posted
I'm sure everyone entered in the WotF goes through this, and this is my first time to enter, but I am getting sooooo tired of waiting. I sent my story in on May 15, 2010. It was an official entry on September 23, 2010. The first list of HM's has been announced. So have the finalists. Outside of that, I don't think anyone has heard anything. Some of us have received our manuscripts back. I've heard rejections are in the mail. This was well over a week ago, but I've heard nothing about how I did or anything else.
I know everyone connected with the contest is busy. I also know that what's happening is not normal from what I've heard from others who have entered before. But how long is too long before we should start asking questions of the WotF staff?
posted
I may be having a monumental brain freeze here, but the results that have been announced were for Q3 2010, right?
I'm confused by your statement that you sent your story May 15th (that would make it Q2 or Q3 right) and it was accepted as an entry on September 23rd. I know that September 23rd would place it as a Q4 2010 entry, which I think still has another few months before anything is announced.
posted
I'm gonna guess she's saying she received confirmation that her Q3 story arrived in September. I also got my confirmation in September.
I read this morning on the WotF board that some people who have been waiting waiting waiting have received their rejections in the past couple of days. To me, that says Joni is going through the last batch of results and will be posting results soon. Or I could just be overly optimistic because I too am impatiently waiting. Joni does respond quickly, I hear, to queries about results. But I for one am going to continue to simply check the boards several times a day and hope.
Edited to add: This long a wait is not typical of the contest. Usually, the results (except for the winners) are all posted within three months of the quarter's end.
[This message has been edited by JenniferHicks (edited November 30, 2010).]
posted
Crystal, if you aren't on the Finalist list for Q3, then you are free to submit the story elsewhere. Even a Semi is still a rejection in a way, since it won't be published. So don't fret too much Just get the story back to out to markets.
Posts: 96 | Registered: Nov 2010
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posted
Sorry about that, and yes, it was the 3rd quarter. And it was "confirmed" in September that I was entered in the 3rd quarter.
I know I didn't win and am aware I can send my story to another market. I'm just anxious to know how well I did... even if I get a flat rejection. That will give me an idea how well I can write and where to go from here to improve my writing.
Thanks for the replies, and I'll keep waiting, checking the WotF site... and the mail.
posted
A rejection might have zero to do with the story quality... all it means is that this particular story wasn't to the editor's taste (KD Wentworth in the case of WotF). Don't use one market and one editor's tastes as a quality stick It's just one market...
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posted
What izanobu said. My first sale was a WotF reject. I also read this morning on the WotF board that a two-time finalist recently got a Q3 rejection. So quality isn't always the deciding factor.
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posted
One benefit to other markets is that a lot of times they will tell you why they are rejecting the story. For example, I have submitted 2 stories to Apex and both times they have been rejects, but both times they told me why and their reasons resonated with me. I think that those rejections gave me a much better feel for the quality of work than my WOTF losses.
Hmm- looking at duotropes, it says only 40% are personal, but that still is better odds of getting some editorial feedback than WOTF (I know semi-finalists get personal feedback but percentage wise 40% better than that). I am sure other markets have high feedback levels- this is just the one I have personal experience with. I have gotten personal rejection from other markets, but more in the good but not for us compared to we liked X but Y turned us off.
posted
This kind of leads me to a train of thought I've been having lately...
I've noticed on Duotrope that many of the pro SFF markets have a turn around time of about a month, but WoTF takes 3-4 months.
I've been thinking I might try a strategy in which I take a story, submit it to as many pro markets as I have time before the current WoTF quarter ends, and then submit it to WoTF if the pro markets don't buy the story. Does anyone else do this, or do you all submit your story to WoTF first then try other markets if it doesn't make it in WoTF?
posted
I aim to write at least two stories every quarter. One goes to WotF as its first submission; the other one I usually write for a specific themed market. After the WotF entry doesn't win, I start sending it to other markets, starting with the pros.
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Just get the story back to out to markets.
