MY NINE YEAR WRITE-IVERSARY

February marks an important personal milestone as being my annual “Write-iversary.” It’s been NINE years now—since February, 2011—that I decided to pursue fiction writing for the sake of publication.

Here are my annual base stats as of February 15, 2020:

452 Short Story Submissions since February, 2011:

118 Acceptances (**including REPRINTS)

334 Rejections

= 26.11% Acceptance Rate

Of those Acceptances (including REPRINTS):

112 are Published

6 are Pending Publication

In the last nine years, I’ve written 91 original short stories (including smaller Flash Fiction pieces).

Of those 91, I still carry some degree of sentimentality or pride for 70 of them.

*Prior to the Feb., 2011 date, and going back to 1993, I’d written another 15 stories at random times of my life, which I may or may not have submitted to contests or underground ’zines, but which are not included in submission statistics, as I was not tracking them nor had any publishing goals set.

In addition to fiction short stories, I’ve written and published:
1 Novella: Baggage of Eternal Night (JournalStone, 2013)
1 Novel: Doorways to the Deadeye (JournalStone, 2019)
1 Collection: That Which Grows Wild: 16 Tales of Dark Fiction (Cemetery Dance Publications, 2018) (**All stories in this collection are reprints, not calculated in any other acceptance or word count ratios)

Original words of fiction written since Feb., 2011 = 609,171

Total words of fiction in PUBLICATION since Feb., 2011 = 549,692


In addition to fiction, I’ve written and published:

6 Anthologies, edited by Eric J. Guignard

A World of Horror (Dark Moon Books, 2018)

After Death… (Dark Moon Books, 2013)
Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations (Dark Moon Books, 2012)
The Five Senses of Horror (Dark Moon Books, 2018)
+Horror Library+ Volume 6 (Cutting Block Books/ Farolight Publishing, 2017)
Pop the Clutch: Thrilling Tales of Rockabilly, Monsters, and Hot Rod Horror (Dark Moon Books, 2019)


Exploring Dark Short Fiction (A Primer Series)
Created by Eric J. Guignard

#1: A Primer to Steve Rasnic Tem (Dark Moon Books, 2017)
#2: A Primer to Kaaron Warren (Dark Moon Books, 2018)
#3: A Primer to Nisi Shawl (Dark Moon Books, 2018)
#4: A Primer to Jeffrey Ford (Dark Moon Books, 2019)
#5: A Primer to Han Song (forthcoming) (Dark Moon Books, 2020)
#6: A Primer to Ramsey Campbell (forthcoming) (Dark Moon Books, 2020)


The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics
Edited by Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger

Vol. I: Phantom of the Opera by Gaston LeRoux (Sourcebooks, 2020)
Vol. II: The Beetle by Richard Marsh (Sourcebooks, 2020)
Vol. IIII: Vathek by William Beckford (forthcoming) (Sourcebooks, 2020)
Vol. IV: The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (forthcoming) (Sourcebooks, 2020)
Vol. V: The Parasite and Other Tales of Terror by Arthur Conan Doyle (forthcoming) (Sourcebooks, 2021)
Vol. VI: The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers (forthcoming) (Sourcebooks, 2021)

2 Convention Souvenir Books (2015 HWA Bram Stoker Awards Weekend & 25th Anniversary World Horror Convention; StokerCon 2017 Souvenir Book)

4 Non-Fiction Articles

2 Book Introductions for other authors

3 writer-related cooking recopies


Observations:

I’ve been honored to win the Bram Stoker Award twice. I’ve also been nominated for the International Thriller Award, and nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize, in addition to nominations or winnings in a number of other smaller indie contests or the such.

In addition to writing and editing fiction, I run the indie press, DARK MOON BOOKS. It’s a source of pride, and I’ve learned a lot about the background development of indie publishing. I also learned that I’m absolutely horrible in marketing/ P.R., etc., and I probably make all the wrong decisions in those regards, because I ultimately don’t seem to sell much. I know I have a few fans who will support Dark Moon Books, and buy whatever I put out, but that’s because they appreciate what I’m doing, which is more about expanding the notion of the horror genre as diverse, literary, meaningful, and more weird and psychological, rather than given to the current stereotypes of gore and vulgarity. *** ADVICE: Starting your own press is an even worse decision than deciding to become a writer! (haha)

In addition to writing fiction, my ‘Day Job’ duties consist of corporate contract technical writing, as well as teaching technical writing in the University California system; raising young children; volunteering for organizations and youth groups; and engaging in all other manner of life obligations and responsibilities...

I wrote the following thoughts in 2015, but they still hold equally true today (years below amended to include present day calculations):

I’ve made mistakes, but also gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in publishing, editing, and crafting stories. I’ve made wonderful friends and am still thrilled as a fan-boy each time I get to share a T.O.C. or even just communicate with an author I admire (er, swoon over!). I’ve met and/or worked with Joe R. Lansdale, Bentley Little, Ellen Datlow, Tom Monteleone, Steve Rasnic Tem, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen Jones, and others whom I’ve been reading for 28+ years, not to mention authors whom I’ve became familiar with and have inspired my dark fiction reading in the more recent 15-20 years, like John Joseph Adams, Stephen Graham Jones, Jim Butcher, Dennis Lehane, Seanan McGuire, Lauren Beukes, Neil Gaiman, Robert McCammon, and many, many more. Plus there are those other writers who have been particularly supportive and benevolent to me, such as Lisa Morton, Weston Ochse, Gene O'Neill, Jonathan Maberry, Stan Swanson, all the members of HWA L.A. chapter, as well as a hundred others.

My only regret is that I waited so long to even ‘try’ writing. I loved writing in high school but went to college under the impression I needed to focus on ‘serious-minded’ business, and never the twain shall meet. Although I ultimately did pursue other creative endeavors, I waited until I was 35 years old before I decided to attempt that childhood dream of writing... I torture myself now thinking where I could be with an additional fifteen years of experience under my belt. Ah well, I’m elated with the adventures I’ve found thus far and can only hope it all continues for countless more years!