Just about any writer who has made a sale or two will tell you there is no magic formula to making that first sale. Certain things will help to improve your chances (e.g. having some ability to write, reading a lot within your genre, writing stories, following the rules of submission). Certain things will prevent you from ever selling a story (e.g. never finishing a story, never submitting a story). But on the whole, there’s no magic. I am not going to even attempt a step-by-step instruction manual. Instead, what follows is a list of what I did and how it worked out for me.
January 1993 (21 years old)
- Decided that I wanted to be a professional science fiction writer–that is, write stories that would appear in professional markets like my heroes (Isaac Asimov, Barry Malzberg, Alfred Bester, C. M. Kornbluth, Joe Haldeman, etc.)
- Sent away for fiction guidelines (snail mail–these were the days before the Internet took off).
- Began writing some stories–absolutely terrible, cliche, horrid stories which pain me to this day. We’re talking pun-filled stories. Stories with no characterization. Stories that are overly sappy, melodramatic, awful, awful, awful. But these stories had to be written if I was to learn anything at all about writing.
- Began submitting these stories, often time to small press markets that didn’t exist by the time the manuscripts got there. Occasionally to the Big Three. Sometimes (oh the agony) to places like The New Yorker or Playboy. But at least I was sending them out.
- Began receiving rejection slips. Lots of them.
- Began reading short fiction in a semi-regular way, with special attention to the stories in Science Fiction Age, which was a relatively new magazine at the time.
- Took 4 or 5 fiction classes as part of my minor in my junior/senior years of college
September 1994 (22 years old)
- Wrote a story which finally elicited some positive editorial feedback (e.g. something other than a form letter) from people like Kristine Kathryn Rusch (then at F&SF) and Algis Budrys (then at Tomorrow). It took me 19 submissions to get to this point.
- Continued writing and submitting, but now submitted mostly to professional markets (Analog, Asimov’s, F&SF, Science Fiction Age, Omni, etc.)
- Noted a subtle change in my stories. They were less cliche, plots were somewhat tighter. Real characters began to appear.
- Write about 20 stories over the next 6 years, and added another 40 or so submissions and rejections.
- Began to read back through the classics of science fiction that I’d missed, guided in large part by books like David G. Hartwell’s Ages of Wonder.
August 2002 (30 years old)
- Moved to the east coast. Lull in writing for a while. But the desire remained and I started writing again.
- Still a slow producer, one or two new stories a year. But these stories started to read like the stories I was reading in the magazines. They no longer had an “amateur” feel to them.
- Continued to submit and beginning around 2004, I started receiving more rejection slips with editorial comments than form letters. I tried to heed the advice in the comments, particularly if they said, “Please sent us another story.”
January 2006 (33 years old)
- Began regular blogging online.
- Submitted a story, “When I Kissed the Learned Astronomer” to InterGalactic Medicine Show (IGMS).
- Continued submitting stories and receiving rejection slips.
- Began to establish contacts (mostly through my blog) with other writers, already established in SF.
December 2006 (34 years old)
- Received word from IGMS that they wanted to print my story, and worked through the process of making some changes at the request of the editor.
January 2007 (34 years old)
- “When I Kissed the Learned Astronomer” was officially accepted.
- Soon after received my first contract and payment.
April 2007 (35 years old)
- Attended my first ever science fiction convention. Met Edmund Schubert, editor of IGMS in person. Met Robert J. Sawyer in person and was treated like a “real” writer by all of them. Ended up being invited to dinner with Rob Sawyer and other writers, including Edmund and David B. Coe. It was the highlight of my writing career thus far. Making contact with other writers proved key as it was yet another writer, Michael A. Burstein, who first put me in touch with Rob Sawyer.
July 2007 (35 years old)
- “When I Kissed the Learned Astronomer” appeared in issue #5 of InterGalactic Medicine Show
- Joined Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (associate member with 1 pro credit)
- As a prior contributor to IGMS, I could send stories directly to the editor and avoid the slush pile. Another bonus of making that first sale.
- Continued to write, continued to submit, and continued to get rejections, including from IGMS. Persistence is key.
- Began attending more science fiction conventions to reinforce my contacts and establish new ones.
August 2008 (36 years old)
- Attended an 8-week online writer workshop hosted by James Gunn.
- Made more contacts with writers who were at the beginnings of their careers, many of whom had more story sales than I did
- Learned a lot about the craft of writing and critiquing
March 2009 (37 years old)
- Sold “Hindsight, in Neon” to Apex Magazine (my second professional story sale)
- Began doing volunteer work for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America; made more contacts.
April 2009 (37 years old)
- “Hindsight, In Neon” appeared in the April 2009 issue of Apex Magazine
- Got great (lengthy) editorial feedback from Stanley Schmidt at ANALOG (but haven’t sold to him yet)
- Continued writing as much as I could until June.
