Analog's back!

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Just had to shout some good news, and I didn't know who else would appreciate it. After nearly a month-long absence, Analog responses are once again showing up on Duotrope!

I shall be patient before querying... I shall be patient before querying... I shall be patient before querying... I shall be patient before querying...

(93 days, and counting...)

I shall be patient before querying...

[E.CaimanSands]

Lol.

I'm feeling a bit the same about Penumbra. My story has been with them for 66 days now, which according to Duotrope is longer than any that have been responded to.

But I'm a bit confused by the Duotrope stats which give a worryingly high percentage of non-responses. And yet, the percentages don't add up.

Does anyone out there actually understand Duotrope??

http://www.duotrope.com/market_6158.aspx

[s_c_baker]

Lol.

I'm feeling a bit the same about Penumbra. My story has been with them for 66 days now, which according to Duotrope is longer than any that have been responded to.

But I'm a bit confused by the Duotrope stats which give a worryingly high percentage of non-responses. And yet, the percentages don't add up.

Does anyone out there actually understand Duotrope??

http://www.duotrope.com/market_6158.aspx

Which theme/issue was your Penumbra sub for? If it was the one before the "fractured fairy tale" theme, I'd query. I think they're still judging that one, though.

[E.CaimanSands]

The "Animals" issue.

No prizes for guessing what animal my story is about either.

Apparently that is to be the May issue, and the one after the Fractured Fairy Tales. Maybe I just need to be a patient gator then.

[s_c_baker]

The "Animals" issue.

No prizes for guessing what animal my story is about either.

Apparently that is to be the May issue, and the one after the Fractured Fairy Tales. Maybe I just need to be a patient gator then.

Is it? I thought the one after FFT was Greco-Roman mythology. I don't see it listed on their upcoming themes, anyway.

[katsincommand]

Does anyone out there actually understand Duotrope??

http://www.duotrope.com/market_6158.aspx

Perhaps. http://visionforwriters.com/visionjoom/ ... Itemid=134

Numbers are tricky. You can't put too much time and energy into figuring them out beyond "is it time to query?".

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Numbers are tricky. You can't put too much time and energy into figuring them out beyond "is it time to query?".

And sometimes not even that. As some clever person wrote...

Duotrope is not psychic and never meant for you to check your mailbox compulsively based on their numbers. Writers write, not predict when their rejections return. The best approach is to use the submission tracker as rejections and acceptances arrive and report that information, then choose one day per week where you analyze what's out still and determine if anything needs your attention.

As an example... Strictly by the numbers, it's time for me to query Analog. Their stated maximum is 90 days, and my story is at 93 days.

But looking past the numbers to the reports, I see the month-long gap. And I saw another long gap a couple weeks before that. It's clear that the holidays have disrupted their routine a bit.

And then listening to the scuttlebutt in the community (including around here), I also know that Analog has acknowledged that their backlog has grown beyond its usual size even before the holidays hit. I'm fairly sure Brad has mentioned having a story there for longer than mine.

When I query, it's to answer one question only: "Did my story get lost?" Looking at the extended Duotrope data and listening to the community, I have good reason to believe that it's in the backlog, not lost. If next week 100 new Duotrope reports came in including stories of about the same age, then I might start worrying about my story getting lost. And then I'll query.

UPDATE: Oh, and since they use the wonderful CWSubmissions engine from Clarkesworld, I have another strong indicator that my story's not lost. I'm a programmer. No program is perfect. But I have pretty high confidence that CWSubmissions doesn't lose stories or let editors forget that they exist.

[E.CaimanSands]

The "Animals" issue.

No prizes for guessing what animal my story is about either.

Apparently that is to be the May issue, and the one after the Fractured Fairy Tales. Maybe I just need to be a patient gator then.

Is it? I thought the one after FFT was Greco-Roman mythology. I don't see it listed on their upcoming themes, anyway.

There's a list of forthcoming issues here: http://www.musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34.

I certainly hope this is still accurate!

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Wow! Not only is Analog back... Here's their newest response!

1. 231-day acceptance from Analog Science Fiction & Fact on January 18. Congratulations, Patty Jansen! * (outlier)

Congratulations, Patty! I'm officially envious.

(How soon do we have to call you Patty Freakin' Jansen?)

[kyle]

Careful. "Freakin'" means something very different down under.

And, for counterbalance, I'm now the proud recipient of a 12-day form rejection from Analog, tied for the fastest response I've ever gotten from them.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

And, for counterbalance, I'm now the proud recipient of a 12-day form rejection from Analog, tied for the fastest response I've ever gotten from them.

Yow! I thought it took longer than 12 days for them to open their mail!

Sorry. You don't get to be Freakin' Kyle today, I guess.

[E.CaimanSands]

Wow! Not only is Analog back... Here's their newest response!

1. 231-day acceptance from Analog Science Fiction & Fact on January 18. Congratulations, Patty Jansen! * (outlier)

Congratulations, Patty! I'm officially envious.

(How soon do we have to call you Patty Freakin' Jansen?)

Awesomeness, Patty!

(Yes, I know that's not a proper word but heck, it's late and I'm an alligator, it's amazing I speak at all).

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Awesomeness, Patty!

(Yes, I know that's not a proper word but heck, it's late and I'm an alligator, it's amazing I speak at all).

