Status query -- yes or no?

SmallThing · Nov 2, 2010

Let me make it clear that patience actually is a virtue of mine (one of very few), so this isn't really a "why haven't they emailed me yet cause it's been two whole days" kind of question.

As a novice at submitting short fiction (first sub ever), I'm wondering whether status queries are a good idea. The main reason I see for sending one is to confirm that my sub was received and to make sure I haven't missed a response somewhere along the line. Is that sound logic?

If it makes sense to wait and not query, I'm good with that. If it makes sense to check in after their suggested deadline, I should probably figure out what to say. Either way, I'm assuming a longer wait is a better thing.

NicoleMD · Nov 2, 2010

Long answer:

Imagine that you ran a literary magazine getting 300 submission emails a week. That's a lot to deal with, but then imagine on top of that 300 people contacting you three days later to make sure you received their email. Then having to sort through who knows how many emails to find each one of those, figure out where it is in the process, then get back to those 300 people who queried you.

Short answer: Don't be that person.

You can query after the appropriate amount of time has passed as stated on their website. In the meantime, write something else.

Nicole

SmallThing · Nov 2, 2010

I've got more than enough writing to keep me busy. Right now I'm trying to understand whether there is a real reason to check in as their suggested deadline has come and gone. I've been avoiding doing anything given that I don't want to be a bother. I guess I'd like to get a sense of whether editors give a query-after deadline as a courtesy to writers, or whether they actively want writers to check in at that point.

I'm really fine with waiting, as long as I know it's not a breach of etiquette.

whimsical rabbit · Nov 2, 2010

There are some mags that will give you a response timeframe, anything from a month to three or four months or something, and will advise that if you haven't heard from them within that time, you are welcome to contact them.

I don't really do that though, because I know that equals a rejection. If they want your story they'll contact you for sure. This is why I don't check submission links as well. For some reason I believe that in this industry sometimes good news travel faster than bad news.

NicoleMD · Nov 2, 2010

Ah, sorry. I misread. If the timeframe has actually passed, I'd still wait another month or two before I queried (if I queried.) If it's been a rediculous amount of time over, then please do. I've wasted time on a lost response before, but if you've got enough stuff submitted and out there, it all averages out eventually.

Nicole

Phaeal · Nov 2, 2010

There's one mag I sub to that strongly urges people to follow-up if they don't get a response after 70 days. But this mag has never made me wait more than seventy days.

I've never actually followed up on a short story submission. I get responses much more often than not. I recently got a rejection a year after subbing. Six months or more, not all that rare. And I have a couple subs still lacking a response after ten years. Maybe I should nudge about them.

SmallThing · Nov 2, 2010

NicoleMD, I wasn't clear, so no worries. Thanks for the thoughts -- I appreciate them. I feel a little silly about the whole thing. Honestly, I much prefer the idea of not querying, so your answer suits me just fine.

And whimsical rabbit, I believe good news travels faster with agents, for sure. I'm new enough to short story markets though to have absolutely no clue whether there's any rhyme or reason to response times. Someday someone will develop a unifying theory of submissions and no one will ever be left guessing again.

SmallThing · Nov 2, 2010

Phaeal said:
And I have a couple subs still lacking a response after ten years. Maybe I should nudge about them.

Yowsa! Now that would be a fun letter to write.

MJNL · Nov 2, 2010

If the mag gives you a spec if amount of "wait be fore querying" time, and that has passed, I suggest querying. I've only had that happen once and it turned out their response was genuinely lost. It ended up being a personal rejection with some very helpful feedback about the particular story. You don't want to miss out on those

.

whimsical rabbit · Nov 2, 2010

SmallThing said:
And whimsical rabbit, I believe good news travels faster with agents, for sure. I'm new enough to short story markets though to have absolutely no clue whether there's any rhyme or reason to response times. Someday someone will develop a unifying theory of submissions and no one will ever be left guessing again.

I'm fairly new myself to short story subs. Good luck to us.

And yes, a unifying theory of submissions would be great. If for anything, I won't have to save 3,467 different versions of the same short.

Izz · Nov 2, 2010

My process is to check duotrope to see what their average response time is, as well as check their guidelines to see how long they say they take to respond. I take the longest of the two, wait a couple weeks once that date has passed, then send a brief query.

I've only ever had to do so a handful of times. Once, the editor had never received the story, and she ended up buying it after asking me to resend it. At another mag, the editor said it was still under consideration and to query again if i hadn't heard back in x more days. Which i did when i hadn't, and he told me it was still under consideration, and then bought it a few days later.

The other times i've never heard back. In those cases, i query once or twice more (depending on the mag) and then send a withdrawal note and sub elsewhere.

SmallThing · Nov 3, 2010

Thanks again, everyone, for sharing your experiences. I think I like Izz's approach. Their Duotrope stats suggest they do respond to everything, and usually within a short time frame, so it does seem I should hear at some point, unless my sub or their response went missing.

Really, that's my only fear. I don't want to leave a story in limbo forever because of email failure.

Good luck to us all, every one!

MumblingSage · Nov 3, 2010

whimsical rabbit said:
There are some mags that will give you a response timeframe, anything from a month to three or four months or something, and will advise that if you haven't heard from them within that time, you are welcome to contact them.

I don't really do that though, because I know that equals a rejection. If they want your story they'll contact you for sure. This is why I don't check submission links as well. For some reason I believe that in this industry sometimes good news travel faster than bad news.

Oddly enough, there have been at least two times in which my follow-up was answered with an acceptance. It's worth querying if you haven't heard for a bit; sometimes people do slip through the cracks (or are caught by the cursed spam filter).

KyraDune · Nov 4, 2010

I always give a publication one month longer than their stated reply time before I make an inquiry. Plenty of times I've gotten a reply saying my story wasn't received and they always ask me to resubmit. You'd want to say something like this: "In April of this year I submitted a short story titled "The Fifth Dragon" to your publication. I am writing to inquire as to the status of that submission. Thank you for your time."

I give my name and pen name as well as the story title and when it was sent so it's easier for them to look it up.

SeaSerpent · Nov 4, 2010

I generally allow their stated respone time x 2 and then send a polite query. Don't always assume it'll be a rejection. I've sold a couple where for whatever reason they were dragging their heels getting back to me.

I recently sold one where I'd assumed a rejection and sent the story elsewhere - I then had the embarassment of withdrawing it from that market.

Truth and Fiction · Nov 4, 2010

I too will give a journal at least a month, but usually longer, beyond their stated maximum response time before querying. Duotrope is a big help -- a journal might say "don't contact us before 60 days have passed," but then you see on Duotrope that their average response time is more like 120 days. In that case, I wouldn't query them until I hit maybe around 140 or 150 days.

If a journal provides no guidelines on how long it takes them to respond, and I can't tell through Duotrope, then I probably would give them about 6 months.

I have had journals misplace my work, etc., so I do recommend querying -- but only after a lot of time has passed, not just to check in make sure they received the piece.

Status query -- yes or no?

SmallThing

Eek!

NicoleMD

Onomatopotamus

SmallThing

Eek!

whimsical rabbit

Bunned

NicoleMD

Onomatopotamus

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

SmallThing

Eek!

SmallThing

Eek!

MJNL

A Little Lost

whimsical rabbit

Bunned

Izz

Doing the Space Operatic

SmallThing

Eek!

MumblingSage

Inarticulate Herb

KyraDune

Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces

SeaSerpent

Truth and Fiction

On the tip of my tongue