New story day!
Story: Carcinographic Classifieds
Published in: Androids and Dragons [free]
Length: <1,000 words
Brief synopsis: Across a tropical sea, the resident dragons have a unique way to keep in touch.
How the story came to be: The first idea was dragons living on small islands over a very big ocean. The second was, well, how would they communicate? Since these were wyvern-y dragons, they didn’t really have hands, so they had to get creative.
PUBLISHING THE STORY
Relative Confidence Level Before Submitting: 6. It’s a lighthearted, but not very serious, story, so people gotta like that, right?
Rejections before finding a home: 34. The issue was finding a place that was into both humorous stories that are also open to second world fantasy stories. The bit (including the biggest/final joke) is a very modern one; this was a specific issue that at least one place mentioned in the rejection. And two places took issue with the neopronouns, too. Which sucked a lot to see!
The eventual home: Androids and Dragons. The vibe fits really well, so I’m really happy!
