When The Rug Is Pulled Out From Under You...

 In the last week, I’ve lost two formerly reliable things of my life. Most recently, my fruit delivery people. I was supposed to get my fortnightly fruit box today. It has been a nice, inexpensive and simple way to not have to lug shopping bags upstairs. Instead, yesterday they suddenly announced they were closing due to having to compete with the supermarket giants and 250 people are out of a job - just like that. I hope that they, at least, got some warning. I wish the farmers all the best - this was basically a farmers’ co-op. No more. Thank you,  Coles and Woolies! I’m on the search for a replacement. My nephew has mentioned an organic company that only charges a bit more than I was paying and that’s including delivery fees. 

 

Much worse, though, was losing a good, reliable children’s writing market I’ve done many articles for, over the years. It has been wonderful! You could ask them if they were interested in a topic and if they said yes, all you had to do was write well and you could be pretty sure of selling. And they paid on acceptance. I’ve only been back with them for a year, but in that time they accepted and paid for one article(still not published and now I wonder if it ever will be) and reprinted another from years ago. So I asked the editor if he was interested in the Eugowra robbery and Apollo 8(this is the 50th anniversary). He was. I researched like mad and wrote and submitted - by snail mail as required - and heard nothing. So I emailed the editor - again since I emailed him a month ago when I was about to submit one item and wanted to confirm they still wanted snail mail. He didn’t reply that time, so I just sent it and hoped for the best. He did reply this time, explaining that he was no longer doing the submissions and they had changed their policy - everything by email now and here was the address. And by the way, as of now they were doing themed issues - something they must have decided well before I I submitted my Eugowra article - so sorry for not letting me know, but they had done a call out to anyone they had published over the last two years(they published my reprint and accepted my article well within that range). He was terribly sorry and would make sure I was on the list for their next call out... whenever that is. I kept my feelings bottled up, because a potential market is a potential market and a few minutes satisfaction could cost me dearly. He did say that they might still publish my two pieces as a random item, as I had done them “in good faith”. (And what about the piece they have accepted and paid for?) I sighed and emailed both pieces to the new submissions editor at the address he had given me, with a message explaining what had happened and that I wanted to make her life easier...

 

I got an automated slushpile message. One of those that says,”We’ll let you know in 90 days and no ‘editorial comment.’” And no answers to the questions I asked her politely.   None. I’d say that market is well and truly dead, just as if it had closed down. 

 

I’m checking out other markets and have already sent some inquiries. I do subscribe to two market guides, Buzzwords and Evelyn Christensen’s children’s and education markets. So far, only one response and that was from a publisher I asked for guidelines. But it’s more than time I got myself organised. I have taken too many things for granted.  No more class preparation to hold me back. No more day job. Time to do what other writers do.