Rejectomancy

Eliza C · Aug 13, 2012

alexshvartsman said:
Nice! Higher-tier R's from Lightspeed are worth celebrating

Thanks. Three folks on this forum were kind enough to beta read that story for me and they knew Lightspeed was my primary target market, so I thought I'd post the whole R.

fihr · Aug 13, 2012

Even though it was an R, congratulations Eliza. Definitely hopeful for elsewhere.

defcon6000 · Aug 14, 2012

Marzioli said:
Rod HEATHERS?

lol, that must've been it. Interesting last name.

alexshvartsman said:
Hah! About 15% of the slush is read by associate editors (to keep me sane. Well, less insane, anyway.)

Something I learned from reading submissions at UFO: the heaviest incoming traffic is on Mondays. Not sure why that is, or how useful that information is for markets that don't respond on the same day, but an interesting bit of statistics.

At UFO at least, a Monday submission is slightly more likely to be read by someone other than me, because I need a little extra help handling the volume. According to my spreadsheet I responded to 10 submissions today and Cyd responded to 3 more. I still have 3 more subs unread that came in today and will try to get to them by tonight if possible.

Ahh, I see. I had subbed Sunday, but you're three hours ahead of me so you probably received it late, and it was knocked over to Monday. That's interesting about Mondays, considering that everyone hates them. Guess if you're in a self-loathing mood, might as well submit something. :e2teeth:

Project Deadlight · Aug 14, 2012

Anyone get the lamplight email? They definitely responded to subs that were sent AFTER I subbed mine. BTW, love that red shell monster DC.

fihr · Aug 14, 2012

Project Deadlight said:
Anyone get the lamplight email? They definitely responded to subs that were sent AFTER I subbed mine. BTW, love that red shell monster DC.

Yep, I got it. I subbed on 21 July.

(And I love that red monster thing too, defcon.)

Eliza C · Aug 14, 2012

alexshvartsman said:
Something I learned from reading submissions at UFO: the heaviest incoming traffic is on Mondays.

Guess it's all those weekday workforce folks like me who spend their weekends shut away indoors writing furiously before work starts again. I'm lucky to have a 4-day work week, so my most common days to sub are Thursdays and Sundays. Maybe a bunch sub Sun nights and Mon am after a last proof-read.

Marzioli · Aug 14, 2012

Project Deadlight said:
Anyone get the lamplight email? They definitely responded to subs that were sent AFTER I subbed mine.

Yeah, I got one. Mine's only at 21 days, though. And with the information they shared it seems Defcon was right (they had 400 subs and chose from that), and my faith in the system is restored! But it looks like it's going to be forever until those of us still in the slush queue get a reply.

O'Dandelo · Aug 14, 2012

Got an 8-day R from F&SF today. It was my first sub to them, and almost entirely without spec-fic elements, so getting the alleged higher-tier "didn't quite work for me" R is a bit of a good feeling.

Aggy B. · Aug 14, 2012

19 day personal from Ideomancer for "Call-Center". And the tenth rejection for that particular story.

She said " While the idea is definitely apt, the story never surprised me."

Blargh. Guess it's on to the next one.

Marzioli · Aug 14, 2012

Blech, sorry about the R's guys and girls. Sitting on a pile of crickets 23 deep, and none notably quiet.

Edit: And the silence ends with a 2-day R from Shimmer for a flash piece. Another "they liked the ideas, and thought it was interesting, but..." At their recommendation, I may consider expanding it. The scenes are all already implied in the text, but I was rather fond of the broad brush strokes. I'll have to see how I feel.

Edit 2: Apex, 16-day R.

renard79 · Aug 14, 2012

A 19 day R from Daily Science Fixtion. I'll take another look and probably send it back out. Experimental flash, more an extended prose poem really... Will give it a day or two to sit.

Marzioli · Aug 15, 2012

Form R from P-dest@l. Apparently my Mark Nipple tale wasn't up to snuff. In all fairness, they probably noticed I wedged Nipple deets into an already completed story. This marks this story's 20th rejection!

Datepalm · Aug 16, 2012

Well, thats a nice personal R from Shimmer, 18 days. Not quite sure where to send it next - it's a magic realism fairy tale type thing, whereas I usually write hard SF. I'd research, if only new Duotrope wasn't still annoying and unfamiliar.

