As far as queries go, I get some rejections back, like, two days later...some don't get back to me until a month later...unfortunately no requests for more yet! So, I guess what I'm wondering is if it takes longer to reject, is it a.) that they just have THAT may submissions to go through b.) they actually thought about it, maybe or c.) something else entirely. Any thoughts?
I read for an online mag that accepts e-mail submissions, but I'm guessing it's a similar process for other venues.
First, we divide them up. What that means is that someone might have sent something in earlier and gotten their piece returned later simply because one of us was working faster. We leapfrog over each other, so it's fairly random. Within our group, we read from oldest first to newest first.
If I read a piece and decide to reject it, the letter will go out right then. If the first page is good enough, I might set the piece aside for a day or two until I have a few to read, then I can give them a longer block of time.
If it's good enough to go beyond the slush pile, then a response will take longer, but it would mean a different letter.
Obviously, if you're talking snail mail, there's also the problem of what pile you get into and whether that pile gets moved into a corner -- or not.
In general, yes, there really is that much going on and there are that many submissions. This is especially true for agents, who need to take care of their existing clients first. Slush would be read on the train home.
