Last year, sitting out on my front verandah with a little drink and a notebook, I was hit by a crazy idea for a short story. I started to scrawl in my notebook. After a few minutes I stopped. The idea was starting to scare me, and I backed out. After another few minutes of contemplation, I knew I had to continue: if the idea scared me, it was powerful.
I spent hours revising and honing the story to get it just right. I submitted it to Every Day Fiction on 5 December. And I waited.
Then, on 3 February 2010, I got a rewrite request. They liked the story, but it needed to work. The feedback they gave made sense, so I got to work. I submitted my revised story on 24 February. And I waited.
Then, on 22 May I got... another rewrite request. This shook me, and I spent some time re-reading the feedback, and thinking about whether to do another rewrite, or just drop it. I decided to go ahead, and submitted my re-revised story on 2 June. And I waited.
Then, on 29 June I got an acceptance! That was wonderful; but, before I could see it published online, I had to wait some more.
People Need to Know appeared online on 22 August 2010, 260 days after I'd first submitted it. It was a great feeling. Most of the feedback was postive, and it's rating reasonable well. People Need to Know taught me a lot about patience; one of the great lessons in how to get published.
