Angry Robot Books 2 month open sub!!

Mine's still there. To be honest, I will be blown away if they show any interest in it - not because of any troubles they may or may not be having, but because the more I think about it, the more I think they'll say it's not right for them. We'll see. It can stay there as long as it takes.

Bueller...Bueller...Bueller...

Yeah, I haven't heard anything since the letter that said they were going to take a really REALLY long time.

In the mean time, I did sell a book to Curiosity Quills, so that was exciting.

Still waiting for AR.

I just looked up my submission in Submittable and it's now listed as In-Progress instead of just Submitted. I don't know if that means anything, but hey, any change is good, right?

...right??

Dragonwriter, I think everyone can agree that your status change means progress. Good luck!

Mine's still listed as 'received', so I think you've definitely made some progress, Dragonwriter. And congrats on the novel sale, DrFaerieGodmother!

Thanks MLM! Mine is also still listed as received. Good luck Dragonwriter!! We have our fingers crossed for you!

Debeucci said:

My recommendation is to write them off for now. AR is going through some restructuring and there are a lot of outstanding issues to resolve. I'm pretty sure the open submission is pretty near the bottom of their priorities.

Sorry to not have better news.

Click to expand...

Thanks for letting us know. Considering the AR appearance schedule on top of the organizational turmoil, I had already assumed the open submission was going the way of the HV open call... Hopefully AR can get everything righted sooner rather than later.

4everwriter said:

Thanks for letting us know. Considering the AR appearance schedule on top of the organizational turmoil, I had already assumed the open submission was going the way of the HV open call... Hopefully AR can get everything righted sooner rather than later.

Click to expand...

They say once is an accident, twice a coincidence, three times a pattern... with Harper Voyager and now Angry Robot extending their open submissions timetable quite extensively it sure does put a new to getting a novel published writer like me off the whole business...

At the bottom of their contact page, it says:

A NOTE ABOUT THE OPEN DOOR MONTH
We received over 500 submissions during our last Open Door period (late 2013). We’re working through these, but we’re also working through all of the submissions we still get every day as part of our usual submissions process. It’s not going to happen overnight. If you’re wondering if we received your submission, you should have received an automatic notification from submittable.com shortly after you uploaded it. Search your emails for confirmation before contacting us about it, or log in at submittable.com. If you’re wondering why you’ve not had a response even though you know someone else that has, it because: reasons. We’re not necessarily sending our rejections and requests for full manuscripts in strict order of submission. Again, because: reasons. If you’ve not had a response from us, yet, it’s almost certainly because we haven’t made a decision, yet.

Click to expand...

As my sub isn't in Submittable, I just filled out the contact form as the first-shot at withdrawing my submission. I haven't heard anything back yet, but I made the decision yesterday (9-9-14, for the purposes of our statistics) to withdraw.

Congratulations DrFaerieGodmother and good luck Dragonwriter!

Aquarianhelix said:

They say once is an accident, twice a coincidence, three times a pattern... with Harper Voyager and now Angry Robot extending their open submissions timetable quite extensively it sure does put a new to getting a novel published writer like me off the whole business...

Click to expand...

That's why they say it takes 10 years to be an overnight success...you can spend years querying and submitting to agents, followed by more years querying and submitting to editors (even if you're fortunate enough to have an agent do that for you).

While I much prefer to go the traditional route of having a publisher, I'm starting to seriously consider self-publishing...not because of HV and AR's long responses to the open calls, but because I've been at this writing gig a long time and would like to see something out there.

Thanks for letting us know you've withdrawn from Angry Robot, GIngergunlock. Good luck with whatever you have planned... and fingers crossed.


The list now reads:

