posted
Those are from writers who choose to participate in duotropes submission tracker. That is a percentage that is far lower than what a publication receives. On The Premises, as one example, accepted 8 times more submissions in their contest than what was reported on duotrope, and since WotF is a contest reserved for amateurs, I am betting the percentage is more of a 10% cross section to what they really receive.
Soooo, if 5 rejection have already been received, as many as 50 (by my math) have likely been sent to disappointed writers.
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posted
The rejections are flying this morning. There's no question now that they are for real and not courtesy of confused entrants from other quarters.
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posted
I submitted by snail mail, so I'm expecting my not-good-news won't show up until much later. But I have my fingers crossed for all of you e-submitters.
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posted
So I'm working on a Chapter1 review for Meredith's writing challenge and up pops an email from WotF. I open it up thinking my time is up and I'd get a rejection for another quarter. I read... "Save the Date!"
I feel like I've dodged a bullet. A small caliber bullet, but a bullet nevertheless.
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posted
I haven't seen the Save the Date e-mail, but I've received two mailed invitations to this year's ceremony. The address was wrong on one of those invitations. Now I'm worried that WOTF doesn't have the right contact information for me.
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posted
Hmm, keep expecting that E-mail from Joni but still nothing.
That makes two I'm waiting for. There is a magazine that seems to be taking longer than usual for my stuff. Maybe two magazines come to think of it.
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posted
Well, I didn't participate in this group, but I did submit to this quarter, so I'll join in on the nail-biting, if you all don't mind. It's so much more fun when done in good company.
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posted
I just got the call of my life! I was sitting at a table in a lonely roadside stop in Ontario, plotting against axeminister (favorite pastime) when my phone rang...
Oh wait, it's not april first yet. I'll get back to you.
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posted
Those double negatives aren't gonna fool us this year, Snapper. At least I can distract myself from waiting for Q1 results by panicking over my unfinished Q2 entry.
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posted
Man, I'm with you Jennifer. Nothing is falling into place this quarter. Hopefully something will click in the next two weeks.
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A bit surprised, as I considered this submission to be far superior to the story I received an HM with. In any case, onward ho!
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posted
No worries, Axe, but thank you for commiserating.
I'm a fan of Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People), and my favorite quote is "Begin with the end in mind." As long as you always keep that end goal in mind, rejections are little more than speed bumps.
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posted
You probably know this Osiris, but the quality of your writing is not in question, just how this story fits this market. And this is a very particular market.
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posted
Thanks all, love how supportive this group is. I definitely think you are spot on genevive, as much as I love my 'spec arabesque' setting that mixes mid-east culture with science fiction, I'm starting to suspect my stories with that subject matter are a hard sell for editors (though alpha/beta readers seem to love them). That won't stop me from writing them, though. Posts: 1043 | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
Well Genevive, if you ever figure out what they are really looking for let me know, would ya. Every time I think I have them figured out they throw me a curve ball.
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posted
Oh, I don't really know what they're looking for. I know if aiming for this contest, big concept is good as is following the major writing 'rules'for plot and such. This is not a place for great experimentation. And I know I used the comments from my Semi-Finalist crit to shape my Finalist piece. However, most readers here preferred my Semi- over my Finalist, and I agree that it's a better story. But my Finalist followed the rules more carefully.
What's funny is now that I've made Finalist, I'm much less interested in winning. I know that sounds backward, but I feel like I've proven what I needed to prove. The story I have in this quarter is a crapshoot. There's no big concept, just a fun character story with a solid plot arc. Other than that, I'm putting my energy into my novel.
I will say that this crit group has been excellent (even though I didn't do it this time). Thank you to anyone here who has read and commented on my work. You rock!
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posted
I would think that it would be tough to figure out what they want. I saw some characteristics in 27 that made me think they like certain types of stories--basically a bit dark with a MC who has had bad things happen to them in the past, but I haven't read enough of previous stories to see if that was just for 27. And it wasn't one hundred percent, just that most stories seemed to fit those two characteristics.
And Dean Wesley Smith has stated that as new writers we won't know why a story sells for the first few sold stories. He has his own experiences, has held lots of workshops over the years, and talked to quite a few other pros.
