Rejectomancy

WordCount · Mar 26, 2012

I've got a few Rejections waiting over the horizon, but one was just a long shot. Anyone here on Rejectomancy ever been accepted by Ellery Queen? I'm on my 2nd R, waiting on my third. I've decided to keep it going until they accept something (or block my email address, one.)

Lillie · Mar 26, 2012

Sorry to hear about all the Rs.

Big hug for (((Brenda))) It's the super quick and the super slow that hurt the most. But hey! A very almost from Clarkesworld!!! I'm so impressed.

defcon6000 · Mar 26, 2012

Sorry about all the R's everyone. :e2grouphu

I gave Washington Pastime another shot and--zomg!--received a personal R. I don't agree with what the editor said, but at least they didn't feed me the "uneven prose" bit. Maybe they've changed their tune.

Marzioli · Mar 26, 2012

defcon6000 said:
I don't agree with what the editor said, but at least they didn't feed me the "uneven prose" bit. Maybe they've changed their tune.

The plot thickens. Now if only someone could get accepted so we can untangle their pay scheme...

Project Deadlight · Mar 27, 2012

Marzioli said:
The plot thickens. Now if only someone could get accepted so we can untangle their pay scheme...

They told me I was under consideration two weeks ago so I'll let you know if I get any further.

Marzioli · Mar 27, 2012

28-day first round form rejection from ASIM. The first reader must have been on vacation.

Aggy B. · Mar 27, 2012

Lots of crickets for me right now. A few still in the early days, a few creeping into old age.

Have any of you dealt with Mixer Magazine before? Their guidelines say it might be a year before a response, but Duotrope says the average response is 80 days. And I'm at 107. Not sure if that means anything at all.

Marzioli · Mar 27, 2012

Aggy B. said:
Have any of you dealt with Mixer Magazine before? Their guidelines say it might be a year before a response, but Duotrope says the average response is 80 days. And I'm at 107. Not sure if that means anything at all.

I haven't, but I did notice their ridiculously long response time. Though Duotrope does say a 90-day response is average, they had a string of 240 - 260 days FORM rejections thismonth. The last response was on the 16th of March, and that was 107 days. So it might mean something, but, in my estimation, not too much yet.

alexshvartsman · Mar 27, 2012

Aggy B. said:
Lots of crickets for me right now. A few still in the early days, a few creeping into old age.

Have any of you dealt with Mixer Magazine before? Their guidelines say it might be a year before a response, but Duotrope says the average response is 80 days. And I'm at 107. Not sure if that means anything at all.

The one time I subbed there I got a pretty nice personal R after 90 days or so. But I dont generally submit to markets that take that long, so I haven't tried them since.

alexshvartsman · Mar 27, 2012

Rejectolanche!!!

Got a low-level form from Lightspeed in the morning, followed by a form R from Shimmer (who rarely send out forms). The cherry on top was a personal R from the senior editor at IGMS, who informed me that my story "honestly didn't make sense to me" (direct quote).

Now this is the same story that made it past the slush at a few good markets (like Apex) so I know it's more a function of personal preference than the story being terrible, but still -- ouch.

Time to send those poor stories back out again.

Marzioli · Mar 27, 2012

alexshvartsman said:
The cherry on top was a personal R from the senior editor at IGMS, who informed me that my story "honestly didn't make sense to me" (direct quote).

Yeesh! Perhaps it was intended helpfully, but it seems like the kind of personal response one could do without.

WordCount · Mar 27, 2012

Marzioli said:
Yeesh! Perhaps it was intended helpfully, but it seems like the kind of personal response one could do without.

Agreed.

zanzjan · Mar 27, 2012

alexshvartsman said:
Rejectolanche!!!

Ouch! Extra chocolate for you!

alexshvartsman · Mar 27, 2012

Woot, extra chocolate!

Actually, I don't mind tough rejections at all. If my story didn't make sense to an editor, I'd rather hear that than get a form R or some vaguely encouraging but generic remark.

There are two things I'd like from a rejection letter - either tell me it was a close call, or tell me what *didn't* work for you as the editor/slush reader.

