Time to withdraw submission?

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Unfocused Me

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I submitted a short story in mid-July to a speculative fiction magazine. Although the submission guidelines do not provide an estimate for the response time, the averages on Duotrope indicate most stories seem to be accepted or rejected within 6 weeks; I checked recently, and Duotrope has now received reports of responses to submissions made in September.

I have yet to receive any response, or even an acknowledgment of the submission (and yes, I have checked my spam folder). Last week, on the three-month anniversary of the submission, I emailed a query to the editor, but have not received a response to that either.

For all I know, my emails are going into the editor's spam folder, and he hasn't received any of them and never will. I'm not assuming any ill will or particular failure by the editor, but if he's not going to get to it for whatever reason, I'd like to send my story elsewhere.

So what do you think? Time to withdraw the submission, or should I give it another month?
 

Siddow

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Give it another month. What's the longest response time reported?
 

sknipper

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Three months isn't that long for some journals. I'd wait a few more weeks and then follow up with the editor again. After all, if it hasn't been accepted elsewhere, what's the harm in waiting? That's assuming that they allow simultaneous submissions. I'd just keep sending it out to different journals while waiting. I just had a piece accepted in September that I started sending out in April.
 

Polenth

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I'd wait a month for a reply to the query, then query again. A week isn't that long.

The longer wait for a reply may not be a bad thing. You might be in their 'maybe' pile or something.
 

Unfocused Me

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Thanks, all. Per Duotrope, the maximum reported response time seems to be 75 days; I'm 3 weeks beyond that. No simultaneous submissions allowed, but I'll give it a month and query again at the end.
 

Adam Israel

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^^^ What jinkang said. If you're past the stated guidelines, you're safe to query. If you're past the stated guidelines *and* the maximum response time in Duotrope, it's definitely time to query. Chances are your submission is being held for further consideration or slipped through the cracks. Either way, a polite query to the editor will give you some answers.
 

PeterL

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Thanks, all. Per Duotrope, the maximum reported response time seems to be 75 days; I'm 3 weeks beyond that. No simultaneous submissions allowed, but I'll give it a month and query again at the end.

You are already a month over the longest reported. You should query again now, and if there is no response, you should withdraw the submission. You should also report this as a black hole.
 

mjlpsu

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Unless the publication says that it may take longer than 90 days, I assume that I won't get a response after 90 days and begin submitting elsewhere.
 
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