We're wordsmiths. We're licensed to make new words as needed.

[katsincommand]

Sweet. :)

[Patty]

Martin,

I would query, because, although my response time was really long shown on Duotrope, this doesn't tell the real story. I first received a positive-sounding response about a week after I submitted.

If you're at 93 days without a peep, I'd wait a day or two for the major glut of backlog to show up on Duotrope, and if you haven't heard anything by then, query.

[WriteToLive]

Lol.

I'm feeling a bit the same about Penumbra. My story has been with them for 66 days now, which according to Duotrope is longer than any that have been responded to.

But I'm a bit confused by the Duotrope stats which give a worryingly high percentage of non-responses. And yet, the percentages don't add up.

Does anyone out there actually understand Duotrope??

http://www.duotrope.com/market_6158.aspx

The thing about Penumbra is there are a lot of short date rejections. Don't listen to them. They're the slush reader rejects. I got a note about 2-3 weeks ago about my story being forwarded on to a senior editor. There are some which are rejected, some which are held. Mine's been well over the query time, but Duotrope hasn't popped it up for query yet.

But, at 66 days, it may be time to query. I think the senior editors have been trying to get them out at 40-50 days.

[E.CaimanSands]

Lol.

I'm feeling a bit the same about Penumbra. My story has been with them for 66 days now, which according to Duotrope is longer than any that have been responded to.

But I'm a bit confused by the Duotrope stats which give a worryingly high percentage of non-responses. And yet, the percentages don't add up.

Does anyone out there actually understand Duotrope??

http://www.duotrope.com/market_6158.aspx

The thing about Penumbra is there are a lot of short date rejections. Don't listen to them. They're the slush reader rejects. I got a note about 2-3 weeks ago about my story being forwarded on to a senior editor. There are some which are rejected, some which are held. Mine's been well over the query time, but Duotrope hasn't popped it up for query yet.

But, at 66 days, it may be time to query. I think the senior editors have been trying to get them out at 40-50 days.

I got the note about it getting passed on beyond the slush too, so yes, I know it's made it that far. It's been out for 69 days now but I don't think I'm going to query yet. I'm hoping the editors simply haven't decided on what's going in the May "Animals" themed issue yet.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Martin,

I would query, because, although my response time was really long shown on Duotrope, this doesn't tell the real story. I first received a positive-sounding response about a week after I submitted.

If you're at 93 days without a peep, I'd wait a day or two for the major glut of backlog to show up on Duotrope, and if you haven't heard anything by then, query.

I have time to wait. My next story planned for them is my WotF Semi-Finalist, and I'm still waiting for the critique on that.

[kyle]

And, for counterbalance, I'm now the proud recipient of a 12-day form rejection from Analog, tied for the fastest response I've ever gotten from them.

Yow! I thought it took longer than 12 days for them to open their mail!

Sorry. You don't get to be Freakin' Kyle today, I guess.

::shrug:: It's the nature of the game. It's already off to the next market.

One thing has become clear to me from all the Duotropery, however, which is that Analog clearly reads slush in batches. If you submit shortly before they sit down to do the batch, you get a fast response time. If you just missed the last read, you get a slow response time.

[E.CaimanSands]

The latest from Penumbra, according to Duotrope:

1. 93-day personal rejection from Musa Publishing: Penumbra on January 18. (outlier)

My story is at 70 days now... chewing on my claws...

[WriteToLive]

Wishing you luck, man. I can't wait to hear back on mine for the politics issue.

[E.CaimanSands]

Wishing you luck, man. I can't wait to hear back on mine for the politics issue.

Good luck for you, too.

Penumbra really know how to get a gator's hopes up, what with the way they actually tell you openly if you've made it past the slush pile.

I like it this way, though it does make me check my mailbox/duotrope far too often.

[katsincommand]

The latest from Penumbra, according to Duotrope:

1. 93-day personal rejection from Musa Publishing: Penumbra on January 18. (outlier)

My story is at 70 days now... chewing on my claws...

there's a reason they say patience is a virtue. :) but I understand. I've got an Analog sub at 170 days.

Good luck, hope your results are good.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

there's a reason they say patience is a virtue. :) but I understand. I've got an Analog sub at 170 days.

Now you're just trying to make me look like a whiner, aren't you?

[katsincommand]

Now you're just trying to make me look like a whiner, aren't you?

Not at all. Just encouraging you to settle down. :) Excitement is good but it can be exhuasting, too.

[WriteToLive]

Is it just me or is Analog really fast lately. My latest stories have been only 15 days there when they used to be consistantly a month.

[MJNL]

I've noticed it via duotrope responses, though not personally. It might have to do with the on-line system (no three days there and three days back, plus no printing/dealing with pages). Like I said, I haven't personally seen any difference in responses to my paper subs vs my online subs, but that's my guess. (I write kind of lengthy stories, though, so maybe I often go into "look at when I have more time" pile.)

[katsincommand]

My response times have been fast everywhere this month - I've had 15 rejections and it's only the 25th. The editors must've made new years resolutions to return the ms's quickly... ;)

[WriteToLive]

Saddly, I'm one of the few people who could probably say "Only 15?"

[kyle]

O.K., I've been resisting the urge to say this since the topic first got started, but my internal censor is now weak enough that I'm finally giving in to the urge:

Analog's front!