I was reading data for some magazine submission status for short stories on thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com and can someone enlight me what some of the data means? Like I mean in accepted it says "avg 67 days" while rejected says "avg 29 days" so does that mean that for the stories they mean to accept they wait for 67 days while for rejected drastically smaller 29 days? Could this be it? And why such a drastic difference in time? Not to mention what does that "rejections are personal" mean?
The average acceptance takes 67 days to process while the average rejection takes just 29. So if you're on day 48 and haven't heard anything yet, the percentages say you're trending more toward acceptance. The personal rejection means they don't send a form letter. They tailor each rejection toward the specific author about the specific story. Paging @deadrats for further elucidation.
Ok thanks for the reply. To be honest I'm beyond day 40. I'm well over day 70 and that's why I started to think they lost the story or forgot to notify me that they've read it.
Check their guidelines. They'll often say at what point you should follow up for a status check if you haven't heard anything.
It's quicker to reject a story because most stories don't make it past the slush readers. However, when those first readers see something they like, it gets passed up the editorial chain. Depending on the publication, a story might have to pass several steps and ultimately end up in an editorial meeting where the editors and publishers discuss it and make a decision. An acceptance always takes much longer than a rejection in my experience. Most rejections are form letters. Everyone rejected gets the same letter. But when a story makes it close to acceptance but is still rejected, an editor can write a personal note, either telling you your story made it through several rounds or that they really liked it and want you to send something else. Sometimes an editor will invite you to submit a new story directly to them which means you get to skip several steps. Personal rejections will be specific to your story. They seem cool at first, but then it's like damn I was so close. Still rejected. The decision to follow up after a certain amount of time is one I struggle with. I think it's best to wait. Every time I've sent a follow up email I've gotten a quick rejection back. Trying to speed up the process doesn't always work in the writer's favor regardless of what the guidelines say. I will admit it's tempting to get a status update, but these editors are busy and they've got many stories under consideration. I have a few submissions out I could email about, but I really don't think it's the right thing to do. If you submitted through a submission manager, you can check on a submission that way and see that's it's still under consideration. Also, things really slow down in the summer so there's that too.
I just wanted to add that I prefer duotrope. I think more writers use it so the data in more telling. I know duotrope isn't free ($50 a year), but for me it's worth it. I think there are more listings on duotrope and more info. It also tends to be more accurate. And it sort of pays for itself when you're selling work. All the writers I know in real life use duotrope. They often have promotions like a free trial month. You can also pay $5 a month if you don't want to sign up for a whole year.
