A quick note about awards and self-rejecting

[stephanieburgis]

I've been reading all the online debate this year about whether or not authors ought to publicly mention the stories and books of theirs that are eligible for awards, and I nodded along with a lot of it, especially this piece by Amal El-Mohtar about why it really is important for authors and useful for voters

Comments

[stephanieburgis]

although sometimes it can be very painful to increase the field in which you're eligible for rejections….

Ohhhh that is absolutely true - and just before I posted this entry, I felt a little stab of anxiety, thinking: But now people will NOTICE when I don't win anything! (Whereas if I had never mentioned my eligibility, no one would ever have even considered that I might win anything!) (I know this is all irrational - no one but me cares whether I win anything, ever, or not! - but it's what my anxiety told me as it tried to keep me from pressing "Post Entry".)

But on the other hand, I felt SO MUCH better overall after I did post this entry - so much that the strength of it actually surprised me - and the interesting thing is, I still have no expectation of any awards noms (because apart from anything else, it really is rare for frothy stories to win awards!), so it wasn't that I was feeling better because I thought aha, now I'm going to WIN something!!! (no)…but rather, I felt so much better because for the first time since last month, when I'd first considered making an eligibility post but then quickly self-rejected - for the first time since that moment, I was actually standing up and respecting my work.

And THAT felt really, really good!

I'm so glad you had the courage to put Pen Pal out into the world and to put the time and energy into promoting it the way it deserves. *hugs*

(And PS: sorry about all the edits! I was really thinking through this comment as I wrote and rewrote it. :) )

[asakiyume]

For the first time since that moment, I was actually standing up and respecting my work.

And many, many cheers for this! ♥

[asakiyume]

(Plus, I *loved* "The Wrong Foot," and think it's *definitely* worthy.)

[stephanieburgis]

Aw, thank you for that! <3

[beth_bernobich]

Same here. I re-read the story just now and loved it all over again.

[stephanieburgis]

Oh, thank you for telling me that!