I just got another rejection, too. Bummer. I felt hopeful for it had been out since Dec. 30. Didn't even make it to Seattle, either, and I thought it was one of my best romances. I feel like giving up.
Joyce, I wonder if Patricia was just clearing her desk. For the past couple of years, all of my stories have gone to Johnene, but I, too, got two rejections from South Carolina. Both of them were romances and submitted fairly recently. I have never heard a word on stories I submitted last year. So I am doing some resubmitting now.
Hey, Jody, I have always wanted to read Snoopy's book about A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT.
I too think a cleansing was done here. Very frustrating. It's one thing to get rejected by Johnene... and quite another to be completely ignored by the first reader and swept into the trash bin so she can have a fresh start in June.
But I'm not giving up. Let those writers that give up easily fall by the wayside, and we'll step over the piles of their bodies as we continue our mission. Once WW weeds out the weak with their tactics, we'll still be there.
If the rejections came from SC that means Johnene hasn't seen them, which means she can't comment, "Haven't I see this before?" Change the title, freshen it up a bit, and resub. Patricia's habit is gonna bite her in the butt when she gets mail bags back on her desk full of her old cold rejects. Sooner or later she'll have to deal with them.
I am sure Bauer could hire more editors and run a more efficient shop. Like most businesses, though, they may expect one person to do the work of three. Surprise, surprise when that person throws up her hands and says, "I can't do it any more!"
I may take your advice on revision and resubmission, Jody. At least one of those stories of mine belongs in WW. I have had no luck with the overseas markets that Chris suggested.
Love the Snoopy humor, sorry to hear about the rejection. I subbed a mystery in early December and haven't received a response. Maybe my time is coming soon?
I recall from comments on an earlier post that WW wasn't responding to some subs at all. Rejections are tough to take, but I'd rather hear something than nothing.
Peter, I agree. It was almost a relief to get the rejections and know that at least I was still communicating. I thought they were simply throwing all my stuff in the back closet and forgetting about it. 2014 stories were never heard from again. The rejections were submitted in 2015.
I suspect with a lot of my 'never-heard-of-again' subs, that the answer is more to do with the mail service than the fault of the magazine. They just don't make it back across the Atlantic - always assuming they get there in the first place. But don't give up, Joyce. Jody's right, it's the ones who keep plugging away that make it in the end, while the rest sit weeping over their unaccepted manuscripts.
Yes, it would be lovely if Bauer hired more editors/allowed us to submit by email/let us know the verdict in a couple of weeks. But they don't. We have to live with that. Other mags do take email subs (Fast Fiction in Australia, You magazine in S. Africa, Weekly News here in the UK, the list goes on), so you could always try them. The pay will be less and you've no greater guarantee of hearing from them either but at least there are other publications. Give them a go. Some of my stories have gone out a dozen times before they've found a home. You have to work at it.
We all use computers now and know our way around the 'net. It means there are masses more writers out there, all clamouring for those few precious fiction slots. Friends though we are on these websites we're also in competition with one another. Rejection of your story doesn't mean it was no good... they may have accepted a similar one the day before. Could be the tone just wasn't right for them. Or maybe the ed had had a bad night's kip and was feeling grumpy. They're human, it happens. Take a look at those other markets, rework it to their word count, and try again.
According to some folks on the WWWriters group, rejections from SC are coming in fast and furious. Just today someone got two more from their May submissions. We may have to try to do some research about the best times of the year for submissions. They must get flooded for the December holidays, and for Valentine's Day. Perhaps even Mother's Day. Perhaps summer is the best time to submit? Any thoughts, folks?
@ Chris. I send you things from time to time and you always get my mail. I don't think the post service has anything to do with it. I agree with your comments about resubbing and resubbing. Sooner or later...
I haven't had much luck with the UK mags either. The only one I hit (sort of) was Cosmo UK. They sent me an email telling me they loved the story and wanted it and had me send them back an affirmation that it was my story. Then... I never heard from them again. It's been since last August. I don't know how long these things take, but you would think they'd at least acknowledge the email and tell me to hang in there.
If you've heard nothing since August, Jody, it's time to follow it up. Emails do get put into the wrong box, or deleted by mistake, especially when it's a magazine that receives hundreds of them. If you've had a firm offer of publication and purchase of your story, then drop them a polite line asking if they received your affirmation that the work was yours and if there is any news of a publication date yet. I bet you get an email back apologising for the oversight.
Thanks Mary Jo and Jody. It sounds like 2014 subs are the main problem for non-responses (though Joyce mentioned a Dec 30 rejection, top of the comment thread). Based on WW's guidelines I guess I'll wait another month or so and re-submit if I still haven't heard.
Jody, it makes you wonder if Patricia has been out of commission for the last half of 2014. But wouldn't they have someone available to take her place? If she is trying to catch up on six months' work, heaven help her.
Does anyone out there know what is going on at WW?