1 ajoker, Historical Horror, submitted 25/10/2013, rejected 05/02/2014 (103 days)
2 AutonomousAstronaut Science Fiction submitted 26/10/2013 call for full manuscript 07/03/2014 (132 days)
3 Dryad, Bio-Punk Sci Fi, submitted 29/10/2013, rejected 4/06/2014 (219 days)
4 Loki76, Dystopian Sci Fi, submitted 29/10/2013, rejected 6/06/2014 (220 days)
5 KateJJ, Fantasy, submitted 30/10/2013 withdrawn 13/08/2014 (287 days)
6 WriterJosh, high fantasy with bits of steampunk, submitted 30/10/2013, call for full manuscript 24/01/2014 (85days)
7 Dimanagul, science fiction dystopia (I think) ,submitted c. 31/10/2103, rejected 24/01/2014 (c. 84days)
8 cdwwdc, SF, submitted 11/11/2013
9 GeoWriter, SF, submitted c. 15/11/2013
10 jjdebenedictis, fantasy, submitted 16/11/2013, rejected 17/01/2013 (62 days)
11 Eliza C, Contemporary Fantasy, submitted 23/11/2013
12 thepicpic, Military science fiction, submitted 30/11/2013
13 DrFaerieGodmother, Sci Fi Superhero, submitted 04/12/201311
14 ironmikerzero, genre mash-up - science fantasy/police procedural, submitted 06/12/2013
15 Dragonwriter, urban / contemporary fantasy, submitted 07/12/2013
16 Aquarianhelix, hard science fiction, submitted 08/12/2013
17 E.Murray, time-travel sci-fi, submitted 09/12/2103
18 Kemo, Fantasy, submitted 10/12/2013
19 mistri, Urban Fantasy, submitted 16/12/2013
20 seun, Horror, submitted c. 16/12/2013
21 AyJay, Adult Fantasy, submitted 17/12/2013
22 Myrealana, Urban Fantasy, submitted 17/12/2013
23 Taran, Black Powder Fantasy, submitted 20/12/2013, rejected 18/03/2013 (88 days)
24 desrochers, general fantasy, submitted 22/12/2012
25 STBenjamin, steampunk fantasy,submitted 23/12/2013
26 Flight Heart, Fantasy, submitted 26/12/2013
27 Lissibith, science fantasy, submitted 26/12/2013
28 Pterofan, urban fantasy / horror, submitted 28/12/2013
29 MLMarquardt, science fiction, submitted 28/12/2013
30 fnu_lnu, urban fantasy, submitted 29/12/2013
31 AllGirlsCry, Gothic Horror, submitted 30/12/2013
32 4everwriter, Steampunk (fantasy), submitted 30/12/2013
33 JustCassie, science fiction, submitted 30/12/2013, withdrawn 15/07/2014 (199 days)
34 SJAB, Historical supernatural horror, submitted 30/12/2013
35 Xagareth, Contemporary Horror, submitted 31/12/2013
36 PeteMC, Urban Fantasy, submitted 31/12/2013
37 Gingergunlock, urban fantasy, submitted 31/12/2013, withdrawn 9/9/2014 (252 days)
38 Peregon, genre unknown, submission date unknown


If you have any additions / amendments please let us know.

Of the total submissions reported here, it's 5 horror, 12 science fiction, 17 fantasy, 3 mongrel genres and 1 unknown genres, giving a total of 38.

It's 4 horror, 7 science fiction, 12 fantasy, 3 mongrel genres and 1 unknown genres (i.e. 27 in total) still in the running.

It's 3 withdrawn, 6 rejected and 2 calls for full, making a total of 11 taken to the next stage, whatever that stage is.

Note with an overall total 524 submissions, 38 have reported here, making 7.3% (over 1 in 14) of the total.

Good luck everyone!

On a personal note - as opposed to a statistical note - Doh! - I'm also seriously considering withdrawing. As a professional (in another profession) these delays would not really be considered acceptable there, and it does goes against the general ethos of the way I work and live...

However, if it does come to that, I'll pop by every so often to keep the stats going.

Good luck to everyone here, hoping they'll get their book published sooner rather than later...

I just checked mine in Submittable and I've gone to "In-Progress" as well. Of course, this could mean "in the process of writing your rejection slip" but hey, at least something's happened

Chuck Wendig posted this to his FB page today. Sounds like things are indeed taking extra time.

http://angryrobotbooks.com/2014/09/angry-robot-in-2015/

The two that have moved up on Submittable to 'In Progress' are both urban fantasy. Mine which is SF is still at "Received".

From this I have to presume they are looking for urban fantasy, and certainly not science fiction.

This just adds to my disappointment...

I'm trying to manage my expectations, but in the interest of contributing to any statistical analysis going on, mine is also listed as "in progress." (It's UF.)

Continuing good vibes to everyone else still in the running.

Chin up, Aquarian. I totally understand feeling like your novel would be a perfect match for a specific publisher. It's why I submitted my novel to AR. For now, I am leaving it where it is, but we really do have to consider the words of Wes (we could collect his "stay calm" techniques and title it The Words of Wes). If he thinks things are going to be shockingly slow, that's probably the truth. It hurts, but that's the way things go. On the other hand, if you drop a submission to Baen, it could take a year before they send a request (or a rejection--or silence!). So we're still on par with the industry (even some of the smaller publishers take a full year to process slush).

On the plus side, you can always submit directly to some editors at other publishing houses. For instance, Rebecca Brewer at Penguin (ACE/Roc imprint) participated in #MSWL telling what she was looking for in Sci Fi. She's open to queries directly from writers (you can find her on twitter). There are others, I just haven't fallen down the rabbit whole that far yet. This submission isn't exclusive, so you can always shop your MS around while you wait.

fnu_lnu said:

I'm trying to manage my expectations, but in the interest of contributing to any statistical analysis going on, mine is also listed as "in progress." (It's UF.)

Click to expand...

That's three for three then - I don't think this can be taken to mean they're not looking for SF at all, just that they're doing the UF at the moment.

I submitted a dark fantasy manuscript to them on December 26th of 2013, I think. They're still considering it, and it is listed as In-Progress on their website.

Welcome TroubleEntrendre . I've put you in at no. 28 to keep the submission date order in tact.


