Reaction Time.

There are some wonderful online tools available for researching publishing markets.

These days I use The Grinder. Its search functions make it quite easy to find current markets that align with the story for which I'm looking for a home. I can easily locate data on acceptance and rejection rates, payment, SFWA accreditation and so on. But for me, one of the most valuable functions is the ability to look at a market's response times.

Asimov's has been doing well. Their responses in the past few months have dropped from a few months to a few days. I've heard a whisper Sheila Williams has a slush reader on board now. And although I've now gone from a couple of personal rejections back to form rejections (the new slushreader obviously doesn't understand my work - ha!), it's wonderful to be able to send that piece out again within a very short time.

Analog, on the other hand, is currently still up around the four month mark. They were only a few months when Stan Schmidt was editor, but when Trevor Quachri took over, it shot up to over six months, and for that reason I didn't submit there for a long time.

There's another magazine I've been considering for some time now. It's not pro-level, but has a decent reputation and publishes some good stories by decent names. They don't pay very much - simply a token payment - but I was fine with that. It's not always about the money. Sometimes it's about the resume building.

But I was shocked when I conducted my research and discovered their response time was close to eight months.

Eight months!

Imagine I write a story and send it to them today. Just before Christmas they may respond with a form rejection, saying 'thanks for your submission but we cannot use this story at this time. We wish you luck in placing it elsewhere.'

Now I've had some stories that were rejected six or seven times before being accepted. If every market was like this, my story might not see light of day for five years or more.

On the other hand, let's imagine they choose to buy it. After eight months. It's typical for publication to occur six to eighteen months after purchase. So, it is possible I could sell it and it might be published two and a half years after submission.

All for twenty dollars or so.

Sorry, but an eight month response for a token market is ridiculous.

Yes, writers complain about response times. Publishers complain about writers submitting their stories to multiple markets at the same time. But I think you can see why some do it.

Me? I've permanently crossed that market off my list and choose to submit elsewhere.

The Waiting Continues.

I don't usually sweat on stories.

Once they're written I send them off and do my best to forget them. At some later point I hear back, either a rejection or acceptance, and I'm either happy and beaming for a day or so, or annoyed for about five minutes. With a few rare exceptions, the days of stewing for days over rejections are long gone.

Mostly I have some idea as to when I expect to hear back from the editor or publisher. The submission guidelines give some clue of how long they expect to take. Other websites such as Duotrope or The Grinder keep data on submissions so a writer can anticipate response times.

But this week I've actually been checking my email a little more often than usual. I have six stories out, and most of them appear to be overdue a response, based on the data I'm seeing online. These are stories I have high hopes for, and I'm keen to receive a couple of acceptances.

But there's danger in reading too much into long response times. No news, after all, is nothing but no news.

In the meantime, I'll be over here refreshing my email.

A Mixed Bag.

After a week of waiting followed by a week of good news, this week's news has been mixed. Some good, some not so good.

I reported last week that one of my stories had been sold - which was great, and I'm still very excited about that. It was a market I'd long hoped to crack (more news when I can) and a story that I had high hopes for.

The following day, however, a different story at another market I've long hoped to crack (with a story that I was almost certain they would take) was rejected. And with it my self confidence plummeted for a day or so. It's funny how it affects you like that. Don't worry. It's already subbed out elsewhere, and I know it's a good story that will find a good home.

So I was surprised when yet another market that I've long hoped to crack (Yeah, I have a list of about 5 semi-pro markets I'm aiming to 'infiltrate') placed a hold on a story that I thought had absolutely no chance there.

Now all they have to do is love it enough to buy it.

By the middle of the week things had definitely taken a downward turn, when I read that Paul Haines, my mentor and friend, had announced that he had reached the end of his writing career. Paul's cancer seems to have stepped up its attack on his body. And like so many others, I send my love and positive vibes to Paul, Jules and Isla and wish him well.

By the weekend a feeling of dread overtook me, as I realised I had to finish writing my students' reports by Monday. Slightly ahead of marking, it's the one thing I hate about teaching. But everything in life is a compromise, and if I want to teach, then I have to assess and report. Sigh.

But yesterday my wife and I put up our Christmas tree, and spent a few hours making pickled onions. And last night, as I sat in the darkened living room watching a DVD with my wife and two dogs, glancing over occasionally at the twinkling lights in the corner, smelling strangely of onions and pine, I realised how little I have to unhappy about.

And despite the rejections from markets that I considered a 'sure thing', my writing and publishing is moving up.

Waiting.

So you write some stories, polish them up until you're happy, then send them off alone into the wide world. Sometimes you hear back within a week or so that it's "not suited to our needs at the moment." Other times you hear nothing back for months.

My longest wait was 7 months for a rejection, not counting the one where the editor still hasn't gotten back to me after several polite enquiries. I suspect that 2 years and a week is now long enough to class it as a rejection. My longest wait for an acceptance has been four weeks, from the close of a reading period. But it did have a hold on it for about three months before that. There was another that had a rewrite request, but once again the request and then the acceptance were just on four weeks from submission.

But I still find waiting the hardest part. And yes, I listen to everyone's advice and go off and write more stuff in the meantime and send it out and so on. It's just that I'd love to find a home for some of these lost strays, but if they are out for 4 to 7 months at a time before being rejected, they can only be sent out maybe twice a year. And then it can be up to 18 months before they are published once they are accepted.

Sigh.

I guess it's all worthwhile when you finally get to hold the printed word in your hands. I might even admit to performing the odd little Snoopy happy dance, much like Alan Baxter does. I just don't know if I'll ever get used to the slow turning cogs of the publishing industry.