IMO when a magazine does that it is an insult to the writers who submit to them, especially when the magazine demands the writer act in a professional manner, submit per their requirements, and follow all guidelines. Where is the professionalism from their end when they do a clean sweep? Our blood is on those pages. I'm inclined to act like the publishing house and send the stories right back to them again with a handwritten note that says: "This just didn't work for me. Here, take a second look. It appears you didn't bother the first time around. PS You owe me one SASE."
It's funny how someone will make a suggestion on a forum and, like Chinese whispers, it becomes firm fact. We don't know if Patricia had a mass clear out of manuscripts, or was away from her desk for any length of time, it's just supposition. Some of our stories get sent on to Johnene and some don't, but that doesn't mean they've not been given the proper scrutiny by a professional trying to do her job. Let's not get ourselves into a froth of indignation here. They receive thousands (or so we're told) of submissions a month. With only 52 slots of mysteries and 52 romances to fill, it stands to reason that even some of the good ones aren't going to make it. Shrug it off and TRY THEM WITH ANOTHER MAG. ;¬}
@ Chris. There's just too many to be a coincidence. Every day this week on WWwriters they're posting of getting one or more rejections. They're pouring in. Very unusual. Those members would get a rejection every once in a while, spaced out, and post them so we could sort of follow the submit date and the reject date and see where in the calendar Johnene is with her mail bag. It used to be if we were going to get a rejection from the first reader, it would come pretty timely at around 4-6 weeks. If we didn't hear, we would hear one way or the other from Seattle in about 3-4 months. That's all out the door now. Who knows what's going on at Bauer but their nice little system is gone. Yes, we can sub to other magazines, but the pay grade can't compete. It's just not as satisfying to sell your $800 story for $25.
Love the saying "Chinese whispers". Never heard it before.
Chinese whispers was a game we played at school, Jody. A line of maybe ten or twelve kids would pass a message along. Child one thinks of a simple sentence and whispers it to child two. Child two passes it on to three, and so on. Usually by the time you get to child four or five there's a bit of embroidery going on, or a misheard word will change the meaning. By the time you get to the child at the end of the line and the sentence is said out loud it is a very mutated version of what was said at the start, causing great hilarity. So Chinese whispers became a metaphor for a passing remark that soon takes on a life of its own and becomes something else. I have no idea why it's attributed to China, though!
24 comments:
LOVE THEM. That last one rings a little too true for comfort.
I just got another rejection, too. Bummer. I felt hopeful for it had been out since Dec. 30. Didn't even make it to Seattle, either, and I thought it was one of my best romances. I feel like giving up.
Joyce, I wonder if Patricia was just clearing her desk. For the past couple of years, all of my stories have gone to Johnene, but I, too, got two rejections from South Carolina. Both of them were romances and submitted fairly recently. I have never heard a word on stories I submitted last year. So I am doing some resubmitting now.
Hey, Jody, I have always wanted to read Snoopy's book about A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT.
@ Joyce and Mary Jo
I too think a cleansing was done here. Very frustrating. It's one thing to get rejected by Johnene... and quite another to be completely ignored by the first reader and swept into the trash bin so she can have a fresh start in June.
But I'm not giving up. Let those writers that give up easily fall by the wayside, and we'll step over the piles of their bodies as we continue our mission. Once WW weeds out the weak with their tactics, we'll still be there.
If the rejections came from SC that means Johnene hasn't seen them, which means she can't comment, "Haven't I see this before?" Change the title, freshen it up a bit, and resub. Patricia's habit is gonna bite her in the butt when she gets mail bags back on her desk full of her old cold rejects. Sooner or later she'll have to deal with them.
I am sure Bauer could hire more editors and run a more efficient shop. Like most businesses, though, they may expect one person to do the work of three. Surprise, surprise when that person throws up her hands and says, "I can't do it any more!"
I may take your advice on revision and resubmission, Jody. At least one of those stories of mine belongs in WW. I have had no luck with the overseas markets that Chris suggested.
Love the Snoopy humor, sorry to hear about the rejection. I subbed a mystery in early December and haven't received a response. Maybe my time is coming soon?
I recall from comments on an earlier post that WW wasn't responding to some subs at all. Rejections are tough to take, but I'd rather hear something than nothing.
Peter, I agree. It was almost a relief to get the rejections and know that at least I was still communicating. I thought they were simply throwing all my stuff in the back closet and forgetting about it. 2014 stories were never heard from again. The rejections were submitted in 2015.
I suspect with a lot of my 'never-heard-of-again' subs, that the answer is more to do with the mail service than the fault of the magazine. They just don't make it back across the Atlantic - always assuming they get there in the first place. But don't give up, Joyce. Jody's right, it's the ones who keep plugging away that make it in the end, while the rest sit weeping over their unaccepted manuscripts.
Yes, it would be lovely if Bauer hired more editors/allowed us to submit by email/let us know the verdict in a couple of weeks. But they don't. We have to live with that. Other mags do take email subs (Fast Fiction in Australia, You magazine in S. Africa, Weekly News here in the UK, the list goes on), so you could always try them. The pay will be less and you've no greater guarantee of hearing from them either but at least there are other publications. Give them a go. Some of my stories have gone out a dozen times before they've found a home. You have to work at it.