The list now reads:

1 ajoker, Historical Horror, submitted 25/10/2013, rejected 05/02/2014 (103 days)
2 AutonomousAstronaut Science Fiction submitted 26/10/2013 call for full manuscript 07/03/2014 (132 days)
3 Dryad, Bio-Punk Sci Fi, submitted 29/10/2013, rejected 4/06/2014 (219 days)
4 Loki76, Dystopian Sci Fi, submitted 29/10/2013, rejected 6/06/2014 (220 days)
5 KateJJ, Fantasy, submitted 30/10/2013 withdrawn 13/08/2014 (287 days)
6 WriterJosh, high fantasy with bits of steampunk, submitted 30/10/2013, call for full manuscript 24/01/2014 (85days)
7 Dimanagul, science fiction dystopia (I think) ,submitted c. 31/10/2103, rejected 24/01/2014 (c. 84days)
8 cdwwdc, SF, submitted 11/11/2013
9 GeoWriter, SF, submitted c. 15/11/2013
10 jjdebenedictis, fantasy, submitted 16/11/2013, rejected 17/01/2013 (62 days)
11 Eliza C, Contemporary Fantasy, submitted 23/11/2013
12 thepicpic, Military science fiction, submitted 30/11/2013
13 DrFaerieGodmother, Sci Fi Superhero, submitted 04/12/201311
14 ironmikerzero, genre mash-up - science fantasy/police procedural, submitted 06/12/2013
15 Dragonwriter, urban / contemporary fantasy, submitted 07/12/2013
16 Aquarianhelix, hard science fiction, submitted 08/12/2013
17 E.Murray, time-travel sci-fi, submitted 09/12/2103
18 Kemo, Fantasy, submitted 10/12/2013
19 mistri, Urban Fantasy, submitted 16/12/2013
20 seun, Horror, submitted c. 16/12/2013
21 AyJay, Adult Fantasy, submitted 17/12/2013
22 Myrealana, Urban Fantasy, submitted 17/12/2013
23 Taran, Black Powder Fantasy, submitted 20/12/2013, rejected 18/03/2013 (88 days)
24 desrochers, general fantasy, submitted 22/12/2012
25 STBenjamin, steampunk fantasy,submitted 23/12/2013
26 Flight Heart, Fantasy, submitted 26/12/2013
27 Lissibith, science fantasy, submitted 26/12/2013
28 TroubleEntendre, dark fantasy, submitted 26/12/2013
29 Pterofan, urban fantasy / horror, submitted 28/12/2013
30 MLMarquardt, science fiction, submitted 28/12/2013
31 fnu_lnu, urban fantasy, submitted 29/12/2013
32 AllGirlsCry, Gothic Horror, submitted 30/12/2013
33 4everwriter, Steampunk (fantasy), submitted 30/12/2013
34 JustCassie, science fiction, submitted 30/12/2013, withdrawn 15/07/2014 (199 days)
35 SJAB, Historical supernatural horror, submitted 30/12/2013
36 Xagareth, Contemporary Horror, submitted 31/12/2013
37 PeteMC, Urban Fantasy, submitted 31/12/2013
38 Gingergunlock, urban fantasy, submitted 31/12/2013, withdrawn 9/9/2014 (252 days)
39 Peregon, genre unknown, submission date unknown


If you have any additions / amendments please let us know.

Of the total submissions reported here, it's 5 horror, 12 science fiction, 18 fantasy, 3 mongrel genres and 1 unknown genres, giving a total of 39.

It's 4 horror, 7 science fiction, 13 fantasy, 3 mongrel genres and 1 unknown genres (i.e. 28 in total) still in the running.

It's 3 withdrawn, 6 rejected and 2 calls for full, making a total of 11 taken to the next stage, whatever that stage is.

Note with an overall total 524 submissions, 39 have reported here, making 7.4% (over 1 in 14) of the total.

Good luck everyone!

Exciting to hear that some of you have moved up to the 'in progress' category! Crossing my fingers for some good news. Congratulations DrFaerieGodmother!!

I've been away for a while, but...

I'm sorry that I kinda stopped checking this thread. I see that some have been accepted for full MS thus far and others have been rejected. I'm sorry to those who didn't get a good response.

I'm extremely, EXTREMELY nervous and anxious. I got to the point where I didn't even want to think about it, let alone see how others were doing. When I do think about it I get anxious to the point of depression.

My worried self says they're taking a long time to reply because they're just behind on replies, and it's probably a rejection.

My brain says that if you've not heard back by now it's either because they haven't read it or they are still considering.

Remember that I am one of those who got a call for full submission. I checked submittable.com and saw that my MS says "accepted" but I think that listing only applies to the initial submission. Am I right? Submittable doesn't tell me one way or the other about my full MS, does it?

So, as you can tell, I have not yet heard about whether or not they are interested in the full MS. I really hope this is a good thing.

EDIT: The editor who asked for my full MS, Amanda Rutter, doesn't even work there anymore. Now I'm not scared. I'm bloody well terrified! Now I'm thinking that the wait's been so long because they put it back in the slush pile and forgot about it, or that the new person it was handed to hasn't read it yet and won't like it, as Ms. Rutter did.