Yesterday, I took a deep dive into this summer's submissions pool and finished reading the first month's worth of submissions, sending out my first round of rejections and parlaying the rest to the second, more in-depth reading pile. Of about 100 mss., I would say 50 were nos and the other 50s are definitely yes or maybes, those maybes being the hardest to determine the fate of. What makes a maybe not always discernable--it might just be a slow start, a slow burn, or a questionable title. I try to set them aside to give them more attention to see what's there if it has potential. I try not to demand too many changes from what I accept, but sometimes, even a less than interesting title gets replaced by the author as we get closer all on their own. Sometimes, knots will work themselves out naturally.
Of those maybes, I will probably take less than a dozen not counting my already established yesses (at this point, I am particularly enamored of about 5 things I am definitely accepting), I usually consider work by prior authors separately, so there are a handful of those as well.. After a year where I took less mss. because of a perpetual backlog that started with 2020 and just snowballed, I will probably give myself the first few months of the year to catch up, then commence with 2023 books even with some more time to devote to the series than I used to have. Already things are looking promising in terms of subject matter and style.
Today, there was crazy rain and wind that sent a dumpster rolling past in the alley (it was empty and lighter, but still.) There is also a lake-sized puddle out there, the weather having been wetter this past couple of weeks than it was all summer, including a deluge that flooded the lobby of the building, which happens from time to time. I've been delighting in my daily pieces on horror, and today, snagged my first Halloween decor piece at HD. (I feel like I miss the really good ones since I don't log on until later in the day.)
Fall officially arrives on Thursday, but I've already procured some decorations, including the cutest dragon skeleton and the sign above, as well as some sparkly gold pumpkins. I'm not a fan of more countrified decor or the color orange, so I tend to opt more for the black side of things and more Victorian-era frights. I've also been plotting my #31daysofhalloween posts, which will include poems, artwork, and videos. I did manage to create the very first teaser trailer for AUTOMAGIC out next month, though I plan to spend the upcoming weekend, putting the final adjustments on that manuscript and getting it publisher ready.
