My personal R from them kind of felt the same way. I'm guessing they're sending the criticism rather than the praise, to help us improve the stories perhaps?
Hugs for all the Rs, people. It's been quiet for me in the last couple of days, which is just as well since the conundrum on my blog has been sucking up some of my writing energy this weekend.
General question for all: What markets do you sub in? Do you stick with paying? Or do you shake it up and just sub to anywhere that you think would accept your story?
Thanks, ohthatmomagain and OtterFactory.
Anatoly hangs out on here sometimes. You can also follow him on Twitter @loldoc
As to the subs question--personally I don't sub to 4-the-luv markets. It's not that I need the money to buy that extra cup of coffee, selling short fiction at $0.01 per word; it's the principle of the thing. Time and effort and a lot of love goes into the stories we write, and someone running a 'zine should acknowledge that with a payment, even if it's a very small amount.
If you're confident in your work you should indeed start out at the top (pro-paying, well-known markets) and work your way down. Never submit any place where you'd be embarrassed to see your name appear, and you'll be fine
How can you find this kind of information out at Duotrope? Is it just the Max Days number, or is this a special bit of information?Is there cricketomancy? Right now I own longest pending times on at least four submissions according to Duotrope.
How can you find this kind of information out at Duotrope? Is it just the Max Days number, or is this a special bit of information?
Oh, thanks Aggy! I've seen those numbers many times and I don't think I quite knew how to interpret them. So, for instance, when I include outliers in the pending at Apex and they say "374 max days waiting," that means an actual person is sitting on a 374 day submission non-response? Wow. Good to know.If you look at the individual market page (not your submissions manager) you can see more detailed info on the number of submissions pending, including the shortest, median and longest pending. (Make sure to click "include outliers".) If the longest pending number matches yours....
Oh, thanks Aggy! I've seen those numbers many times and I don't think I quite knew how to interpret them. So, for instance, when I include outliers in the pending at Apex and they say "374 max days waiting," that means an actual person is sitting on a 374 day submission non-response? Wow. Good to know.
12 day R from DSF and 50-day R from AE.
I made the mistake of not reading their entire lengthy tome of instructions and ended up including my name and contact information on the manuscript itself. That led to a speedy 7-day rejection. I don't suppose I was the only one to do that in this case?I got a 7 day R from ASIM. That was sadly quick. They might have hated it!
Lol. Well, worth a go, eh?