first sale wasn't even a short story--it was a 12-line poem. My next sale there took four more years, and it too was a mystery/crime poem. Since then, I've been luckier in my submissions to them--four short stories in the past ten years, three of which were recognized with awards, plus this latest acceptance--but be aware, that good fortune sits on a scale opposite dozens of rejections.


Advice

My point in telling you all this is to say DON'T QUIT.

Keep on trying, even when you wonder if you'll ever get there. This is one piece of guidance I always tried to emphasize to my students in my short-story classes. As I've said many times, I can't guarantee that you'll sell a story if you submit it, but I can guarantee that you won't sell it if you don't. NOTE: The only times that advice hasn't eventually paid off for me is with Analog and Asimov's--they've never accepted any of my stories, although I've tried often--but that's not quite the same thing. I like reading SF, and writing it too, but it's not my favorite genre. Mystery/crime/suspense is.

So . . . if you're one of those talented writers who have had tons of stories published at EQMM--I'm talking to you, David Dean and Josh Pachter--my hat's off to you and you'll always be my heroes. But if you're someone like me, who has had some difficulty in regularly sneaking past EQ's palace guards . . . keep on trying. Tote that barge, lift that bale. I think that's the key to all this. (Though I do suspect that those jokers Dean and Pachter have some kind of secret handshake that they've never revealed to me.)


Facts

In case you're interested, my published stories at EQMM have averaged around 4000 words and have included mostly non-urban settings, no otherworldly elements, straightforward plots, and truly off-beat main characters: a 75-year-old retired farmer, a teenaged chess addict, a seven-foot-tall female schoolteacher, a self-driving car named Mary Jo, etc. This latest sale was of the same length as the others but was different in a few ways: a suburban setting, an extremely twisty plot, etc.--and was also the only story I've written in a long time that began not with a plot in mind but with a title in mind. For some reason, the title "Me and Jan and the Handyman" popped into my head one day and stayed there. By the way, I have no idea when the story'll actually be published, but it's comforting just to know I have one sitting in the TBP queue.


Questions

What about your own experiences, in submitting stories to markets you admire? Do you have a bucket list? Have you been successful? Did it take a long time for you to "break in"? If so, after your first success at a favorite market, was it easier afterward? Have you been able to publish there regularly? Are there any favorite publications that you're still trying and can't seem to crack? Let me know in the comments section below.


In closing, and in case anybody wants to read that first piece of writing I sold to EQMM--it was a poem called "Never Too Late," and appeared in their August 2000 issue--here it is, in all its "eat your heart out, Robert Frost" glory:


"You're Al Capone?"

He said, "That's right."

"You're dead, I thought."

He said, "Not quite."

"Then you must be--"

"I'm 103."

"So you're retired?"

"That's not for me."

"But how do you--"

"Get by?" he said.

He pulled a gun.

"Hands on your head."


Yes, it's a crazy poem, and poses no threat at all to Mr. Sandburg or Ms. Angelou, but it allowed me to work my way into one of my favorite magazines. So--again--it IS "never too late."

To quote Galaxy Quest (doesn't everybody quote Galaxy Quest?): "Never give up, never surrender." Keep writing, and keep sending work to whatever publications you think are the best.

Good luck to all!

 


37 comments:

  1. That's wonderful news! EQMM is a market I've never cracked... but maybe some day.

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    1. Hey Eve! Thank you.

      Look at it this way: You've had many many stories at AHMM, so you're already successful! As for EQMM, never surrender!

      Delete
  2. Ciao from Vernazza in Cinque Terre, John. Unlike Dean, who owes his many acceptances at EQMM to talent, mine are mostly due to pure dumb luck. My next one, in the May/June issue, is at 7000 words the longest story I’ve ever written, and I have two more coming up (one in my Texas PI series and a one-off). On the other hand, I’ve never been able to crack The Strand, where you seem to appear in every issue! We all have our home bases, I guess….

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    Replies
    1. Josh, don't have too much fun over there.

      I of course don't believe the "blind luck" comment, and I must tell you, I'm surprised by the fact that a 7K story is your longest (I seem to remember that *most* of David Dean's are on the long side!). But I'm glad to hear that it's coming up in the May/June issue. I'll have a story in the May/June issue of AHMM, so I'll shout at you from across the ditch.

      And you are correct that almost all of us seem to have a few markets where we've been especially fortunate--the funny thing is that I can never find any real difference between the kinds of stories I send to one market as compared to the others. One of the mysteries of the universe, right?

      Thank you as always, my friend. Now, go back to having fun!

      Delete
  3. Congrats, John. Makes me feel better about my 5 sales to EQMM in 49 years of trying. I just sold one last month which was inspired by evenings many years ago I spent drinking in Irish-style bars in NJ. And who doesn't love Galaxy Quest? Have you seen Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary? Well worth it.

