Saturday, November 27, 2010

Rules to Submit By?

I've started a post several times today but couldn't seem to find anything much to say. There's not a whole lot happening on the market front which had me thinking about something I read on a blog recently.

A writer said she was still writing but didn't see any sense in sending anything out during the holiday season. Now, this seemed a bit silly to me because the magazine offices are still open, aren't they? It's not like everything totally closes down from Thanksgiving to New Years. I'll grant that you might get a slower response but still, it's there, in front of an editor.

I remember an article in Writer's Digest once that passed along the advice that you should never submit stories in September and January because everyone else would be submitting and you'd just get lost in the slush pile. I can see the reasoning behind those two months but if you're already sending out work every month why stop just because a whole lot of rookies are tossing their stories into the pile?

How about you, do you have any hard and fast rules about when to submit your stories? For me, if a story feels ready, I send it out.

4 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

I had a story accepted the day before Thanksgiving. I knew I should wait till after the holidays but I thought I would get it off my hard drive so to speak and an hour later, they took it. Other times, they sit for months. You never know.

sandra seamans said...

Congratulations, Patti!!

I think most of writing tends to be a waiting game. Not sending something out because you'll have to wait for a response doesn't make any sense. Of course, we've all been spoiled by the quickness of email responses these days!

Al Tucher said...

Making the sale is a matter of giving them exactly what they need exactly when they need it. Since that's usually impossible to predict, I just throw stuff at the wall and hope it sticks.

sandra seamans said...

I suspect that's what we all do, Al! There are so many variables it's a wonder we manage place anything. :)