Withdrawing stories from consideration

A pro-qualified short story writer I met last month said she sends three letters.

The first is a simple query. The second, if the query gets no response in 2-3 weeks, says "Dear editors, I sent you this query [details]. Could you please give me a status update? If I don't get one in two weeks I'll assume you don't have my story under consideration."

And two weeks later, "Dear editors, since I haven't heard from you after letters [a] and , I withdraw my story from consideration. Thank you, [name]"

Short and to the point usually works.

Jo Smythe, Editor
Ragged E-Zine
Internet, USA

Dear Ms. Smythe,

I submitted my story, "Sagebrush" as an email attachment per your guidelines on April 17, 2008, and queried on May 12. As I have had no reply, I must now withdraw it from your consideration, effective as of June 18, 2008.

Sincerely,

No why. No regrets. No best wishes. Just 'here's how to find it' and 'withdrawn.'

Maryn, who's only had to do this once

Well, let me start out by saying that I almost always submit to markets that allow simsubs. Given that, I have never withdrawn a story unless it has been placed elsewhere.

If this e-zine allows simsubs, I'd personally just let it ride out and submit the story elsewhere while I'm waiting.

The bottom line is that most of these places, particularly the web-based markets, are bare bones operations. They get behind. Really, really behind. I take the response timelines in their guidelines to be aspirational. In a perfect world, that's what they're hoping to do.

But in reality, life intervenes. Many of the editors have full-time jobs that are not the magazine. If one person goes on vacation for a week, it can throw the responses off by a month or more as things get backed up. Many markets stop reading the slush as they approach final production on the next issue. Others take significantly longer to respond during the summer for a variety of reasons. Heck, Memorial Day weekend could easily have added a week to waiting times.

Then, of course, there are the positive reasons why a market takes longer. You're getting a second, then third read. You're sitting in a "strong maybe" pile waiting for the end of a reading period. They only have a editorial meeting once a month and your story is on the agenda.

All I'm saying is that I would think long and hard before withdrawing. If you don't want to have a story beholden to a specific market for months, then look at the many, many good markets that allow simsubs. And, IMO, don't write any letter containing an ultimatum until the market has had the story for at least five months. Withdrawing after setting your own timetable could be viewed as annoying, particularly by unpaid, overworked eds who do this for the love of it. Why burn a bridge if you don't have to?

MumblingSage, if this is about ASIM, I wouldn't withdraw yet, frankly. They are behind. Unless this story is desperately wanted elsewhere, as in an editor requested to see it, you lose nothing by being patient. Just my 2c.
In December, I withdrew a story from a market that I strongly felt was going to die. I was right - the market died. The story still didn't sell.
On the other hand, I patiently waited on a poem at Abyss&Apex, through change of editors, queries, elbow-biting, etc. The poem sold. Just saying.
best of luck,
Rose

mikeland said:

And, IMO, don't write any letter containing an ultimatum until the market has had the story for at least five months. Withdrawing after setting your own timetable could be viewed as annoying, particularly by unpaid, overworked eds who do this for the love of it. Why burn a bridge if you don't have to?

Click to expand...

Personally, I'd adjust the time to the market. I'd give, say, Strange Horizons at least five months eta: I mean before withdrawing, not before querying. I'd query on day 71 as they suggest, but I'd probably send them 2 or 3 queries a month apart if they didn't reply, before withdrawing a piece.(though I've never had them fail to respond to a query pretty promptly). But a market with an average response time of three weeks? I'd query after two months and probably withdraw the piece after three if I got no response.

It's not about an ultimatum, or about setting your own timetable, here. It's about asking for a reply to a query. And I'd say a month from first query to withdrawal is pretty darn reasonable.

Now, if they respond in that time with "Your story is still under consideration", I'd count that as perfectly fine. But if they haven't responded to either the story. or two letters sent 2 weeks apart, I'd assume I was going directly into their spam folder and count the piece withdrawn.

If you have a higher-paying publication you think is a better fit, then I would wait for another week or two and then withdraw. In general though I'd advise against submitting to lower-pay markets before you exhausted the higher-paying ones, unless it's a market you love. E.g. I would submit to Shimmer even though it pays 1c a word because I would be ecstatic to sell to Shimmer.
Best of luck,
Rose

I say go write another story while you're waiting

Seriously, though, if they're beyond the time limit that they themselves have set for responses, and aren't answering your query, then I'd pull it.