UniversalExport · Aug 16, 2012

Does F&SF respond by email or postal? Wondering how those 8 day rejections are to be understood if a two-way postal route is included in those 8 days..

johemedel · Aug 16, 2012

2 day form R from Clarkesworld. I was anticipating as much, so on to the next.

Neil recently Tweeted about the strangely small size of his slush pile to the point of pretty much calling for submissions, so maybe someone else might have some luck.

GreenRoom · Aug 16, 2012

UniversalExport said:
Does F&SF respond by email or postal? Wondering how those 8 day rejections are to be understood if a two-way postal route is included in those 8 days..

F&SF responds by post, it's just a really fast market in terms of turnaround, like lightspeed...

defcon6000 · Aug 16, 2012

22-day R from Buzzy, with same old response.

O'Dandelo · Aug 16, 2012

defcon6000 said:
22-day R from B-zzy, with same old response.

I got mine too.

I rarely succumb to the "How can they reject my story and yet publish subpar work?" syndrome. It's unhealthy and counterproductive. But after reading B-zzy's latest horror story, "Floaters," I had to laugh. I think something strange is going on at that place (in the horror department, at least; I don't know about the other genres), starting with the first one--the roach story that you mentioned months ago, defcon--and leading up to this new one.

Sai · Aug 16, 2012

16-day from R from Buzzy :/.

Marzioli · Aug 16, 2012

Got my B*zzy, form R. And I echo Dandy's "Fl*aters" sentiment. I'm happy for the guy who wrote it, but I can't agree with the editorial choice.

defcon6000 · Aug 16, 2012

O'Dandelo said:
I got mine too.

I rarely succumb to the "How can they reject my story and yet publish subpar work?" syndrome. It's unhealthy and counterproductive. But after reading B-zzy's latest horror story, "Floaters," I had to laugh. I think something strange is going on at that place (in the horror department, at least; I don't know about the other genres), starting with the first one--the roach story that you mentioned months ago, defcon--and leading up to this new one.

I know, right?

I haven't bothered with their horror stuff, tried to read "Girrrl with Dead Flowers in Her Hair" and couldn't get into it. I did manage to read "Dijin Bottle"--which should've been classified as para-romance, and "Something to be T@med"--all right story, but kinda dull.

I think they have fake commenters, too. 'Cause you ever notice how it's the same people gushing their love on each and every story? In the end, I think B-zzy-ness is there to make money, not to provide great literature; thus the reason they stick fugly advertisements in the middle of stories, trying to sell their shirts and crap.

Marzioli · Aug 16, 2012

Our own Mr. Haynes was published there, so they got it right at least once. I limit my objection to their horror selections. At this point, in regards to their horror, the evidence seems to point to a desire to publish family friendly pieces. That is to say, not so much horror as dark, and not so much scary as silly.

defcon6000 · Aug 16, 2012

Marzioli said:
Our own Mr. Haynes was published there, so they got it right at least once.

He's also sold to IGMS and Nature, which gives him an edge. I notice that many of their writers have either won/been nominated for awards or have reputable sales under their belts. Essentially big names who'll bring in ~~buyers~~readers.

Plus, not all their stories are light, friendly. Ken Liu's certainly isn't!

Marzioli · Aug 16, 2012

defcon6000 said:
Plus, not all their stories are light, friendly. Ken Liu's certainly isn't!

Maybe I'm just used to dark (Barron, Hill, Ligotti), so even Mr. Liu's piece came across as a bit fluffy. Not in a bad way, just not material beyond early evening TV viewing. I imagine Floaters as an off episode of Twilight Zone, maybe something from the first season (which wasn't my favorite).

O'Dandelo · Aug 16, 2012

Well, a Nebula winner can pick and choose markets, anyway.

Again, my original statement only applied to Bzzzzz's horror stuff. I've read little in their other categories, because the poor quality of the horror stories made me not want to. I will of course read W1S1ers' work wherever it is published.

Rejectomancy

Eliza C

We’ll see what happens from here…

fihr

defcon6000

Project Deadlight

fihr

Eliza C

We’ll see what happens from here…

Marzioli

Could be worse!

O'Dandelo

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think

Marzioli

Could be worse!

renard79

Teacher in Space

Marzioli

Could be worse!

Datepalm

UniversalExport

johemedel

...should be writing.

GreenRoom

brain in a vat

defcon6000

O'Dandelo

Sai

Book lover/Spy

Marzioli

Could be worse!

defcon6000

Marzioli

Could be worse!

defcon6000

Marzioli

Could be worse!

O'Dandelo