June 2009 (37 years old)
- Our first child is born. Writing goes by the wayside for several months. I continue to submit stories, however.
November 2009 (37 years old)
- Successfully completed NaNoWriMo, writing more than 60,000 words of a novel in 30 days.
- Taught me that I can write 2,000 words every day if I put my mind to it.
December 2009 (37 years old)
- “Hindsight, in Neon” appears in the anthology Descended from Darkness.
- First time a story of mine has been reprinted.
January 2010 (37 years old)
- Set out a “business plan” to write 20 stories and make 100 submissions in 2010.
- Plan included completing my novel and attempting to find an agent by year’s end
- Completed 2 new stories so far, and started 2 more.
- 6 submissions through early March.
- I keep plugging away
September 2010 (38 years old)
- Began attending the Arlington Writers Group
- 21 submissions as of late September
- 18 rejections
- 5 completed stories with 2 more under way
- Sold “Take One for the Road” to ANALOG, my third pro sale and my first story to sell on the first market I sent it to
October 2010 (38 years old)
- Became a full active member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
November 2010 (38 years old)
- Joined the Codex Writers group
- Had my first editorial lunch (w/Stanley Schmidt, Carl Frederick, and Jay Werkheiser)
- Attended the SFWA Author & Editors reception in NYC
December 2010 (38 years old)
- Received my first ever set of galleys for a story I sold
- Was invited to be a participant (on panels) at Readercon 22
- Presented Nebula Award for Best Novelette to Geoff Ryman at the Nebula Award Banquet
- Accepted a Nebula Award for Best Short Story for Ken Liu at the Nebula Award Banquet
August 2012 (40 years old)
- Attended my first World Science Fiction convention (in Chicago)
- Sold my first piece of nonfiction to Analog (it eventually appeared in the June 2013 issue.)
September 2012 (40 years old)
- Began writing a regular science fiction book review column for InterGalactic Medicine Show
August/September 2013 (41 years old)
- Became the Nebula Award Commissioner for the 2013 Nebula Award season.
- Completed the first draft of my first novel.
November 2013 (41 years old)
- Sold a story 4 hours after submitting it, thereby making the fastest sale I will probably ever make in my life.
December 2013 (41 years old)
- Made Tangent Online’s recommended reading list for 2013 with my Analog story, “The Negative Impact of Climate Change on the Unusual Beasts of the World” (July/August 2013)
It took about 14 years, 30 stories and nearly 100 rejections before I made my first story sale. Some people with far more talent than I possess do it much more quickly. I describe my method as “brute force”. But I always try to have stories out, and this year, I am really trying to crank things up in terms of both the quality and quantity of my writing. Stay tuned to see how things go.
In the meantime, that is how I became a professional science fiction writer. And let me assure you that it is still a work in progress.
Truly inspiring. Thanks for the post! I’ve written a 100,000 pager already, but it was total nonsense. Definitely learning firsthand that you have to write a million words of garbage before you can produce anything decent.
Hi Jamie,
Well done I admire your tenacity, your grandpa would have been quite proud of you.
ER
Wow! Thanks, Elliot!
Thanks Jamie !
Amazing inspiration. That about me is better than a successful biography for writers still getting rejection slips like me.
Do you ever regret that it took the industry *nine years* to give you some positive feedback for your work? Nine years that could have shortened the process towards the ultimate outcome and maybe cut a few years out of that timeline?
Do you ever think about that?
Jim, looking back I think I needed those 9 years to practice. Everyone starts out with a certain ability, and the two most important for being a writer of popular fiction are (a) writing, and (b) telling a story. I needed a lot of practice with both, but more the latter than the former. Other people have certainly progressed faster than I did and received feedback sooner, but for me it seems just right.
Fair ‘nuf. There might be a few folk, dealt your hand who might have tipped the table over and screamed for a new deal, but if you felt you needed it, then hey…
I enjoy reading about writers and writing as much as I do the actual work (weird, I know). Thanks very much for sharing!
I am delighted to be a part of this blog post.
Awesome, thanks for sharing. That gives me a lot of encouragement.
I’m glad you found it helpful!
Inspiring
Amazing. Bravo. I am sending this to everyone I know who keeps talking about skipping “the gatekeepers.” Tragically, I see SO many new writers these days whose trajectory is more like this:
1) Begin writing some stories–absolutely terrible, cliche, horrid stories […]. We’re talking pun-filled stories. Stories with no characterization. Stories that are overly sappy, melodramatic, awful, awful, awful.
2) Submit to a couple of places and get rejected. Fume about “the gatekeepers.” [Or, submit nowhere at all, after hearing others fume about “the gatekeepers.”]
