Should I be impatient at this point?

K. Andrew Smith · Jul 11, 2009

I submitted a short story to a magazine that states that authors should not expect to hear back for 3 months.

Here's the timeline of what's happened:

3/7/2009 - Submitted the story. This magazine uses an online form to generate an email for me to respond to with my story, but I did not get any confirmation that my submission was received properly.

6/11/2009 - A little more than three months passed, and I was concerned that maybe, possibly, the story was filtered into junk mail or something. So I decided to contact the magazine to confirm they received it. I scoured the website, but found no email address. I didn't want to send it to the one I replied to for the submission, for fear of more filtering...not to mention a possible 3 month wait until they got to that email if it made it through. So I found the general-use "contact us" form on the website and used that to ask if they could confirm that they received my story.

6/18/2009 - I received an email from a personal AOL address, but signed "The Editors," stating that the initial reader has passed the story to the editor, and that I should be hearing from him shortly about whether it's been accepted or not. There is no mention in this email about my querying to confirm that they received the story.

6/23/2009 - I received another email, from the same address, but signed personally by the "Managing Editor," with my reception query quoted. She stated that she's forwarded my inquiry to the initial reader, who was out of town that week. The Managing Editor stated that she was sure the initial reader would get back to me as soon as she got back.

I've heard nothing since.

I have, of course, read all sorts of stuff into this correspondence. My guess about what happened is that the initial reader passed the story to the Editor, and I was notified about that on 6/18 as part of their normal process. This email had nothing to do with my inquiry on 6/11. When the Managing Editor received my inquiry, she didn't recognize the title as being passed to the Editor-probably because she had very little to do with it in the first place, and we all know how busy they are-and so just forwarded the request to the initial reader.

I'm guessing that the initial reader confirmed that they sent the email on 6/18, and figured that I didn't need another confirmation.

So...I've waited 4 months since initial submission, and the Editor has had my story for at least 3 weeks after the initial read. I'm getting pretty impatient at this point. I've read plenty about how busy these magazines are (I've read Myrtle the Manuscript, for instance), but it just feels like when I'm told that I should hear back "soon," it shouldn't mean 3+ weeks.

I'm not even sure why I wrote all this, other than to vent.

heatheringemar · Jul 11, 2009

I'd send them another email asking to know the status of your submission.

If they don't respond in a timely manner (another couple of weeks), I'd send them a courtesy note telling them you're withdrawing the story, and submit it elsewhere.

Ken Schneider · Jul 11, 2009

I noticed the other day on a publisher's guidelines it said.

If we are interested in your work we will contact you in X number of months. If you don't hear from us by then, we aren't interested in your work.

I guess they're crunching pennies to save.

You might double check the guildlines?

astonwest · Jul 11, 2009

I would respond to the Managing Editor's 6/23 e-mail, include the text from the 6/18 internal reader e-mail, and politely ask for clarification on the status of your manuscript.

As Heather mentioned, if you don't hear something back from them in a timely manner, I'd send them a withdrawal notice and submit it elsewhere.

cathyfreeze · Jul 11, 2009

Well, and there are a lot of reasons for a possible delay. There's slusher-turnover, there's editor turnover, there's computer malfunctions of all kinds, there's real life.

My recommendation is that it all depends. If you really, really like that market, you relax (you know they have it, you know they'll get to it when they can) and you go write something else. If you have 5+subs subbed at all times, you don't worry so much about one. My experience is (many times) that a market takes a *minimum* of twice as long as they state in their guidelines. Dunno why that is, but many do.

But! If you're not sure, after this, about that mag's professionalism, or you've revised your piece and now want to send to a more prestigous/$$ market, certainly withdraw it, but my advice, then, is to write off that market altogether. Because they'll remember you did this, and even though they'll be as professional as they can be if you send another piece, and they'll *intend* to give you every chance, that little (or big) annoyance will be in the back of their minds, mind you (because they're, you know, human,) and your work will have to be *that* much better than something else for them to buy it from you, next time.

Just saying....

cat

K. Andrew Smith · Jul 11, 2009

So after sleeping and then reading the replies, I think I realized why I posted. My real question is whether or not I'd be an annoyance to them if I responded to one of their emails asking for a status update. I like this market, and don't want to pull the submission if there's even a remote chance that they'd like to publish it. I just would like an update, since it's been awhile now. But I don't want to annoy them into just saying no because I'm bugging them.

Robert E. Keller · Jul 11, 2009

If I knew the name of the magazine, I could possibly be of more help. But since I don't, I'll just say that since you like the market you should give them a couple of months or so to get things straightened around. I suggest not querying them during this grace period, since you've already queried and they have replied. Instead, work on something else.

