second read

Clarkesworld? Yes - I've been in second read sometimes for up to a month. The stories in question still didn't get bought, but I believe that second read is where the editor's looking at them.

I seem to recall my second-read rejects all got personalised rejections from said editor, praising bits of the story and explaining what didn't work for them, but I could be misremembering.

A second read can mean a story has made it past first readers, and is now in teh hands of an editor, or it can mean the editor has put the story aside for a second read later. A second read doesn't mean a sale, especially when it just means it made it past first readers, but either way, it's good news. At the very least, it means you story is a lot better in some way than most of the stories submitted to that magazine.

Don't pull it from the others!

"Second read" is encouraging, but as others noted, it is not a sale.

If another market makes an offer you can contact the dream publication and give them a nudge.

Congratulations on getting a second look.

Don't pull it! That's just thumbing your nose at the writing gods. Dollars to doughnuts, the very second you pull your story you'll get an email from dream market say "Close, but not this time."

Then you have to scramble with "I take it back, please still read it!" emails to the places you've just ditched, which makes you look desperate and unprofessional, or you've just lost your chance with those markets and that story.

OJCade said:

Don't pull it! That's just thumbing your nose at the writing gods.

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I just want to say how much I love this logic.

Congrats, gettingby!

Congratulations, this means it's a good story. If it doesn't sell here there's a good chance someone else will pick it up. Good luck with it

Good luck, Gettingby!

Hold on to that notion of wanting this sale, but not needing it.

Good luck! I hope you make the sale.

I've got a few short stories out myself and waiting for replies is tough. I have to occupy myself with other things, like working on my novel.

Again, good luck!

gettingby said:

This is driving me crazy. The suspense is killing me. I know the best thing to do is forget about it, but I just can't. I've been sending out my stories for a few years now, but I just can't seem to make a sale. I need something to work out for me. I want this SO BAD!!!

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I do understand how important that first sale is. I made a good sale with my first story, and it's a good thing I did. I still remember how that sale carried me through the lean times when it seemed everyone out there stopped wanting my stories. No matter how bad it got, I could look at that sale and and know I had what it took to sell stories to top magazines. Without that sale, I would have stopped writing very early in the game.

Getting that first good sale makes all the difference, so I know where you're coming from.

gettingby said:

So, I can say for sure that my story has been held on second read for over a month now. I am guessing quite a bit longer because of the response report on duotrope. Most rejections come in about half the time this submission has been with this place. Do editors ever forget about the "second read" stories? What are they waiting for?

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I've never known an editor to forget a second read story. I have known them to be extremely slow. All sorts of reasons can cause a delay. The best reason is that they really like the story, but want to be sure they can find a time and place to publish it.

This is not always as easy as it might seem. Most magazines are put together like jigsaw puzzles, and every piece has to fit. This can take some time.

And sometimes editors hold a story for a long time because they like it, but it's by a new writer, and while they like it, they may not love it enough to buy it instantly. They often want to wait and see whether a better story comes in to replace it.

Sometimes, too, they wait until they have a bunch of second read stories before sorting through them. This is fairly common.

And sometimes an editor, or someone else, gets the flu, or they get overwhelmed with this, that, or the other, and it takes time to get the ship back under rudder control.

All any of us know is that they're still holding it. But I can say it's extremely unlikely that anyone has forgotten it.