We all use computers now and know our way around the 'net. It means there are masses more writers out there, all clamouring for those few precious fiction slots. Friends though we are on these websites we're also in competition with one another. Rejection of your story doesn't mean it was no good... they may have accepted a similar one the day before. Could be the tone just wasn't right for them. Or maybe the ed had had a bad night's kip and was feeling grumpy. They're human, it happens. Take a look at those other markets, rework it to their word count, and try again.
According to some folks on the WWWriters group, rejections from SC are coming in fast and furious. Just today someone got two more from their May submissions. We may have to try to do some research about the best times of the year for submissions. They must get flooded for the December holidays, and for Valentine's Day. Perhaps even Mother's Day. Perhaps summer is the best time to submit? Any thoughts, folks?
@ Chris. I send you things from time to time and you always get my mail. I don't think the post service has anything to do with it. I agree with your comments about resubbing and resubbing. Sooner or later...
I haven't had much luck with the UK mags either. The only one I hit (sort of) was Cosmo UK. They sent me an email telling me they loved the story and wanted it and had me send them back an affirmation that it was my story. Then... I never heard from them again. It's been since last August. I don't know how long these things take, but you would think they'd at least acknowledge the email and tell me to hang in there.
@ Peter. It's hard to tell about your December submission. My Feb one came back. Maybe your story is on Johnene's desk. Crossing fingers for you.
I agree, I'd rather get a no, than a nothing.
If you've heard nothing since August, Jody, it's time to follow it up. Emails do get put into the wrong box, or deleted by mistake, especially when it's a magazine that receives hundreds of them. If you've had a firm offer of publication and purchase of your story, then drop them a polite line asking if they received your affirmation that the work was yours and if there is any news of a publication date yet. I bet you get an email back apologising for the oversight.
Thanks Mary Jo and Jody. It sounds like 2014 subs are the main problem for non-responses (though Joyce mentioned a Dec 30 rejection, top of the comment thread). Based on WW's guidelines I guess I'll wait another month or so and re-submit if I still haven't heard.
Jody, it makes you wonder if Patricia has been out of commission for the last half of 2014. But wouldn't they have someone available to take her place? If she is trying to catch up on six months' work, heaven help her.
Does anyone out there know what is going on at WW?
@ Chris. My follow-up email to Cosmo is dated Feb 22nd. I guess I'll send a second one.
IMO when a magazine does that it is an insult to the writers who submit to them, especially when the magazine demands the writer act in a professional manner, submit per their requirements, and follow all guidelines. Where is the professionalism from their end when they do a clean sweep? Our blood is on those pages. I'm inclined to act like the publishing house and send the stories right back to them again with a handwritten note that says: "This just didn't work for me. Here, take a second look. It appears you didn't bother the first time around. PS You owe me one SASE."
You wanna get kissed off?
@ Mary Jo. Cooler heads will prevail. :) but it was fun thinking about it.
@ Mary Jo. Cooler heads will prevail. :) but it was fun thinking about it.
@ Mary Jo. Cooler heads will prevail. :) but it was fun thinking about it.
It's funny how someone will make a suggestion on a forum and, like Chinese whispers, it becomes firm fact. We don't know if Patricia had a mass clear out of manuscripts, or was away from her desk for any length of time, it's just supposition. Some of our stories get sent on to Johnene and some don't, but that doesn't mean they've not been given the proper scrutiny by a professional trying to do her job. Let's not get ourselves into a froth of indignation here. They receive thousands (or so we're told) of submissions a month. With only 52 slots of mysteries and 52 romances to fill, it stands to reason that even some of the good ones aren't going to make it. Shrug it off and TRY THEM WITH ANOTHER MAG. ;¬}
@ Chris. There's just too many to be a coincidence. Every day this week on WWwriters they're posting of getting one or more rejections. They're pouring in. Very unusual. Those members would get a rejection every once in a while, spaced out, and post them so we could sort of follow the submit date and the reject date and see where in the calendar Johnene is with her mail bag. It used to be if we were going to get a rejection from the first reader, it would come pretty timely at around 4-6 weeks. If we didn't hear, we would hear one way or the other from Seattle in about 3-4 months. That's all out the door now. Who knows what's going on at Bauer but their nice little system is gone. Yes, we can sub to other magazines, but the pay grade can't compete. It's just not as satisfying to sell your $800 story for $25.
Love the saying "Chinese whispers". Never heard it before.
Chinese whispers was a game we played at school, Jody. A line of maybe ten or twelve kids would pass a message along. Child one thinks of a simple sentence and whispers it to child two. Child two passes it on to three, and so on. Usually by the time you get to child four or five there's a bit of embroidery going on, or a misheard word will change the meaning. By the time you get to the child at the end of the line and the sentence is said out loud it is a very mutated version of what was said at the start, causing great hilarity. So Chinese whispers became a metaphor for a passing remark that soon takes on a life of its own and becomes something else. I have no idea why it's attributed to China, though!
@ Chris. I remember that game. We call in telephone here in the states. :)
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