[Writer Post] Second Guessing and The Eternal Debates

So I just found out about a major reprint anthology looking for submissions. The theme is Women Writing SF. It doesn’t even have to be a “pro” sale publication. I think “Hey, I’m a woman. I write SF. I shall submit something…” No brainer, right? Wrong. Because then I hit the conundrum of “What in the world do I send?”

The guidelines do say that they’ll take a broad view on “SF”, but this is where I balk. I know I can’t send in the Redheads stuff (for which I’m best known), that’s a collaborative effort. And most of what I have I tend to classify as “Humorous Fantasy” (with a touch of dark), but does that count as SF? Normally, I might say “yes”, except for the fact that the thumbnail on the posting I saw was much more a “hard” SF illustration. Which says to me “space stations, rockets, etc” and not necessarily what I write. I have some of that, but not a lot.

Now, this might be a self-defeating line of thought. But…I also don’t want to waste my time sending in material that isn’t going to fit the market. Because I’m being realistic, I’m going to be up against some very heavy hitter women writers who can and do get published in “pro” markets. Women I consider to be iconic and ones I want to “be when I grow up” (very likely). So, I want to make sure what I send has the very best shot – especially since a goodly portion of my work features male protagonists as well.

It’s this mentality. We, as writers, always want to put your best foot – and work – forward… however, we do get in our way sometimes. It might be okay to write crap. It’s not okay to send it out for publication. Though most of us don’t send out stuff we think is crap – which is why the cartoon is so accurate – and yet, we probably think it is, or talk ourselves out of sending it because we think it is. And that then – when we’re lucky enough to find a market – we second guess sending it out for a reprint. Stupid Catch 22 brain.

So I dither over do I send the piece(s) I know are strong but don’t have anything to do with space stations, rockets, etc – but maybe fairy tale lands or some magic and have women more predominately in them. Or do I send my space-related, alien stuff (which are also strong) that have male protagonists because that’s what I think they may want?

Feel free to weigh in. Seriously. I need advice here.

Tags: Fantasy, publishers, publishing, reprints, science fiction, second guessing, Writing