Average Rejection vs Average Acceptance times

williemeikle · Jun 8, 2008

I built a shiny new spreadsheet to monitor my short story subs, and have now got a full years worth of data.

Here's the summary

Rejections (66)

Average 34 days
Min 1.00 day
Max 161.00 days

Acceptances (38)

Average 40 days
Min 0.05 days (a 10 minute acceptance!)
Max 151 days

Anybody else want to share?

Susan Breen · Jun 8, 2008

I don't have anything to share because I haven't written a short story in a while, but that is a phenomenal number of acceptances. Congratulations. Plus the info is very interesting and I'll share it with the short story writers in my class.

Karen Duvall · Jun 8, 2008

I write very few short stories myself, unless invited to contribute to something, so I have no stats to share. What I find interesting about yours is that the data results of both rejections and acceptances are so similar.

seaaircarol · Jun 8, 2008

I agree with Susan about your number of acceptances. That's great!
Congratulations!

dgiharris · Jun 8, 2008

williemeikle said:
I built a shiny new spreadsheet to monitor my short story subs, and have now got a full years worth of data.

Here's the summary

Rejections (66)

Acceptances (38)

You are a stud. One day I hope to be worthy enough to wash your jock strap.

This is my first year seeking (paying) publications. All of my stats are below in my sig line, updated daily

Acceptances average 30 days: Quickest 3 days / Longest 60 days .
Rejections average 45 days: Quickest 3 days / Longest 60 days
3 out of 4 submissions get a response (positive or negative) within 60 days
1 out of 4 submissions seem to be rejection by non-response

Mel...

Cathy C · Jun 8, 2008

Yeah, I suppose that average is about the same for me. Articles are different, though. I once waited 24 months (yes, MONTHS) to hear back on one new market. But they bought it, and that's the important thing.

I've only got two shorts out right now. One has been there for about 6 months-ish and the other just a few weeks. I tend to move on to other things and try not to think about timelines until it becomes oppressive (like 9-12 months).

I try. I don't always succeed.

Phaeal · Jun 9, 2008

Wow, you can sure pump out the stories, and your acceptance rate is very impressive. What's the average length of these stories, and what genre(s), and where are you submitting?

Haggis · Jun 9, 2008

Yeah, Willie's my hero for sure.

Here's mine:

Acceptance (note the singular)

- 48 days

Rejections (9) - 39.1 days

Pending (6) - 59.2 days

But, if you discount the story I subbed yesterday, the pending average changes to 70.8

Not sure what any of that means, but it sure is interesting.

williemeikle · Jun 9, 2008

Phaeal said:
Wow, you can sure pump out the stories, and your acceptance rate is very impressive. What's the average length of these stories, and what genre(s), and where are you submitting?

This year all my submissions have been to paying markets first, with selective targeting of the pro markets. I should have done it years ago, but I let myself get too cosy with publishing in the small press. Of the 38 sales this year, 8 have been at pro rate and 28 more at good semi-pro rates.

The stories are mostly horror, some fantasy, and a couple of SF and crime ones thrown in for good measure. I've been writing one a week, average length about 2500 words, for the past ten years... so you can do the math

Plus, in the same time, I've also written eleven novels, eight screenplays and about 100 articles, as well as god-knows-how-many technical documents in my day job.

I'm a writer. I write. A lot.

dgiharris · Jun 9, 2008

williemeikle said:
The stories are mostly horror, some fantasy, and a couple of SF and crime ones thrown in for good measure. I've been writing one a week, average length about 2500 words, for the past ten years... so you can do the math
I'm a writer. I write. A lot.

. . .

. . Wow.

williemeikle · Jun 9, 2008

Haggis said:
Yeah, Willie's my hero for sure.

Here's mine:

Acceptance (note the singular) - 48 days

Rejections (9) - 39.1 days

Pending (6) - 59.2 days

But, if you discount the story I subbed yesterday, the pending average changes to 70.8

Not sure what any of that means, but it sure is interesting.

Thanks for the "Pending" idea... I didn't have that figure on my sheet so here it is now...

Pending (40) - 64 days

Average Rejection vs Average Acceptance times

williemeikle

The force is strong in this one.

Susan Breen

Karen Duvall

Chalice the Hatchet Knight

seaaircarol

Frustrated Pluviophile

dgiharris

Disgruntled Scientist

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

williemeikle

The force is strong in this one.

dgiharris

Disgruntled Scientist

williemeikle

The force is strong in this one.