Editing and Submitting Senility

I proofread Senility tonight, using a technique that's been recommended by many: reading it out loud. I closed myself in the bedroom and did it in one setting, making up voices for the characters when I read dialogue.

I had fun doing it, and I'm amazed at how many little things I found that, once corrected, improved the writing. Repetitions of words, sentences that didn't flow, etc. It's a stronger work now. If The Lay of Percy Wallace is rejected (by the magazine's guidelines, I should hear back in less than a week), I'm going to use the same process to polish it.

So, after I revised, edited, and proofread Senility, I proceeded to submit it to another magazine. One of the bonuses that came out of my recent revisions is that the story is now under 4,000 words, making this magazine* available. They respond quickly, usually within 2-3 days. I won't even attempt to deny that their speed puts them near the top of my list of potential publishers. It's a hell of a lot nicer than waiting 3 months, which I have been with Percy (the fast magazine rejected it).

*I'm not going to identify magazines to which I submit unless they accept my story. There's enough in this post for people familiar with the markets to figure it out, if they so desire.