How Long Before Sending a Query Letter?

Spy_on_the_Inside

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I was wondering if I could get a consensus from the forum writers about a question I have. I have a short story I submitted to a publisher. On Submittable, it has been listed as "in progress" for about two months now. I was wondering how long I should wait before I send a query letter about the story.

I've submitted to a few publisher who stated on their pages "If you have not heard from us after X amount of days, please send a query letter to check the status of your story". This company's website has no such instructions, so I was wondering is there an accepted number of time before you send a query letter about your story's status?
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Have you checked the publisher on Submission Grinder? You can see what the average time frame is for their responses and how frequently they respond. If you're outside the average timeframe and they've been responding to submissions more recent than yours, it's probably time to prod.
 

Spy_on_the_Inside

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Thanks for the tip on Submission Grinder. Turns out, the longest it took someone to hear back from them was 40 days. So a querying I will go!