Ask Sally #1 - Timing Submissions

From a recent email request for advice

I submitted some stories a few months ago. I haven't heard anything yet. Is it okay to send out more stories, or should I wait to hear about the first batch?

Those of us who've been writing for a while might think the answer to this is obvious, but if I take myself back ten years ago, I wouldn't have known what the correct etiquette was regarding submissions. So I think this is a fair question for a new writer to ask.

You don't have to wait between submitting work, and it's always a good idea to send something out every week if you can, so that you've always got work 'out there'. Also, getting on with more writing and submitting helps take your mind off what you've already sent out. It's up to you how often you send out work. Every day, once a week, once a month. My average at the moment is 15 pieces a month, spread over each month, and when rejections come in, I send them straight back out to other publications.

It might be that you're wondering if you can send more stories to a magazine or publication that already has some of your work. This is fine too. What you mustn't do is send several stories all in the same envelope or email (if submitting electronically). Treat each submission as a fresh submission, and include your details on a cover letter as if you haven't already told the editor that. Beware that if you do send five or six submissions on the same day, you're likely to get five or six rejections on the same day too (I'm never doing that again!)

If you have been waiting some time for a response to a submission, perhaps six months or more, then it might be an idea to telephone or email the publication to ask if your submission is anywhere near the top. Don't pester an editor from the moment you send your submission, and if you do have to ask after several months, ask once then leave it. If they don't respond, or you've been waiting a very long time, e.g. a year or more, and the publication hasn't given any indication that this might be their response time (for example Yours magazine warn that it could take up to six months for them to get back to you), then you might want to think about sending your story elsewhere.

More Links

Duotrope has a good database of response times for a lot of magazines, though they're mostly specialist/genre/literary mags rather than those sold in the newsagents. It's still a good way of finding out if you've been waiting too long.