(no subject)

[intothewood]

A few questions for discussion re: manuscript submissions -

Following up on submissions - yea or nay? Benefits, drawbacks?
If yes, when and how?

I've found very little advice on this topic, and would like to know what your opinions are.

Comments

[nightsfury]

The submission guidelines usually give some indication of how long it might be before you hear anything (yes or no) concerning a submission. Some will flat out tell you not to query before six weeks (for example). Some friends of mine are professional writers and their advice has always been to wait until after the specified time before sending a query. So, if a publication says they ususally get back to people in eight weeks, wait till after those eight weeks are up before sending one. Of course, you can send it the day after those eight weeks, but doing it before is considered bad form.

Duotrope.com (a listing of markets) keeps track of the average turnaround time between submission and when the author is notified for many pulications. It's a good ref to check out to get an idea of how long the 'real' turnaround time is, which can vary greatly. Some like Tor.com can take as long as a year before you hear anything. Others, like Asimov's, let you know in less than a week.

As to how, I've been advised that a simple query along the lines of "I was wondering about the status of my (insert story title) submitted on (insert date). Thank you for your time." Or something like that.

Hope this is useful.

[intothewood]

Thank you, yes you're absolutely right that it is most important to look at the submission guidelines.

I guess I was unclear, I was thinking more about the debatable aspects, for instance some writers think it's essential to follow up, while others think it's a bad idea, as it might cause a publisher to give a manuscript short shrift just to get it off of their plate. Others think you do nothing, just leave it alone.

These things are impossible to predict from publisher to publisher of course, but it is one of those things that brings up a lot of debate.

[nightsfury]

From what my writer friends have told me, there's nothing wrong with following up as long as it's courteous and done after the waiting time the editor/publisher has specified.
A friend of mine hadn't heard anything for an e-submission he'd made. When he did send a query he found out they had never received it. Apparently, it had gotten lost in cyberspace.

For myself, I don't see it as much of an issue as long as one is courteous, and waits at least as long as the publisher specifies. Maybe even a week or two longer since responses could be delayed for any number of reasons. From what I've heard, one thing that really gets editors boiling is simultaneous submissions. (unless their guidelines say it's ok). So, following up to find out if a piece is free to send elsewhere just seems like common sense to me. It's funny that you mention it as debatable. I've never heard that argument that an editor might give a piece short shrift just to get rid of it because an author sent a query. But, I'm still pretty new to submitting.

Apologies if I was preaching to the choir.

[scarylady]

*bookmarks duotrope*

Thanks for that :)

[nightsfury]

You're welcome. :)

One of the things I really like about that site is that you can pull up a list of publishers sorted by pay rate (pro, semi-pro, etc.) genre, length, etc. Once it pulls up the list, it also provides a link to the publication. Very handy.

[niniane]

Yeah, duotrope is the most awesome site ever. ;) I've stopped using much else to figure out where to submit (well, other than the list of pro magazines at SFWA.)

[niniane]

That's pretty much what I do. 100% of the time (for me), the response I've gotten back is "still working on it, will get back to you soon". But I figure that it doesn't hurt if you're polite and over the time they've stated on their website. That said, I make sure that I'm over, as lot of these places get hundreds of submissions a day, and forcing some editor to check on mine specially is not putting me in his/her good graces *if* I'm proving myself incapable of reading the guidelines.

In addition, most digital submission sites actually show your submission along with its status. So you can see where you are in the que, whether someone's reading it, etc. (i.e. Asimov's held one of my stories for like...2 months under review. But up until it went under review, you could see it tick through the numbers as it made it to the front of the que. This can keep you from querying if your story is like...still at #250)

[analect]

Duotrope thirded! ;)

I've found that it's courtesy and friendliness that's key. I'm not sure following up ever negatively affects the result, unless the writer is the type of PITA who seems to think they deserve a contract 48 hours after submission and won't stop poking (yes, they're out there).

However, if you're finding you're consistently waiting ridiculously long times for responses, one thing that can be handy is always contacting with a query email/letter in the first instance. If you have an actual person's name in the submissions dept. you can contact directly - not just 'Submissions' or whoever's listed as gen. ed. - it does help, and you'll also have shown yourself willing to properly investigate their submission policies (as long as you're not just contacting to ask about something already covered in the guidelines). Also, if they do then reject your piece, you still have a name you can go back to and say 'I tried this, it wasn't what you looking for, would you like to see this new thing I have?'

If you can do it without making a pain of yourself - and bearing in mind the sheer volume of subs and emails most readers have to contend with in the average - I have found it's helpful.