posted
If a magazine gives their response time as 2 months, at what time do I send out a follow-up? I mean, is that two months from the day I sent it, two months from the day it gets there in the mail, plus time for a reply to get to me, plus a couple weeks leeway, I mean, how soon is too soon? I don't want to seem impatient. Not that I'm NOT impatient ... but that's not very business-like.
Also, I'd appreciate it if anyone can tell me what kind of information should go in a follow-up. Thanks.
posted
If they say 2 months, I'd probably wait until 3 months have gone by.
When you do query them, keep it simple and polite. "I'm curious about the status of my story 'Attack of the Evil Robot Monkeys,' which I sent to you in January 1994." Don't apologize for bothering them, don't tell them you understand how busy they are, don't beg. Just keep it simple.
IMO. And if it's print, don't forget the SASE. (you did send one with the original submission, didn't you?)
also, relax. generally, rejections come quickly; acceptances can take longer.
posted
Yeah, I think a lot of the time it means that they've got 25 great stories and are trying to decide which 10 will make up the best issue of their magazine.
But it a long delay could also mean that they lost it, or it got lost in the mail, or that they've been innundated with submissions, or that the main editor is recovering from leprosy. Try not to attach too much significance to it; you will make yourself insane that way.
posted
Just out of curiosity, what magazine are we talking about? Because honestly, my answer depends upon the venue. Strange Horizons, for example, says two months and they mean it. On day 60, if you have not heard from them, they have almost certainly lost if, or your reply got lost (which happened to me once), or they will apologize profusely because they have a reputation for quick responses to uphold.
Asimov's, on the other hand, has been getting responses back in two months lately but they don't always manage to do this and it's best to wait another month before querying.
One thing to do is to recheck their guidelines carefully. If they specifically say that you can query after two months, then you can query after two months. They wouldn't say so if they don't get 99% of their submissions read and responded to in that time because believe me, they don't want to answer thousands of legitimate queries alongside trying to read manuscripts.
When you query, don't forget to be polite and professional. Usually, if you submitted through the mail you should query that way, although there are exceptions to that rule. Realms of Fantasy, for example, has an e-mail address for queries despite their paper submissions. If you have to send them something, send them a self-addressed stamped postcard.
I'll leave it there for now. Like I said, if you wouldn't mind sharing the venue I might be able to be more specific.
posted
Oh yeah, I was going to comment on the long delay.
Beth is right in general. Rejections come quickly but they have to think about the stories they accept. Unfortunately, along with the stories they accept are hundreds of other good stories that they wanted to thinka bout that they reject.
Life becomes quite frustrating when you get to be a good enough writer to get past the slush editors most of the time and land in that "I'm thinking about it pile" but not quite good enough to get accepted. It basically means long delays for the same result -- rejection. (I seem to be in this category myself.)
I shouldn't be pessimistic. But I felt the need to pass this on for what it's worth from one person who's gotten her hopes up one time too many. Rejectionancy isn't healthy.
posted
I sent a short-short story to Asimov's in March, plus a set of poems. I haven't heard back on either submission, and I'm not too hopeful because, while the story may be good enough for publication, I have very little faith in the poetry.
Also, there's a response times link on www.Ralan.com , and while the average is about two months, the max time that a response has taken was something like 160+ days. That's like, half a year! So I'm really not too worried. My thing is, I don't mind waiting if there's a possibility that it might get accepted. If my material is just collecting dust on somebody's desk somewhere, then I have other markets to send it to, you know?
quote:Our response time runs about five weeks. If you have not heard from us within three months from the day you mailed your ms., you can assume it was lost in the mail, and are welcome to resubmit it to us. We do NOT keep a record of submissions, but if you would like to know if we received your story or poem, include a self-addressed stamped postcard, which we will return to you on the day it arrives in the office. Thanks for your interest in Asimov's and good luck!
This is from Asimov's submission guidelines page. I think all the info you need is right here.
posted
Two of mine are now closing in on 3 months. I received a follow-up letter from one of them, though. It came about two weeks after I sent the story, and it said: We'll let you know within 24 weeks. 24 weeks!!! Oh, well, they say patience is a virtue.
Posts: 270 | Registered: Jan 2005
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
