I’m glad (and maybe a bit relieved) to say that I finished the fifth draft of “Hag.” There still needs to be one more pass to look for typos and tweak my word choices, but it’s really almost ready. In a few more days, I’ll begin submitting to publications.
Everybody has their own way of deciding where to submit, and in what order. Should you submit first to the high-class markets? To the ones that pay best? Should you take a chance on lesser markets, or look for anthologies? Someone could run seminars on the subject. (And they probably do, honestly.)
My approach to this has changed over the past few years. It used to be that I was really chasing the traditional publishing route. I would spend hours combing through market listings, comparing the word rates and what kind of work they were looking for and how long the stories could be. At the end of it, I would put together a list and when I had a short story to submit I would go down in order, rejection after rejection.
The unfortunate thing is that I don’t write that much short fiction, so my list always seems to be out of date when I actually go to use it. Markets might have theme lists, or limited submissions windows, or they try to do a rights grab just because you submitted to them.
So these days, my submission process is a lot less formal. First, I look to see if the market is even open to submissions. Next, I check their guidelines to see whether my story would be a good fit for their approach. No point submitting to markets that don’t publish fantasy. Finally, I see what their word count is. I’m constantly finding that my work is too long for their needs.
Here’s where I confess that, like a lot of writers, I under-sell myself. Knowing how tough the competition will be, I skip the top markets and try first for the medium and lesser magazines. I also tend to give up after one or two rejections. Those are bad habits. I really should be pushing myself harder if I want to get any recognition.
With “Hag,” especially, the story is a little more substantial than my usual. When I’m ready, I’m going to aim for the top — as long as they are open to submissions, that is. I’m going to keep trying longer than a couple of weeks before I give up.
What do you mean, August is too late for making resolutions??
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Wyrmflight 
Most of my professionally published writing has been journalism which works very differently. Is the article accurate; is it clear (including being written at a ninth grade reading level); is it the right length; does it need virtually no editing; is it submitted within a few hours of when it was asked for? (I do remember an editor telling me, “We have a 10-inch hole on the education page. Can you get me a new article having to do with education in two hours?” I checked unused notes, made a phone call or two, wrote it, edited it, and had it in five minutes early.)
On submitting fiction, I’m inconsistent. On my soon-to-be-published gaming supplement, I specifically wanted to write for a particular company, and queried to do something they were already looking for. But I remember I once submitted a few humor articles to a humor website that rejected them all. I then finally realized I didn’t find their articles particularly funny, which would explain why they didn’t seem to find my articles funny–we were doing different types of humor.
I wish you the best with your “Hag” submissions! I’ve been submitting to pro-paying markets (no sales there yet) and semi-pro magazines/projects that I particularly admire.
All the best with your submission process.