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    1. Yes, Rob, I saw that documentary. VERY well done. And I bet I've seen Galaxy Quest a dozen times, and I love it more with every viewing. I still think it's funny that EVERY single person I've told about GQ says Oh, I don't think I'd like it, and then EVERY single one of those people, when he/she finally watches it, says Whoa, what a great movie!!!!

      I do indeed recall that both you and I have struggled with EQMM while being fairly successful at AHMM. Unfortunately, though, that's not the only thing about publishing that I haven't yet figured out.

      Delete
    2. There are three movies I have found you just have to tell people: Forget the description and just watch it: Galaxy Quest, A Christmas Story, and The Princess Bride.

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    3. I couldn't agree more. Loved all three of those.

      Delete
  4. Two markets that I have never cracked-- Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock. Certainly not for lack of trying. And I haven't stopped trying yet. As you say, I will never surrender.
    Bob

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    1. Bob, I KNOW you can publish stories in both those magazines. Glad to hear you won't stop trying. (The only thing tough about AHMM is committing to send a story and then wait such a long time for a response. But it's worth it.)

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  5. Geez, I love a good poem with perfect rhythm…that one is going to live in my head all day. Thanks for your thoughts on perseverance. It’s so easy to look at prolific writers like you (and those other powerhouses you mentioned, and a few you didn’t) and forget that you’ve also received your share of rejections as well. I just had my third sub to EQMM accepted, so I’m thrilled. I’ve never tried subbing to AHMM except for the Black Orchid Novella contest. Patience is definitely not a virtue in my toolbox, so I don’t know if I can handle the wait time! Congrats on your recent acceptance, and can’t wait to (eventually!) read your story!
    Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier

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    Replies
    1. Ashley, you are so very kind!! Thanks for that. Rhyming poetry ain't the thing, these days, so I was pleased and surprised that EQMM bought it.

      Thank you also for *thinking* I don't get many rejections. I only wish it were true! But having three subs to EQ accepted is such an honor--sincere congratulations to you. Now keep it up! And yes, I agree that AH is hard to submit to sometimes because you know there'll be a long wait--but as I said to Bob, it really is worth it. Try 'em out soon!

      Thank you as always for chiming in, here!

      Delete
  6. 0 sales in the 5 years of submitting there. Had no idea they accepted poems.

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    1. Justin, I'm not at all sure that they still do. But it used to be in their guidelines that they occasionally publish "mystery" poems. So I had to give it a try!

      Delete
  7. My experience is a bit strange. I've submitted five stories over the years to EQMM. Four of them have been accepted. The one that wasn't? Well ... it was the only submission that was NOT an Ellery Queen pastiche.

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    1. Hey Dale! Four our of five of your submissions were accepted by EQMM? Picture me bowing and cheering. Seriously, congratulations. As for pastiches, I think maybe you should send them some more of those!

      Delete
    2. Quite the contrary -- I bow to you. My total of published stories is paltry and that is the area where you reign!

      Delete
    3. But your acceptance/rejection percentage sure beats mine! (I honestly don't even know my rejection total--I tend to try to forget the rejections as soon as they happen.)

      Delete
  8. WHY am I published in Hitchcock and hardly ever in Queen?? I've asked that question for thirty years! I've tried to figure out the difference in subgenre or subsubgenre, and come up blank. Usually my stories have some quirkly humour in them, but heck, the two stories I did get with Queen in the last ten years had that same quirky humour. They also picked those stories for podcasts. So I'm baffled. It's a mystery! But you've made me feel a lot better, John.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I haven't figured it out either, Melodie. Obviously. I've come to the point where I don't really worry much about it anymore--what's the point? I just send the stories in and see what happens.

      But if you do come up with the answer, please don't forget to tell me what it is!

      Thank you as always!

      Delete
  9. I currently have my 62nd submission at EQMM with no acceptances yet. I've published six in AHHM, with one in the current issue, and two that were Black Orchid novellas. I have over a dozen submissions out right now, several to markets I've never tried before (Thank you, Joseph Walker for the SMFS markets list!), some of them running out of places to try.
    Is it just me, or is anyone else noticing that response times from all markets has become much slower over the last several months?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve, welcome to the Floyd/Lopresti/Campbell club. I think it's encouraging, though, that you're currently submitting to some markets you've never yet tried. I wish you the very best, there!

      If you do wind up running out of known places to send stories, hold onto 'em and see if any can be tailored and submitted as a response to anthology calls, as they happen. But of course you know that already.

      And YES, Joe Walker does a super job on the SMFS markets list. (Then again, of course, he has nothing else to do (Ha!))

      Delete
    2. I just went back and looked at my spreadsheet again. 40 stories rejected by EQMM sold somewhere else...two of them to AHMM.

      Delete
    3. Steve, that sounds pretty cool, to me. Good job!

