I'm getting responses back from my queries quite quickly. Is it a bad sign to get a response from a query letter very quickly? I'm sending off a few pieces to a few places, and their turnaround time is 2 weeks...3 weeks...1 month...etc. according to their web sites. However, I'm getting rejections within 24-48 hours sometimes. Now, it's not the fact that I'm getting rejection letters that bugs me. Every piece of work will get quite a few. But it's the response time that has me wondering. When a place says they'll respond within a few weeks to a months or two, but I get my rejection back in a fraction of that time, is that a bad sign? Does my query letter need work? Not that any query letter is perfect. Are they even getting to my stories? These are flash fiction and short stories--none of them are above 1,500 words--so reading wouldn't take long. Are these places just going through a period of extreme efficiency and I shouldn't read too much into this?
I would say its because they can instantly tell that your work is not for them. Are you sending your work off to appropriate markets is the first thought I had. Sending short stories to a publisher that can't use them would be a sure-fire rejection for instance. It's likely they have an office junior screening all submissions for stuff like that.
Do you mean cover letter? You don't send a query letter with a short story submission. If you are sending a query letter, then you've found the problem.
It is generally quite easy for a publisher to tell if your work is not going to be right for their publication. A quick turn around means they got your submission, read your cover letter, and found something lacking. (Alternatively, a long turn around time likely means they read your submission, liked it, discussed it with the rest of their team, then decided it wasn't quite right. But you were this --> <-- close.) There is no way of knowing what that lacking thing was, really, but I would suggest you take another look at your letter. Oftentimes, your letter is your only chance. Be sure you follow their submission guidelines exactly (all are different) and address the letter to the right person. Obviously, make sure there are no errors in your letter, and check the spelling of the acquisitions editor's name. I know many editors who will disregard a submission if they find even one error in a cover or query letter.
Sorry for the late reply. I meant cover letter, not query letter. Oops. Maybe I have résumés on the brain. And, yeah, I'm researching the market. I'm checking word counts, submission guidelines, the whole nine. So I guess the next thing I need to do is fix up my letter? Okie-dokie.
