What is up with these people?

I’m probably trying to overdo it, but I decided that my first post-baby writing project…since I didn’t finish my novel in time…would be to find markets for an already-complete short story, and get it sent out. The first two places I sent it roundly ignored it…oh, how I hate no responses…so I’m scouring the writers’ markets again.

I made a list of fourteen possibilities while I was in the hospital, and today I’ve been trying to decide which four or five to put at the top of the list. Only one by one, they’re all dropping OFF the list, leaving me with virtually nothing.

You would think that an inspirational story of less than 3000 words should not be hard to find a home for. But inspirational markets want much lower word counts. I already tried cutting this story; it can’t be told in less. And markets that accept longer word counts tend to publish weird, pointless stories which inevitably end by depressing the reader instead of lifting them up.

Add to that the plethora of magazines that say, “Guidelines free,” but provide you no quick way to contact them! Am I supposed to send a one-sentence letter overseas, with a SASE, to get writer’s guidelines? I guess the answer is yes! Fine, but what a waste of money, paper, and turnaround time! What is up with these people? Why don’t they have them online? Why don’t they even have a website, for Heaven’s sake?

Better yet are the ones that say, “Writers guidelines online.” Yet when I go there, I can find neither hide nor hair of any such thing, search for half an hour though I might.

I think this is the kind of nonsense that they use to weed out the serious from the dabblers. I’m serious, but I’m doing it on a dabbler’s time. How seriously annoying!