      Another good way to look at that: Rejection responses from EQMM (at least for me) come fairly soon, usually within a couple of months. So it's not like you tied up the story for a year or so before hearing back . . .

      Delete
    4. Oops. That first reply to you, Steve, wasn't from "anonymous"--that was me.

      Delete
    5. The insights from all these authors I look up to are quite humbling. When I'm wallowing in rejection-fueled self-pity, I tend to forget that I only pivoted to crime fiction in 2021. I have a handful of rejections and no acceptances from EQMM, but I recently received my first acceptance to AHMM. I pledge to spam you all ad nauseam about that as soon as I hear back about a date. Thank you, Steve, thank you, John for the perspective.

      Delete
  10. Congrats on your sale to EQMM, John! Can't wait to read your story. I also had a story accepted by EQMM recently. It's called "Japan Trip," and it concerns a young American college student who travels all by himself to--you guessed it--Japan and gets himself into big trouble. Since my first story was published in EQMM last year ("Letters from Tokyo") I've had 3 stories rejected, and the next was again accepted ("Japan Trip"). I'm definitely making progress, I feel like--either I'm getting better at writing stories, or I'm getting luckier. Maybe a little bit of both. Good times!

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    1. Thank you, Yoshinori--and congrats right back at you, for those two EQMM acceptances. (Let's say you ARE getting better, not luckier!--though I'd be glad to take any luck that's floating around waiting to be used.)

      I bet "Japan Trip" IS a trip--I'm looking forward to reading it.

      Thanks for chiming in!

      Delete
  11. John, a thoughtful post as always! I’m looking forward to your upcoming stiry in EQMM, as always, and hope there are many more to come. I have not cracked it myself but I’m just about to send them a new story. And if not that one, I will surely keep trying! Appreciate your encouragement for us all.

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    1. Thanks, Adam. I hope you'll like that story, when it finally sees the light of day. And yes, by all means keep trying EQMM! And let me know when they buy one--I'll help you celebrate from afar.

      Delete
  12. Funny poem and congratulations on your story!

    Unlike some publishers, EQMM has an admirable reputation of buying best stories rather than best-selling authors. Double congrats!

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    1. Thank you, Leigh. Much appreciated.

      I agree that Janet's standards have always been high, and I know Jackie Sherbow's are also. Hope all's going well with you and your writing!

      Delete
  13. Floyd Sullivan16 March, 2025 09:12

    I've been trying to get published in EQMM since the old days of typewriters and Manila envelopes. Several submissions to their "Department of First Stories" but then I got published elsewhere and so no longer qualified. I've submitted a handful of stories since the advent of online submissions but I admit to being frustrated and tend to prioritize AHMM because I've been relatively successful there. My submissions are somewhat sporadic I must admit. I don't produce a significant volume of work. But I did just submit another story to EQMM a couple of weeks ago so here's hoping. I have to admit that news of a new editor had something to do with my trying again.

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    1. I remember those days well, and yes, that's also when I started submitting to EQMM. I too tried their Department of First Stories, until--like you--I published something elsewhere and no longer qualified (but it is a great program).

      Good luck with your latest submission to them! I sent another one in myself, maybe a week ago, so fingers are crossed, for both of us.

      Delete
  14. Every so now and again Mat Coward keeps prodding me to put stuff to AH & EQ - but in the past I've found that if it was rejected by one, then it was automatically rejected by the other (I think they said as much on their submissions pages.)

    That, plus the time lag in regarding to acceptance/rejection - last rejection took around 16 months, and at my age Life's short enough as it is. Mind you, an acceptance would probably blow the remaining 12v from the pacemaker.... :)

    Mind you, there is mention above about longer reply times across the board. A lot of that is probably down to AI Generated fiction - Clarksworld have complained about it at length (amongst others) and TBH, it can sometimes make you paranoid when reading submissions, genuine or otherwise.

    John Connor
    Chief Cook and Bottlewasher
    Murderous Ink Press
    Th-Th-Th-This is a test, d-d-d-d-designed to provoke an emmmmmmmmmotional response...

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    Replies
    1. Hey John--thanks for weighing in. As for the automatic rejections, I think I can reassure you that's not the case. I've had at least one story rejected by EQMM and then, after I submitted it to AHMM, accepted by AH--and many others have said the same. And both Linda and Janet have said, on several occasions, that the submissions for the two magazines are kept separate--the one doesn't read the other's submissions.

      As for the time lag in responses, yes, it can be long. AHMM seems to have whittled it down to 11 months now (for both rejections and acceptances)--at least that's been the case for my last several submissions--and I've found that while my rejections by EQMM have usually been within two or three months, an acceptance can take three to five months. But that might not be the case with everyone.

      Best to you always, and thanks again for stopping by.

      Delete
    2. Just want to confirm that a rejection from one is not a rejection from both. Otherwise I would have at least a dozen fewer stories published in AHMM.

      Delete

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