Go For Broke?

Ah, dilemmas. Gotta love 'em.

I currently find myself immersed neck deep.

See, I've submitted things to the big parenting mag here in Canada. They have a 6 wk wait period to hear back. And of course, material submitted to them cannot be under consideration anywhere else. So, there's 2 articles in limbo.

I heard back from another big parenting mag...a rejection without even submitting anything. See, you're to query first, then they decide if they even want to see your dazzling prose. Editor kindly wrote me back, informing me that she only accepts work from writers that have been previously published in a national publication.

Ah. The eternal oxymoron. We won't hire without experience, yet you can't get experience without being hired. How can you get published in a national magazine when the prerequsite is to already be published in a national magazine?

*sigh*

So, I drag out my handy dandy Writers Guide that my wonderful husband gave me for Christmas. Start going through the parenting magazines listed. Majority of them are Stateside...and a number of them have being American as a neccisity. Out of the rest, there are some possibilities. Problem is, the pay is crap...$20-$50. I know, I know, getting published is the first hurdle. But again, problem is...once its been published for a mere $20, its no longer 'original' and cannot be submitted elsewhere.

So, I'm wrestling with what to do. On one hand, being published somewhere would build my resume, absolutely. On the other hand...it depletes what I have prepared.

The logical thing to do is simply take the shotgun approach, submit everywhere possible, and keep writing, coming up with new material.

Problem is, the meds I'm on are knocking me on my butt, so writing is even more of a challenge than before.

I think I've answered my own question though...go for broke, celebrate whatever I get published, even if its only a $20 pay day, and build that resume so I can point to published clips and say, "See! I've been published!" in hopes that it lands me more lucrative gigs.

Wish me well...I still have other queries floating around the 'net somewhere, and haven't heard back on yet.

4 wks left in the Today's Parent consideration deadline.
77 days left before winners to be announced on one of the contests.
Other contest notifies winners in June
I swear I saw something that said that contest #2 would notify by April, but danged if I can find that now.

So, whole lot of nuttin so far. *headdesk*