3) Self publish those terrible, cliche, horrid stories, believing they are golden.
4) Never get any better. Complain about being overlooked for major awards due to “an unfair stigma” re: self-publishing, etc, etc.
My career trajectory has been rather similar to yours, and I’m only slightly younger than you…and I can’t tell you how happy I am that when I was starting out, this long hard road of rejection and vetting was the only way to go. I have no doubt it made me the writer I am today.
Enjoyed your systematic and honest list of stages you went through in the process of becoming an s-f writer. Thanks
Great insight! Really enjoyed reading this!
I have just seriously started writing short fiction: I felt elated when I got my first personal rejection from Urban Fantasy Magazine.
At this point, I have got three personal rejections, for the same story. All others have been form rejections.
Will continue to write & submit.
Wow! I still have a long way to go, I only have one crappy zombie short story written. lol! I appreciate how you detailed the whole chronological points of your writing career.
Hi Jamie,
I just finished reading your account of your long struggle to finally start succeeding as a writer, and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading your story. It was so inspiring. I greatly admire your drive, and tenacity to succeed. I thought it was a particularly nice touch to write your account in such detailed, chronological order. It really gave me a good sense of what you were experiencing over the years. Like with any good story, after each segment, I found myself wanting to read more — and also starting to identify with both you as a person, and your struggle to succeed. By the end, I was so happy for you, I actually started to applaud, and shout out at my computer screen, “Go Jamie!” I realize that I’m writing to you a year after you posted this piece, and that you might not get to read my response. But, what-the-heck, I figured it was worth a try. I wish you continued success in the future.
Incidentally, thank you for mentioning that Scrivener is a good (Mac) word processing software for (fiction) novel writing. As a new writer myself, I was unsure what to use. You solved that problem for me. Thank you.
Norman Cohen
Thank you for your candor, it helps me put it all into perspective. 🙂 Cheers, Alina
Thanks for this. I’m a little bit older than you… published in a different genre, but my heart is in sci-fi and in that field I’m just starting out. Sent three stories out. My best one has been rejected twice so far by the top two mags, the other rejected by yet another, and the third I haven’t heard back on yet. I’m prepared to be kicked in the teeth and wave my Poligrip tube in defiance!
I am totally inspired. Thanks 🙂
Hello, Jamie. I have been writing since I was 13. I’m 2 years older than you. It’s funny when you mention Algis Budrys. I received positive critique from him, but was ultimately rejected. I still write for myself, but could have been producing more during these years.Haven’t submitted since 1994, though. Lazy, I guess, as well as handling critique a lot harder. I have had several stories I wrote which I have just shelved away, only to have someone else actually make into movies years later. No joke, one of my titles was, “The Postman.” My father told it it sounded stupid. I was 13 at the time and into post nuclear war subjects back then. My father was a cop. I wrote a story about him getting shot and killed in the line of duty and brought back as a cyborg cop. “Mandroid.” That was in 1984. Go figure. Shelved it. Later guess what movie came out? Robocop. My “Adventures of he Blue Brigade” came out later as Red Dawn. Then I wrote “R.E.M.page!” Which later someone came out with The Butterfly Effect. My “Black Wraith” was shelved. Later came the movie Event Horizon. Go figure. Maybe I should just get off my lazy ass and have more confidence in myself and just send them out, huh? Thanks, Brian.
Have you ever considered submitting your stories on https://www.shortstories101.com/ ?
Right, Instapaper’d for a close reading later. My biggest challenge is just starting something but this will help make my continued procrastination seem a little more constructive.
Man, this was just what I needed today! Been writing since my early twenties (I’m 35 now). Had a few things published, but I still haven’t made my name yet, nor do I feel like I’ve really hit my stride. It’s nice to know others have traveled the long road too and had their perseverance rewarded! Thanks for sharing dude.
[…] Don’t expect your first few dozen stories to be worth reading. Jamie Todd Rubin’s experience is more typical. And I’ve read memoirs by writers who claimed it took writing two hundred […]
I hope I hit my stride soon. Haha
I am a first-time novelist. I wrote a compelling Sci-Fi story that needs a more than an edit. A rewrite. Searching for a up and coming writer to collaborate with.
Yosef, congratulations on writing your story! Just finishing a draft is a big deal. If you are looking for a collaborator, I’d suggest looking for a writer’s group near you to join. I joined a writer’s group in my area about 12 years ago and there were lots of up-and-coming writers in that group, several of whom have gone on to be best-selling novelists or Hollywood writers. I found the feedback that I got from my group invaluable and when asked, I often suggest a good writer’s group as a way to learn from, and collaborate with other writers. Best of luck to you!