The W1S1 Check-in and Chill Lounge and Bar

Thanks. Duotrope shows 4 pending responses for C&C and 6 Rs.

So either the majority of subbers don't use Duotrope, or they don't obsess over it to the point that they update it religiously.

Well, I downloaded Terragen last night, so I'm going to stop thinking about Duotrope for a bit, and make landscapes instead.

I think I had Terragen at that new Chinese place around the corner last week. 'Twas quite good.

Getting ready to sub to EC when their window opens (6/27). Some other progress in fits and starts. Strangeness abounds...

Lillie said:

I get the impression that about 20% of submitters use Duotrope.

Does anyone know more about this?

(Not that I obsess over Duotrope or anything... )

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Some have mentioned that when the queues at certain places show a certain number (I don't remember the places) Duotrope generally shows 10% or less of that number.

The last two Books of the Dead Press anthologies that were open showed a combined 12 or so in Duotrope, but the editor said he had hundreds to finish going through. I'm going to assume that at minimum that was over 100 submissions if he exaggerated, but probably a least two hundred. Could have been far more.

I think the range Duotrope shows is going to be much higher for new ventures and much lower for those that have been around a while or that have advertised heavily elsewhere for a long time. Something with an established readership is going to get submissions from lots of people outside Duotrope, as well.

For some of the old pro markets, I'm guessing Duotrope shows consistently less than 5%, and it probably goes lower than that.

Shelley

Thank you.

I look at Duotrope so much, trying to divine some kind of truth from it.
It's good to know what it is that I'm actually looking at.

I suppose the best way to use Duotrope is as a general guide. As Shelly points out, only a small percentage of writers subbing to a particular market use it, so the percentages aren't going to be entirely accurate. I mean, they even have a list of markets with no acceptances. Clearly it isn't true that the New Yorker accepts 0% of the stories it receives, because then it wouldn't publish any stories!

I do like using the recent responses feature, though. I think if you're looking to gauge how long it will take then to get back to you, that's probably your best bet, since you get to see exactly how long it has been taking them over the last month to get back to people.

Yes. I look at recent responses.
I see they have been busy sending out Rs pretty quick.
So I submit.
Then nothing happens on Duotrope for ages.


It's a plot.

This year, the PARSEC short story contest had exactly 100 members. According to Duotrope, 9 reported rejections and 6 are still outstanding. So that means 10-15% of that sample used Duotrope.

For more hard numbers on pro zines, see here:

WARNING! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE VERY THICK SKIN! IT IS VERY DEPRESSING!

http://baens-universe.com/articles/Editorial__Vol_2__Number_2__Slush

Lillie said:

Does anyone know more about this?
(Not that I obsess over Duotrope or anything... )

Click to expand...

Lillie said:

Yes. I look at recent responses.
I see they have been busy sending out Rs pretty quick.
So I submit.
Then nothing happens on Duotrope for ages.


It's a plot.

Click to expand...

Hehe! That happens to me more than I care to think about.

Shelley

MattJ said:

WARNING! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE VERY THICK SKIN! IT IS VERY DEPRESSING!

http://baens-universe.com/articles/Editorial__Vol_2__Number_2__Slush

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I find it strangely encouraging.

I play the lottery every week. That's like 17 million to one.
These odds are nothing.

Lillie said:

I find it strangely encouraging.

I play the lottery every week. That's like 17 million to one.
These odds are nothing.

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I don't find it depressing, either. It's encouraging. Just as Jim McDonald says here all the time, if you format the thing properly, send it to a magazine that accepts that type of story, spell correctly, know usage and grammar, and write coherent sentences in a reasonable order, you're already in the top 10% of the slush pile.

Anyone who can manage that should feel encouraged that their odds are upped considerably.

Shelley

*note to self*

STOP using the crayons...

Hey,

I just submitted a story to chizine. I think I saw on here that they email you a confirmation letter that they've received it. Just checking to be sure that's correct.

And that tracking submission thing sounds like a good idea. When I have more submissions under my belt, I'll probably do the same.

I've sent two things there. The first one took 12 days before it got an acknowledgement.
The second one was sent 25 days ago and I still don't have one for it.

So I don't know what's going on.
Maybe my sub got lost in the ether, or maybe there's some other reason.

I was just going to leave it.

If you get an acknowledgement for yours, can you let me know?

Good luck with your story!

Funny, I said the same thing to my wife.

Except we have more control because we can improve our odds with hard work, which we cannot with the lottery.

To unusual optimism!

Lillie said:

I play the lottery every week. That's like 17 million to one.
These odds are nothing.

Click to expand...

Lillie said:

I've sent two things there. The first one took 12 days before it got an acknowledgement.
The second one was sent 25 days ago and I still don't have one for it.

So I don't know what's going on.
Maybe my sub got lost in the ether, or maybe there's some other reason.

I was just going to leave it.

If you get an acknowledgement for yours, can you let me know?

Good luck with your story!

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Absolutely I'll let you know! And thanks for the info.

I hope yours didn't get lost, but would it hurt to nudge them in case it did?

Btw...

It's the second-to-last week of the ChiZine.com mega-issue! Get your fiction & poetry fixes in now, because as of July 1st, the mega-issue will be gone!

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Does this mean they're clearing out their archive?

MattJ said:

http://baens-universe.com/articles/Editorial__Vol_2__Number_2__Slush

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for posting this--quite helpful and encouraging!

defcon6000 said:

Absolutely I'll let you know! And thanks for the info.

I hope yours didn't get lost, but would it hurt to nudge them in case it did?

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I could, but I almost certainly won't.

I'm just going to let it ride, see what happens.
It's not like I can think of anywhere else to send that story anyway.
I can't remember it very well any more.

Canada Post to start delivering mail again tomorrow! Yay!

Lillie said:

I've sent two things there. The first one took 12 days before it got an acknowledgement.
The second one was sent 25 days ago and I still don't have one for it.

So I don't know what's going on.
Maybe my sub got lost in the ether, or maybe there's some other reason.

I was just going to leave it.

If you get an acknowledgement for yours, can you let me know?

Good luck with your story!

Click to expand...

I've subbed to them twice, and the first one was about 20 days before I received an acknowledgment. The one currently out has been about a week without word. Their system isn't automated--at least not fully automated--so if you haven't gotten one, it just means they haven't gotten to it yet. I wouldn't read anything into it.

Unless it goes past the query date, of course. Then you might wanna drop them a line.

Thanks, JC.

And Yay! for Canada post

Subbed a new story this morning. That makes 17 replies pending on my Duotrope subtracker (I'm one of those few who track religiously).

And yes, yay for Canada's post!