Rejectomancy

[katsincommand]

Originally Posted by Izz

My first (and so far only) pro sale came after i queried the status of a sub. In fact, i queried twice. Received a reply the first time that it was still under consideration. Waited a while longer, queried again, got an acceptance back.

So it's ok to query a second time? What do you say at that point without making it sound like you're rushing them?

I have a story at a pro market that should have been turned around in 30 days. queries at 90 and was told it was still under consideration. I'm at 141 now. I'm trying to pretend it doesn't exist. It's turning me into a Duotrope addict (hah, the reason I ended up writing the article I submitted to Vision).. but still. I mostly ignore it until people start talking about queries.

[SmallThing]

Originally Posted by mhaynes

I've never had to query a market yet, amazingly. And, I'm actually kind of nervous about it. I know it's completely irrational, but I feel like I'll query and someone will say "Eh, well, we were still thinking about it, but if you're in such a hurry, feel free to have it back." I know we're dealing with professionals and that this wouldn't really happen. But, you know... Irrational brain is irrational.

I've only queried once. I agonized over the wording, agonized over sending it, prepared myself for the worst and...didn't get a response. Not at first. I think it was another 2-3 weeks before I heard anything, and it was a sale.

Irrational brain is irrational, though perfectly understandable.

I think the average days out for my current subs is somewhere around 82. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I keep thinking it's going to be a bloodbath around New Year's.

[Lillie]

Originally Posted by mhaynes

I may have to query Stupefying Stories soon. I've got one there at 41 days. But there have been a few 40+ day responses in the last month per Duotrope, so I'm going to wait a bit longer.

I'm at 59 days. I don't know, I know I ought to query, but I've never queried anything, and anyway, I can't think of anywhere else to send it right now.

It's like everything I've ever written has decided to come home for Christmas. I just can't deal with all of it. So I'm letting that one ride. If it's fallen down the back of their radiator, then so be it.

Pedestal
I wanted to send something to their next thing. Do I have to wait till the other one comes back to me, or what?

[Aggy B.]

Originally Posted by katsincommand

So it's ok to query a second time? What do you say at that point without making it sound like you're rushing them?

I have a story at a pro market that should have been turned around in 30 days. queries at 90 and was told it was still under consideration. I'm at 141 now. I'm trying to pretend it doesn't exist. It's turning me into a Duotrope addict (hah, the reason I ended up writing the article I submitted to Vision).. but still. I mostly ignore it until people start talking about queries.

Well, it depends on how long it's been between query 1 and query 2.

I usually take a polite but friendly approach. I mention that I understand how some things take longer than others/the holidays are busy/whatever seems appropriate. I also tend to try and focus on "I'm concerned my story may have slipped through the cracks/been misplaced." Maybe because that's happened to me twice this year. But it kind of takes the pressure off "Have you made a decision yet?" and focuses on the basic "I want to be sure you received my story."

Also, if there was a response after the first query, I'd wait at least as long as the normal response time before querying. If there was NO response, I'd wait about 1/4 - 1/3 the normal response time before querying again. (FREX: Tor.com took about 1-2 months to respond to a query about a submission, but GUD/One Forty Fiction/Nanoism only took a week or so at the outside.)

Aggy, always has two cents to share

[KitCat]

Impatience is going to be the death of me.

Out of the four I have out, it's just this ONE sub that I'm completely antsy over and it hasn't even been out 30 days yet, compared to me on this one, you all look like you have the patience of a saint lol

[Lillie]

Originally Posted by KitCat

Impatience is going to be the death of me.

Out of the four I have out, it's just this ONE sub that I'm completely antsy over and it hasn't even been out 30 days yet, compared to me on this one, you all look like you have the patience of a saint lol

Lol. I was like that at first.

But when you've got 15 things, and you don't remember what they are, let alone where they are or for how long, you start to get a different perspective on things.

[Aggy B.]

Originally Posted by KitCat

Impatience is going to be the death of me.

Out of the four I have out, it's just this ONE sub that I'm completely antsy over and it hasn't even been out 30 days yet, compared to me on this one, you all look like you have the patience of a saint lol

The trick for curing impatience is to keep sending other stories out. I thought I would die the first two weeks I had The Hardest Kiss out at Tor.com. The other day I was looking at Duotrope and realized it's been out almost three months. And I was like "Already?"

Then again, I think I'm close to having the W1S1 forum record for SHORT submission wait time (@GUD Magazine - 590 days which resulted in a sale. Of course, now there's a long wait to see if that issue will ever be published.) so I'm mostly over long wait times.

Aggy, not a saint so she just stays busy

[Izz]

Originally Posted by katsincommand

So it's ok to query a second time? What do you say at that point without making it sound like you're rushing them?

I was pretty new to the game, back then. tbh, if it were now i would probably wait a lot longer than i did. Like Aggy, i focus on whether the response might've been lost. I also make a point of saying that if it's still under consideration, that's not a problem.

Personally, i wouldn't query at this time of year, though. Everybody's rushing around like headless chickens.

*big hugs* for defcon and Lillie and glasses of something mildly alcoholic for KitCat and SmallThing (to help with the crickets, y'see--but don't have too much, or you might forget the crickets ever existed ).

[mhaynes]

Form R a few minutes back from Strange Horizons. *sigh*

[Izz]

[mhaynes]

Thanks, Izz.

I know there are good reasons to send form rejections. But I wish I knew for sure that they had kinda liked my story, just not enough rather than something like "Oh, we go through them in alphabetical order so we just didn't get to yours until today." I guess there's really no point, though. It's still a "no", either way.