I realize that I can only get this kind of feedback a small portion of the time but hey, in a perfect world...

mhaynes · Mar 27, 2012

alexshvartsman said:
Rejectolanche!!!

Crikey.

Sorry to hear about the rough run of Rs.

I'm wondering what's up with IGMS, if they've had some sort of shift in policy or staff. I'm used to them being almost metronomic in their responses -- 30-32 day form R. Not just my stories, but that seems to have historically been the bulk of their replies, IIRC.

But in the last few weeks, they've been less consistent time-wise and they've hit about 20% personal Rs.

It may not mean anything. Maybe they're trying to finish up an issue or something, so pushed up a bunch of things that a first reader recommended or something.

Still. It's curious.

J.W. Alden · Mar 28, 2012

Just got a form from IGMS myself. Back to the woodshed!

sussura · Mar 28, 2012

I'm wondering what's up with IGMS, if they've had some sort of shift in policy or staff.

Hey Michael, I was wondering similar things. They shifted their pub schedule as well, with an issue in January and one in March. The March issue is so far a no-show, so they may be recalibrating a lot of things.

Alex - the personal R is good news, though unhelpful.

You guys are inspiring me to get the stories back into circulation. I'd let them slip.

goldmund · Mar 28, 2012

So long, Apex. Harsh mistress you are. See you in the next reading period.

Lillie · Mar 28, 2012

My second round story at Shimmer came back today.

Ah well, maybe next time.

GreenSquares · Mar 28, 2012

Ouch, commiserations on all the R's.

Still crickets for me, on all three. One has just passed the "query if you haven't heard" deadline so I'll chase that up. The others are only at Day 11 and Day 13, so I'm not expecting replies soon. Gah, that hardly counts as rejectomancy.

GL on all the subs still out.

Marzioli · Mar 28, 2012

goldmund said:
So long, Apex. Harsh mistress you are. See you in the next reading period.

That's just four days from now, right?

goldmund · Mar 28, 2012

Marzioli said:
That's just four days from now, right?

Eh? Duo says closed. I checked to counterattack them after receiving this blasted R two days ago.

edit:
BTW., anyone waiting on Dark Faith, too?

Lillie · Mar 28, 2012

Yeah. I subbed to Dark Faith.

I'd forgotten about that one.

Marzioli · Mar 28, 2012

goldmund said:
Eh? Duo says closed.
edit:
BTW., anyone waiting on Dark Faith, too?

Yeah, closed until April 1st. They got swamped with subs so they closed for a month to catch up.

I subbed to their Dark Faith anthology too, 85 days out. They're working it sloooooooow. If it's anything like Borderlands, which I also subbed to and am out 163 days, I guess we can expect a long wait.

GreenRoom · Mar 28, 2012

mhaynes said:
Crikey.

Sorry to hear about the rough run of Rs.

I'm wondering what's up with IGMS, if they've had some sort of shift in policy or staff. I'm used to them being almost metronomic in their responses -- 30-32 day form R. Not just my stories, but that seems to have historically been the bulk of their replies, IIRC.

But in the last few weeks, they've been less consistent time-wise and they've hit about 20% personal Rs.

It may not mean anything. Maybe they're trying to finish up an issue or something, so pushed up a bunch of things that a first reader recommended or something.

Still. It's curious.

The metronomic 30-32 day responses are for their regular slushpile. I think 30-32 days must be the amount of time it takes to get seen by the assistant editor who handles the main slushpile. He/she then either rejects it, or recommends it, at which point it would go into a different asst. editors pile.

They have a second slushpile for bootcampers, and they also pull people previously published in their magazine (and likely - given Alex's data point - people who have other sfwa publications) out from the regular slushpile.

One of the assistant editors talks about the slush a bit on this thread (if you scroll down a ways):
http://forum.writersofthefuture.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=618

Rejectomancy

practical experience, FTW

Could be worse!

Could be worse!

Not as sweet as you think

Could be worse!

Could be worse!

killin' all teh werds

practical experience, FTW

The King Who Bore the Sword

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practical experience, FTW

Could be worse!

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practical experience, FTW

Could be worse!

brain in a vat