It's almost like luck that everything came together for that story or two-four stories. Of course we keep learning and eventually we know enough to have an idea why everything comes together for certain stories and not others.
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posted
After reviewing the last four anthologies of WotF I can see one characteristic in their stories that make it stand out.
Struggle.
In every story I have read from them a struggle (in the loosest definition of the term) is central to the premise, and this isn't always the case in other publications that I have read. You might think that is important in every publication but that isn't necessary the case.
I recall reading something from KDW that the character must change (show growth) as if it became necessary that they learn something. I found that wasn't true at all (The House of Nameless came immediately to mind), but the struggle ingrained in every plot shinned bright.
So if your story lacks a meaningful struggle in it...best of luck to you.
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posted
Well Snapper that would make sense. The one HM story was based on struggle, the second one was more about discovery and got a flat rejection.
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quote:I recall reading something from KDW that the character must change (show growth) as if it became necessary that they learn something. I found that wasn't true at all (The House of Nameless came immediately to mind), but the struggle ingrained in every plot shinned bright.
I was told be an assistant editor of Jim Baen's Universe - now Universe Annex- the same thing. That the readers expect it and feel cheated if it doesn't happen. How they know that about readers no one said. But this editor went on to say that the change could be on any level. In other words it could be something small.
I would say that if someone struggles they do change in some manner or another.
As usual this isn't one hundred percent though.
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posted
So so far only one rejection? Sorry Osiris. You will do better.
Hmm, either the rest are in the last series of rejections, have gotten calls therefore can't say anything, have just decided not to admit it or they are late.
Seems early for phone calls so that one is probably off but maybe the judges took a couple of days of for St. Patrick's day.
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posted
No HMs yet, which means it's way too early for calls. I'm guessing we'll see the first HMs go out sometime this week or next. The finalists probably won't hear that they're finalists until after the workshop.
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posted
Rejections alert. Another round has just gone out (as being reported on duotrope and the WotF forum). It would be nice to hear about some HMs sprinkled in amid the doom and gloom.
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This is a time when we should all be envying Osiris. She no longer needs to suffer with hands that have fallen asleep from sitting on them. I know many of you are likely flinching (like I am) when you hear the ping of a new email. Terror likely strikes you as well when you see the sender is from Writers of the Future, only to find out they want you to fill out a stupid survey or tell you to save the date for an event that is thousands of miles away. Funny how these type of emails flow in only when you’re waiting to hear about the story you were sure was going to win the gold award when you finished it (just like the last one you sent in that received a condescending you didn’t win, but keep trying! rejection). So what’s the best way to combat these trying times of anticipation? Write a new story? Yeah right, like any of us can concentrate in a time like this. The only way to handle these long waits is with a group therapy of wild speculation.
So, you’ve seen the reports of rejections coming in, but for some reason, not many of the reports are from writers you know. Now why isn’t there any Honorable mentions? What about the people who like to submit early so they’re entry will get read early? Shouldn’t those poor souls have heard from Joni by now? This is what I think is happening, based on the smallest, and flimsiest, of evidence (that we can all pass on as inside information to other forums).
If you obsess over duotropes recent responses like I do, you’ll notice that rejections are coming in from entries submitted in the same block of time. For example, on March 20th, the rejections were to entries sent in between the dates of Dec. 21st and Dec. 28th. On March 15th, the entries rejected were sent in the time frame of Dec. 10th to Dec. 21st. All of duotropes daily reports reflect a block of time. However, this runs contrary with Joni’s commitment that HM’s are sent out when she receives them. So what is going on?
This quarter is KDW’s busiest one. She has to prepare for the ceremony, have the anthology all edited, conduct a writer’s workshop (holding Nick’s hand must be a full time job in itself); a lot is on her plate but that monstrous pile of entries just doesn’t go away on it’s own. I think we are witnessing a quick whittling of the pile.
Since the majority of the submissions are electronic now, Joni must have a system to send entries to KDW. Sending them one email at a time won’t do (a few would likely get lost in cyberspace), but sending 900 submissions in one fell swoop has to be out of the question (think of the likelihood of a file corruption). I think she sends in blocks of them in zip files. Every couple of days she stacks a bunch in a set (lets go with 30 a zip file). Under this system, KDW would have a large bunch of zip files staring her in the face every time she turns on her computer - 30 stories in a file divided by 900 stories = 30 zip files. Yikes!
