I have submissions to literary magazines that have not been responded to in over six months. Should I query? Could that lead to a rejection when they may have been considering the piece?
When to Query
- Thread starter billyf027
- Start date
- Status
Go ahead and send a nudge if this is an unusally long response time for them. (check their guidelines, or look them up on duotrope.com for response times)
I gave a nudge email on a story I submitted to a podcast (it's horror). The editor emailed me back the next day, said he originally misplaced my story, but that morning he read it, loved it, and bought it. So a nudge is not an auto-no.
I gave a nudge email on a story I submitted to a podcast (it's horror). The editor emailed me back the next day, said he originally misplaced my story, but that morning he read it, loved it, and bought it. So a nudge is not an auto-no.
Billy,
Submitting a Query for a novel to an agent isn't the same thing as sending a short story manuscript to a short story magazine. Emailing or snailing an editor of a literary magazine to ask whether or not a short story was read..is generally not a good thing to do (at least in my opinion). Check the magazine's website for their estimated response time. If (and only if) 6 months is FAR beyond their response time then I'd consider it as a rejection and move on and sub it to another market.
But before you subbed it to another market, if you'd feel more comfortable sending them some manner of 'heads up', then simply then send them an email stating that your story (list the title, your name and the date you submitted it) is no longer available for them to buy. Be as direct as possible. No further explanation is needed. Just don't sound pissy, lol. No "since you haven't sent me notification of a rejection then I'm not letting you have this piece" or anything
Take Care,
BS
PS just going to edit this cuz I read Siddow's reply. I was always under the impression that emailing a short story market to inquire if they read a piece was (generally) considered something that shouldn't be done. Am I wrong here?
Submitting a Query for a novel to an agent isn't the same thing as sending a short story manuscript to a short story magazine. Emailing or snailing an editor of a literary magazine to ask whether or not a short story was read..is generally not a good thing to do (at least in my opinion). Check the magazine's website for their estimated response time. If (and only if) 6 months is FAR beyond their response time then I'd consider it as a rejection and move on and sub it to another market.
But before you subbed it to another market, if you'd feel more comfortable sending them some manner of 'heads up', then simply then send them an email stating that your story (list the title, your name and the date you submitted it) is no longer available for them to buy. Be as direct as possible. No further explanation is needed. Just don't sound pissy, lol. No "since you haven't sent me notification of a rejection then I'm not letting you have this piece" or anything
Take Care,
BS
PS just going to edit this cuz I read Siddow's reply. I was always under the impression that emailing a short story market to inquire if they read a piece was (generally) considered something that shouldn't be done. Am I wrong here?
Last edited:
Buff, this is how I handled it:
The original submission was by email. I sent another email (with the original attached) saying, Dear Mr. Editor: I originally sent the attached story to you in September of 2006. I am writing today to inquire if it is still being considered. I look forward to hearing from you.
Then whiz-bang, got me some cash deposited in my paypal account.
The original submission was by email. I sent another email (with the original attached) saying, Dear Mr. Editor: I originally sent the attached story to you in September of 2006. I am writing today to inquire if it is still being considered. I look forward to hearing from you.
Then whiz-bang, got me some cash deposited in my paypal account.
But are you positively sure the nude jpgs of yourself you attached in that same file contributed nothing to the editor's fast response?
Reply to Query
They sent back that I would recieve notice about submission in ten days. Don't know if thats good or bad. At least not a rejection yet.
They sent back that I would recieve notice about submission in ten days. Don't know if thats good or bad. At least not a rejection yet.
- Status