Waiting on Single Submissions

Feeling a little under the weather today as we head into yet another glorious, jam-packed weekend. Alas that there will be no rest for the weary. However, one thing that won’t be on my list of things to work on will be the revision of my most recent project. I have spent the last few weeks updating and lengthening a short story I wrote a few years ago, prepping it for publication. And this week I put the final touches on it and at long last let it go!

The piece went from about 5,500 words to 10,700 words in a matter of days. Clearly, that story had more to say than I thought.

And now that it has been polished, stretched, corrected, and otherwise smoothed to perfection (as close as I can manage without the eye of an industry professional), it’s time to concentrate on submissions.

I’ve already sent the piece off to my top choice. The beautiful thing about writing short stories for publication is that it’s incredibly easy to get them submitted. Most journals will only accept electronic submissions these days, and complex cover letters and queries are a thing of the past for their over-worked editorial offices. You simply give them the basic data (word count, genre, etc), send them a file that fits their specifications (usually .doc or .rtf) and voila! The piece is on its way, out in the big bad world of editorial consideration.

One truly unfortunate thing about writing short stories, however, is that you can wait just as long, if not longer, to hear from a literary journal considering your 10,000 word piece as you can wait to hear from a literary agent considering your 100,000 word piece. Except in the journals world, most Editors specifically frown down upon simultaneous submissions.

Submitting a work to many different Editors at once is the practical, efficient way to get published from an author’s point of view. This is the name of the game when you are submitting work to literary agents and publishing houses directly. Similarly, if you have a group of five journals that are all equally prestigious, it makes sense to send the piece to all five at once, rather than spend the next two years waiting on three to six month reading periods from each one. For one story.

The problem is, if you are the type of writer who cares at all about reading the author guidelines, you’ll probably notice that a great many will assert that this behavior is not allowed. If an Editor finally decides that they want your work, and you return saying that you have already sold it elsewhere, they will remember that. Some say they will remember it forever.

In a smaller community (such as, oh, say, science fiction short story journals) that blot on your name will get passed around, and may end up biting you in the butt for the rest of your career.

Am I being hyperbolic? Perhaps. But most of the advice that I have seen on the subject agrees with the above scenario. Editors do not like wasting their limited time chasing after authors who have already passed on to someone else. It is expected in this line of work that authors submitting to journals should wait on each rejection one by one.

Is this fair? Not necessarily. Waiting to hear from a journal about your work is excruciating and tense. I sent my submission not two days ago and I’m already feeling the strain. And my first choice journal has a maximum wait time of about seven months. The fact that I could be celebrating Christmas again before I hear about a rejection or acceptance does grind my gears just a bit.

But I would rather do the time and be respectful to the rules of this particular journal than risk burning a bridge by jumping the gun and sending the story off to many journals at once. After all, the story can only be published in one of them. It is better to make one Editor happy than make six Editors mad. Do the math.

Also, don’t be tempted to pester the Editors with follow-up emails. No answer means no answer – very few offices will forget to respond to your work in some form or fashion, even if that means a stock rejection letter. You should only start considering a follow up if the average wait time has passed. If a journal estimates that it takes them about seven months maximum to respond to all submissions, send them a line in month eight. Not before.

Don’t be disheartened though! You are in good company while you wait, and there are things that you can do to pass the time. Most importantly, you can get to work on that next project. Just because you finished one thing and are waiting to see it published doesn’t mean that you don’t have other things you can be working on. If you want to really distract yourself from checking your email every two seconds for the next five months, playing a billion games of Solitaire is probably not the answer. I highly recommend you pick another project and throw yourself into it.

For me, that will be returning to the outlining phase of my first novel. That’s still on the books, and I’m really looking forward to it. There are a few pages written here and there, and half the outline is done. We’re making good progress, and it will certainly be a great distraction from the waiting game.

Let me know what you do to keep yourself busy while you wait for those rejection/acceptance letters! Comment below or send me a line directly via email.

Keep writing! Keep reading!