Skye Jules · Jul 11, 2009

I read somewhere that if it says three months, you should expect six, because what they put on their guidelines is usually an estimated time if they're not that busy.

pdr · Jul 11, 2009

Don't fuss.

You like this market, give them a chance. Get on with your writing and let it be.

If you keep nagging your story will bounce back and you'll have a 'difficult' label.

Just keep your records of what is where up to date and after a year you can withdraw it.

And yes, I do know editors who return a story if they are queried with a 'where is it? What is happening?'

And I have had an editor hold my work for over a year, with a note sent at 10 months to say 'still considering.'

K. Andrew Smith · Nov 10, 2009

A little thread necromancy here.

Updates for what's happened since I posted:

9/10/2009 - Having still not heard anything back, I sent a query to the Managing Editor's email address asking for a status update to my submission.

9/12/2009 - The main editor for the magazine (different person, different email address) sent me an email apologizing for the delay. Due to medical issues, things have gotten backed up, but if I don't hear back from him by mid-October, please query him directly.

10/20/2009 - No further contact, so I sent a query as per the editor's instructions.

I've heard nothing since. Should I just let this rest and wait for several more weeks, or should I email the editor again? Maybe I should cc the managing editor. Any advice?

Don Harold · Dec 2, 2009

K. Andrew Smith said:
A little thread necromancy here.

Updates for what's happened since I posted:

9/10/2009 - Having still not heard anything back, I sent a query to the Managing Editor's email address asking for a status update to my submission.

9/12/2009 - The main editor for the magazine (different person, different email address) sent me an email apologizing for the delay. Due to medical issues, things have gotten backed up, but if I don't hear back from him by mid-October, please query him directly.

10/20/2009 - No further contact, so I sent a query as per the editor's instructions.

I've heard nothing since. Should I just let this rest and wait for several more weeks, or should I email the editor again? Maybe I should cc the managing editor. Any advice?

I totally understand your dilemma. The kind of situation you are going through is pretty much annoying. I would suggest you to reach them for the very last time. After that, start coming up with a Plan B. If plan A doesn't work out, it must not stop there. Find other alternatives to submit your story. Find a bigger magazine firm perhaps.

K. Andrew Smith · Dec 2, 2009

I received a reply a few days ago. Form rejection. All is not lost, however, as it gave me a chance to re-edit the piece and improve it with the knowledge I've gained in the months since I submitted it.

rhgibson · Dec 3, 2009

K. Andrew Smith said:
I received a reply a few days ago. Form rejection. All is not lost, however, as it gave me a chance to re-edit the piece and improve it with the knowledge I've gained in the months since I submitted it.

That is a great attitude to have!

Just for future reference, are you familiar with duotrope.com? There you can check on the response times for magazines and see if the response (or non-response) you're getting is in line with the typical one for that mag. What I find especially useful is clicking on the 'What's New?' function there. When you scroll down past the info on new markets or newly closed markets, it gives you the responses for mags for the past 7 days.

The mag you dealt with was being exceptionally good, considering what is out there. It is not usually the norm to email someone saying that the first reader passed it on to another level, so that email was likely in response to your query. (A lot of mags won't even bother to answer queries and this happens even when they've held a story for up to a year!)

I've had a story held for over a year by a mag that demands no sim-subbing only to have it rejected (and they asked me to send them more work! HA!). Oh well...

Good luck placing your story elsewhere.

LOG · Dec 8, 2009

If you tell them that you're withdrawing your short-story, but it's too late, or they do not recieve your notice for some reason, how is that dealt with? Do you have to sue, or would most publishers agree to pay you royalties, or do they just have to withdraw the story from publication after they are notified?

astonwest · Dec 9, 2009

LOG said:
If you tell them that you're withdrawing your short-story, but it's too late, or they do not recieve your notice for some reason, how is that dealt with? Do you have to sue, or would most publishers agree to pay you royalties, or do they just have to withdraw the story from publication after they are notified?

Probably depends on the terms of the contract...most have clauses for parties not abiding by the terms (as in not paying proper royalties, etc.).

Should I be impatient at this point?

K. Andrew Smith

heatheringemar

lurking behind that corner..

Ken Schneider

Absolute sagebrush

astonwest

2 WIP? A glutton for punishment

cathyfreeze

I lost my fever! I need it back!

K. Andrew Smith

Robert E. Keller

Likes heroic fantasy and hot coffee

Skye Jules

March 15th: Issue 1 release

pdr

K. Andrew Smith

Don Harold

K. Andrew Smith

rhgibson

LOG

Lagrangian

astonwest

2 WIP? A glutton for punishment