I cheat, too. Duotrope keeps track of how long your submissions have been out, and when you log a rejection (or acceptance) it tells you how many days it took. Man, I want an acceptance real bad. Now that I've had some success or luck, I want more. But it's such a long and slow process most of the time. And I have mastered failure because of the whole submission process. In fact, I am so good at failing I could probably write books about it.
What are you waiting on? Is your novel at a publisher or agent? Wishing you a lot of luck with whatever you have out. The wait on just about anything in the publishing world is crazy.
I think that's awesome. It's really good to keep stuff out there. If you look at the statistics, we're going to get rejected from most of the places we send our work most of the time. Sending off something every week, makes you send stuff places you normally might not. And really putting your work out there can pay off big time. Wishing you a lot of luck. Definitely, share in the rejection party I started, but I hope you just end up crashing it with some good news.
A publisher. My agent sent it to lots, but this one asked for a couple of changes and I'm waiting to see if she wants to acquire it. Two months is usually nothing, but last time she responded within 10 weeks so...
I got an acceptance AND a rejection letter today. The acceptance letter is from an online publication called The Blue Guitar Magazine and the rejection was from... None other than the infamous Able Muse. I've submitted to them four times and got rejected each time so I'm convinced nothing I write will be good enough for them. On to the next one!
So exciting. It sounds like you could be really close. Fingers crossed that you get some super good news soon.
Got a personalized rejection from one of the markets where the story was held for a second read by the editor-in-chief. The two readers whose comments were attached were of totally different opinions on it. I have to guess the more negative one had more clout. On the upside, these responses (acceptance or rejection) get me closer to sending it to markets that don't take simultaneous submissions.
@X Equestris -- Why are you looking for places that don't take simultaneous submissions? Most do at every level from what I've seen. I've got one story out that's not a simultaneous submission and that's because I submitted directly to the editor (with an invitation to do so) and really wasn't sure what the protocol is for that. Actually, my biggest sale was for a story that was not a simultaneous submission so perhaps you will have some luck with that approach. I think places like to know you actually chose them to send your work to even if it meant waiting on them first. The Threepenny Review is a great spot for first tries. And by first tries I do not mean first drafts. They are a top notch publication. They don't take simultaneous submissions, but they are really quick. I haven't sent them anything since the reopened for submissions. I recently wrote two stories that were too long for them and I have my science fiction story that is yet to go anywhere. I have a friend who sold a poem to them. I think it's a great publication. So, I guess it can pay off to forgo the temptation of simultaneous submissions and occasionally wait for some of these places worth waiting for. Sorry my post is all over the place. I think my mind is, too. What places are you looking at that don't take simultaneous submissions? I can tell you my experience with them if I have any. I just mean like how long it took and if there was any more recognition than a form rejection in the end. Or what I think of the publication (if I know it). That's the thing. I hate feeling like I'm wasting time. I think you have to be smart when it comes to any kind of submitting. I think it makes sense to send your best work to places that don't allow simultaneous submissions. If you are going to put yourself in that position, you want the best chance of getting in.
Most of the top genre magazines don't take simultaneous submissions. Simple as that. I already exhausted the only pro-rate simultaneous one I know of. So if I want another crack at a pro-rate acceptance for this story, I need to get responses back. Only one left out right now, at Pulp Literature. They pay in the semi-pro range, so I'd be content with an acceptance from there. The story got marked for a second read, which is great, but that can take up to three months. There's a really high profile annual anthology I think this story might fit opening up later this month, but it doesn't allow simultaneous submissions. Hopefully Pulp gets back to me before then.
Sometimes I forget that the genre market is one I don't know so well. I'm thinking of trying my science fiction story at a non-genre publication. But that story needs more... time, work... I don't know. It's not hardcore genre, it just takes place in a world that doesn't work the same way ours does. I'm not sure if that's a bad idea. I have seen some almost-genre type stories in some of the publications I read. Making it to second read is great. I hope your story gets accepted and you don't have to worry about sending it anywhere else.
Yeah, it's basically a writer-unfriendly practice that even markets that consider themselves "writer friendly" often adopt.
A lot of the markets that allow it also say something along the lines of "we'll stop accepting simultaneous subs if authors don't notify us as soon as they're accepted elsewhere". I guess the less scrupulous members of the community are to blame for the lack of places taking simultaneous submissions.
It's a tough one. You can imagine how irritating it is when staff spend hours reviewing a story (since it's rarely just one person who has to read and approve it) and they send out an acceptance only for the author to reply, "Oh, sorry, I already accepted an offer from Rival Publication." But I'm totally with Steerpike that it's a very author-unfriendly policy to require an exclusive, especially when there is no time limit to how long the story can be tied up with one publication. Ultimately, it's a buyer's market (the buyer being the publications) so I'm not surprised when they adopt author-unfriendly policies.
Funnily enough, I'm not a believer in simultaneous submissions and everything goes to one place at a time. I always state that in my cover letters too. I tend to carefully consider the average response times from some outlets and often I'll write specifically for a given market. If I have something I really don't want tied up I tend to look for the most suitable market with a quick turnaround. If it bounces back with a 'no' a few times I figure it can go into the timeless void while I write something else.
What benefit does an exclusive submission give to you? I'm writing for a particular publisher at the moment but if they don't want it, I'll be subbing it (simultaneously) to anybody that might take it.
To be honest, I don't really get any benefit from exclusive submissions. I suppose having been on the other side of the fence I appreciate that sometimes it's a right pain to have someone pull a submission from under you when you're ready to go. Also, I'm disorganised as hell, so this way I find it easier to know where I'm up to. Also, sometimes I'll tweak things for specific submissions and I get confused if I have various versions dotted around. In reality, I can't say there's any real reason why I do it; my writing probably has a very small niche audience compared to most peoples so there's not the wide pool to cast into (unless the New Yorker starts looking for stories about training sex robots to clean the windows or ladies who have skin made of bacon).
Even though I hate it, I think there can be a benefit to giving a publication an exclusive chance to consider a story. It's kind of like saying, "I believe this is totally right for you. I know your publication. I know the kind of stories you publish. Here's my best shot. Just for you." I have two publications that when I submit to them it's not a simultaneous submission even though they allow it. And one of them did buy a story from me once. It was totally worth the long wait. The other one I'm still trying to crack. But these two publications, I feel, put out work like mine. Or maybe it's me trying to put out work like what they publish. These publications are my favorite to read as well.
