Middling It

So I was browsing though Stephen Ramey's blog this afternoon... Stephen is editing the Triangulation anthology and he does this cool thing where he posts comments about every story he read in the slush pile and his general feelings toward it. He doesn't go into specific details, nor names authors or story titles. It's nicely anonymous so that even a harsh review won't embarrass the author.

I was quite surprised to find his comments on my own story already posted on the blog (it's story #89 if anyone's curious). Looks like he sort of liked it but didn't love it, and forwarded it to the other editors for their opinions.

I've been reading other comments, and although I obviously don't have the frame of reference (i.e. actual stories) it's a fascinating glimpse into a mind of an editor/slush reader. I highly recommend it.

http://stephenvramey.com/

Yeah, thanks!

I've just read through a whole load. It's fascinating

I'm trying to get into the W1S1 swing so I can become an "official" member.

But I have a quick etiquette question:

If you get an email telling you you've made it past round 1 (out of 3 rounds), is it proper etiquette to respond to the email with a quick note or should I just ignore the email? This is my first time submitting somewhere that does rounds.

It's for the West Pigeon Press anthology, by the way.

Thanks!

Welcome aboard, O'Dandelo, and congratulations on advancing with them.

Generally it's best not to respond to "round advancement" e-mails. Although the editors may appreciate your thoughtfulness, their mailboxes are stuffed to the gills with submissions and other stuff.

Though, to be honest, I've broken that rule a few times before, under various circumstances

Thanks, Alex. I think I'm going to play coy and keep mum. I mean, they're lucky to have my submission in the first place, right?

Besides, it's intimidating that there are THREE rounds to get through.

O'Dandelo said:

Thanks, Alex. I think I'm going to play coy and keep mum. I mean, they're lucky to have my submission in the first place, right?

Besides, it's intimidating that there are THREE rounds to get through.

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Look at it this way, you already did better than me I got a complimentary rejection from them, but nothing regarding tiers.

That is true. This is only my 11th submission ever, so I'm still learning the ropes. It is nice to make it past slush, of course. Any success, however temporary, gives one momentum.

I wonder if they'd appreciate a simple Mortal Kombat reply: "Round 2...FIGHT!!!"

Well, *I* appreciate it

Ah, if only I had the temerity to actually email that!

I just got word from Shimmer regarding my story. The associate editor has "passed this up to the full board for consideration."

That's two straight submissions that have made it past the first round! 11 submissions and no acceptances yet, but I feel like I'm making strides.

O'Dandelo said:

I just got word from Shimmer regarding my story. The associate editor has "passed this up to the full board for consideration."

That's two straight submissions that have made it past the first round! 11 submissions and no acceptances yet, but I feel like I'm making strides.

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Awesome! Fingers crossed for you.

O'Dandelo said:

I just got word from Shimmer regarding my story. The associate editor has "passed this up to the full board for consideration."

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Well done!

Just curious, how many days after the initial submission did you hear back with the bump up?

alexshvartsman said:

Well done!

Just curious, how many days after the initial submission did you hear back with the bump up?

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Alex, it was an hour shy of three days.

As another data point, I never received an email when my story was sent on to the board. I only knew because the rejection explained it had been sent on and then declined by the group.

That's interesting, SmallThing. My other submission to them was rejected rather positively by the Senior Editor, but I never got an email before hers. I'm not sure if that one likewise made it through slush, but it certainly seems so.

Perhaps certain slush readers send notification emails and others do not.

I'm not sure what their process is. I have a submission there that's been sitting for 10 or 11 days, that I haven't heard anything back on.

And in the past, the rejections have always come from one of the senior editors (but some of them were pretty quick, making me think they read the slush rather than read the story after it's been passed up).

Alex, I'll bet you were passed up by a slush reader who doesn't send an email stating such. That's the only thing that 10 or 11 days says to me, considering I got an email in only 3 days.

If you look at their staff page, they have a lot of people listed there, so maybe they've expanded recently. There are something like 5 Associate Editors, 2 Editors, 1 Managing Editor, and then the usual Senior Editor and Editor-in-chief.

O'Dandelo said:

Alex, I'll bet you were passed up by a slush reader who doesn't send an email stating such. That's the only thing that 10 or 11 days says to me, considering I got an email in only 3 days.

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I'm not sure that's the case...

I received a ~ 25-day form rejection from an associate editor at Shimmer just a few days back. Nothing about the reply gave any reason to suspect that the fact that my R took 25 days meant that it was viewed any more as a likely acceptance than something returned in 3 days.

My suspicion with sites like Shimmer, Apex, and even ASIM where you see radically different times reported for form rejections is simply that stories get assigned to first-readers through some mechanism and some readers are faster at getting through their stories than others.

I've got one sitting at Apex for ~ 30 days now, but I have no reason to believe that means anything. Similarly, I have one at ASIM for ~ 25 days and I *know* it's still with the first reader (based on their website) even while some later submissions are already under 2nd or even 3rd-round consideration.

That's a good point, Michael. I hadn't considered that. Perhaps I just got lucky with a speedy slush reader.

I've only subbed to Shimmer twice (I love them, but I just don't write the right stuff). The first time was a 23 personal rejection for a story that never went farther than the asst editor. The second one was the one I mentioned, and I think it took 10 or 11 days, and had a note that it had been passed up and then rejected.

I think Michael's right that the different readers may have different approaches. Either that, or it's part of a devious plot to mess with writers.

My only experience with Shimmer was a 24-day R last month from an editor. It wasn't personalized at all, so I just assumed it hadn't made it through any rounds.

Last year I got a one day rejection from a senior editor at Shimmer, that seemed personal - she told me why it didn't suit them, and that she loved the language the story used, and said she'd like to see more from me. It seemed specific to my story, but I guess it could have been form. But it was from the senior editor, in one day, and I assumed that it was read straight from the slush pile.

It was an encouraging R. It was the first story I'd worked up into a decent enough shape to sub. I understood what she liked about the writing style (I'd done something quite deliberate with the word choices), but wasn't sure how to do that again. Now I've been writing longer, and I think I'm getting a better idea of how to do what I did kind of instinctively then, based on the kind of story it was. That rejection was helpful, because it made me think about how I wrote.

So far all my Rs from Shimmer have been personal and encouraging. Having said that, none of what I submitted to them advanced to a second round of consideration as of yet.

Despite not offering pro pay they're one of the toughest fantasy markets, and they know exactly what they want. I really like submitting to them, but rarely have stories that might fit in there.

Shimmer was the first place I ever sent a story. After having a pretty lousy time querying a novel, I felt like I wouldn't ever write anything anyone would want. The rejection they sent me was awesome. It was exactly what I needed at that point to feel like I was doing something right, strange as that sounds.

And they're a great market.

On a non-Shimmer related note, I'm tired of long waits.

The first place I ever submitted a story was Clarkesworld. I sent it there because I was concerned that my first-ever short story might not be quite good enough for F&SF. Seriously. Ah, the innocence of a clueless beginner.

On an unrelated middling-it note, just found out that my submission made it to the second round of consideration at "The Nine"