That's what we're supposed to tell ourselves, right? *needs an icon for sickly grin*

Lillie, Pedestal isn't open again until 12/28, in case you weren't aware. I'm hoping/thinking that they'll try to send the rejections out between now and then. I'll probably query right after the New Year's if I haven't gotten something. I'm glad you mentioned this, though, as it got me looking at their guidelines for next issue and I realized that I've got something which I could send them. Woot!

I agree with Aggie -- having things to send out helps cure the impatience and rejection frustration. Speaking of which... Off to re-sub that story.

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by mhaynes

Off to re-sub that story.

Huh. Just noticed that made for sub #99 of the year. Guess I'll make it to 100 after all.

[Lillie]

Sorry about the R Michael

Yeah, Pedestal isn't open again until the 28th. But to be honest, I wasn't expecting many places to be doing much between now and the new year.
I thought they would all be having turkey and stuff.

I'm not doing much. I'm pretty much going to let everything come in that's coming and sort it all out in the new year.

I haven't even put the tree up yet
I've been ill instead. Today I probably infected a whole supermarket That was fun.

[Pemako]

So sorry, Michael. I absolutely wince when I see on Duotrope that someone who has had a story out for a little longer than usual - or a lot longer than usual - has just gotten a form R. Ouch. Hope your story finds the perfect home soon.

I'm also waiting for one of those after-the-fact Rs from Pedestal.

[mhaynes]

Thanks, Lillie and Pemako. I'm pretty confident this one will sell sometime. Like I said, it's one of my favorites and I also think it's one of my stronger ones. (I know the two aren't always the same...) Plus it got a nice (rejection) note when it went to DSF.

I'll just keep sending it out.

And writing other things.

[Marzioli]

Originally Posted by defcon6000

Arg! So Pedestal did it again. They released their issue without giving out rejections,

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I wonder what the difference between stories they rejected early and stories they never sent rejections to were.

[alexshvartsman]

31 day rejection from Brain Harvest. They must've really hated this story because all the other R's I saw on Duotrope over the last couple of days are around 50-60 days.

In a strange way, getting something rejected FASTER than expected is somehow... refreshing? That, or I'm just a glass-half-full kind of guy.

[AnnieColleen]

On a random note: Daily Science Fiction's email story today was called "Crickets". There's some kind of irony there...

[Sai]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

31 day rejection from Brain Harvest. They must've really hated this story because all the other R's I saw on Duotrope over the last couple of days are around 50-60 days.

In a strange way, getting something rejected FASTER than expected is somehow... refreshing? That, or I'm just a glass-half-full kind of guy.

I had a 34 day rejection from them today as well (form R). If there's one thing I'm learning, it's not to put too much stock in how long it was out- long wait or short wait, it doesn't necessarily reflect what they thought of it.

[zanzjan]

Sorry about the Rs, Michael and Alex

Originally Posted by SmallThing

I've only queried once. I agonized over the wording, agonized over sending it, prepared myself for the worst and...didn't get a response. Not at first. I think it was another 2-3 weeks before I heard anything, and it was a sale.

Thinking about it, I'm reasonably sure I've never gotten a response to *any* query I've ever sent out. That may go a fair ways towards explaining why I don't really ever send them anymore.

Originally Posted by KitCat

Out of the four I have out, it's just this ONE sub that I'm completely antsy over and it hasn't even been out 30 days yet, compared to me on this one, you all look like you have the patience of a saint lol

Antsiness doesn't seem to be a simple function of time-out, but a complex algorithm involving time out, our feelings about the story itself, our feelings about the market, and how much caffeine we're getting lately. We all antse; don't beat yourself up about it.

Originally Posted by Lillie

I haven't even put the tree up yet I've been ill instead. Today I probably infected a whole supermarket That was fun.

Ugh, hope you feel better soon!

[MeretSeger]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

31 day rejection from Brain Harvest. They must've really hated this story because all the other R's I saw on Duotrope over the last couple of days are around 50-60 days.

In a strange way, getting something rejected FASTER than expected is somehow... refreshing? That, or I'm just a glass-half-full kind of guy.

I bet a lot of that is going on, the holiday clear-the-desk rush. I have several out and am just certain a tsunami of Grinchiness will be in my inbox tomorrow or better yet, Christmas Eve! ho ho ho.

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by AnnieColleen

On a random note: Daily Science Fiction's email story today was called "Crickets". There's some kind of irony there...

I am so glad I'm not the only one who had that thought!

[alexshvartsman]

2 R's in one day! The editors, they're spoiling me.

This one was a 20-day personal R from Flash Fiction Online. "Made it to the final round of consideration" form followed by personalized snippets of feedback from their slush readers and editors (very similar to ASIM system). I really, really enjoy the ASIM system. I also enjoy the fact that FFO is now going from submission to final round of consideration in 20 days. They used to be a very slow market before. So, despite the rejection, I'm feeling pleased.

Already fired off another story to FFO and re-submitted the one they rejected elsewhere.

Now I need a market for a 450-word SF/humor piece written as a memo (the BH reject from earlier today). Unsurprisingly, there aren't many markets I can think of for that one!

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

Now I need a market for a 450-word SF/humor piece written as a memo (the BH reject from earlier today). Unsurprisingly, there aren't many markets I can think of for that one!

What about Dreams & Nightmares? From Duotrope (emphasis added):

"I print primarily poetry, but also publish short short fiction. The genres of fantasy and SF are preferred. I am interested in experimental formats and content, and prefer fantastic horror a la Lovecraft or Blackwood to the blood and gore type. Any SF or fantasy is appropriate if it isn't sappy or trite."

Stupefying Stories might also be an option. They don't have a hard lower limit and while the guidelines suggest that flash can be a hard sell for them, the one of mine which they're presumably seriously considering is 250 words or so it's apparently not a total deal-breaker.

[Izz]

Flash Fiction Online accepts multiple subs.