The Race

I'm currently trying a method of staying motivated created by Dean Wesley Smith that he calls "The Race".
http://deanwesleysmith.com/mt/archives/cat_blog.html#000178

It's a point game, with the points as follows:
1 point for each short story that's currently in submission right now
3 points for each novel submission comprised of 3 chapters + synopsis
8 points for each full novel manuscript submission

Currently my score is 6:
3 points for a novel submission (3 chapters plus synopsis) to Elder Signs Press.
1 point for a short story submission to Writers of the Future Contest
2 points for 2 short stories submitted to Baen's Universe


DWS suggests that successful writers manage to stay in the 50-75 point range consistently. With the short story market the way it is, I am skeptical that this is possible. SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) lists 18 publications they currently recognize as being professional. Most will not take multiple submissions (that is, more than one submission from one author at a time), Baen's Universe being the one exception that I know of.

So if I stick to pro publications, to reach 50 points I could do it by having 1 story at the 17 publications that don't accept multiple submissions, and have 33 stories simultaneously submitted at Baen's Universe.

In any case, it's a way to help me keep each story in continuous submission loop, if 50 points is unrealistic. :)