By KDW’s own accounts on how she tackles the first round, she reads the first few hundred words then (with the help of a program) reads the last couple of paragraphs. She is…
1) Making sure the quality of the writing stands up to what the judges expect 2) Making sure there is a speculative element present in the opening 3) Checking to see if the content fits WotF’s standards 4) Making certain that the ending is consistent with the opening (probably the biggest reason why multiple POV’s rarely make it into the anthologies)
This would help her to get the pile down to something more manageable. The ones that are left likely get set into another pile. Even if your entry made it this far, you still may not get an HM for your efforts – although your chances have gone way up. I am guessing KDW is still working through the whittling process. Probably 30 to 50% done with this earliest of stages. If she is reading them a zip file at a time, it might mean that she isn’t reading them as Joni received them, so an early Oct. submission may still be in an untouched zip file.
So what do you think? Plausible? Or is this just all a babbling of a writer who just wasted valuable writing time? Likely the later but I as posted earlier in this thread, one of my favorite pastimes is plotting against Axeminister, and since I know how much he over-analysis’s everything, this post is probably driving him batty.
posted
Sounds good to me snapper but procrastination is not wasted writing time.
If we make it to the second read does that put us in an upper percentage? The first time I got anything besides a normal rejection was one that said I made it to the upper twenty to fifteen percent.
But there seems to be a conflict of how far they along they are. Of course both people are guessing so we will just have to see who is closest at the end. Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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quote:Originally posted by Osiris: [QUOTE]Originally posted by snapper: [qb] Waiting…waiting…waiting…
This is a time when we should all be envying Osiris. She no longer needs to suffer with hands that have fallen asleep from sitting on them.
I'm a dude, dude.
The interesting thing is they almost try to slip in the rejection note in the body of this large e-mail. Its like 'yadayadayada,' then 'even though your story didn't place, you should keep trying' and then more 'yadayadayada'. I appreciate they are trying to be sensitive to writers, but I don't need the coddling, to be honest. I'm seasoned enough to not get too bent out of shape about rejection.
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quote:The interesting thing is they almost try to slip in the rejection note in the body of this large e-mail. Its like 'yadayadayada,' then 'even though your story didn't place, you should keep trying' and then more 'yadayadayada'. I appreciate they are trying to be sensitive to writers, but I don't need the coddling, to be honest. I'm seasoned enough to not get too bent out of shape about rejection.
The straight-reject form from WotF makes me grind my teeth. Other markets are straight forward with some variation on: "Thank you for your submission but we don't want it." And that's OK. The coddling tone of the WotF rejection drives me up a wall. I don't need or want to be reassured like my 7-year-old's soccer team after a loss. We're all adults here.
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quote: (holding Nick’s hand must be a full time job in itself)
I resent the implication that Joni must “hold my hand”. I’m far too important to only have one person doing it; I have a full-time entourage to take care of my needs. By the way, Axeminister has completely reneged on his promise to scatter rose petals before me wherever I go while I’m in LA. A position is open for you. I can’t promise pay, food, thanks or even eye contact (I only look at important people), but you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing that I’ll walk near you.
In terms of the slush reading process and when responses go out, I’ll ask while I’m in LA, but my gut feel is that it probably varies every time it’s done, depending on what’s happening in the “real life” of both Joni and KDW. Quarter 1 of each year is probably the most haphazard, because there's so much that goes into organizing the workshop and ceremony.
posted
I'd volunteer for you both except that I would have red, watery eyes and be sneezing up a storm while scattering the petals, which would ruin the effect.
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posted
Can I have the whispering in your ear position? I have this megaphone that is gathering dust in my closest...
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posted
Speaking about coddling we mentioned that new rejection last time. I don't any of us likes it or are encouraged by it.
But changing the subject slightly I noticed that Asimov's has a new, nicer rejection. I don't recall it from the time before but that was a few months ago. Can't recall the exact words but they really, really appreciated me sending the story.
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At least I can distract myself from waiting for Q1 results by panicking over my unfinished Q2 entry.
