I finished writing my 38th short story of the year this morning, a 700-word mystery. I started writing this on July 13, 2006, and finally finished it. Hardcopy goes in the mail later today.
Yes, the 800-word romances and 700-word mysteries are for Woman's World. I've not yet cracked the market, but I've only been trying to since the beginning of this year.
I've not yet received rejections for any of the stories I've submitted to Woman's World this year. I hope that's a good sign as what I've heard from other writers is that rejections are quite prompt but acceptances take quite a while.
On one of the lists I am on, it was suggested that they are going to drop the word count to 500 for each. That was contradicted by somebody else who claimed to have gotten a note back in March saying they were dropping both deals all together. So, I don't know what the real deal is on that.
My experience has been than it can take up to six months to get a rejection.
Hope your source saying WW was dropping romance and mystery fiction was wrong, Kevin. Even though I haven't managed to sell either yet, would be a shame to see another market (especially a well paying one) bite the dust!
I've gone as long as 8 months waiting for a reply and been rejected by WW. So, longer doesn't always mean acceptance.
From what I understand, the first reader mails the best stories on to the final editor, who lives in Seattle and she has the final say. Between the romances and the myteries there are probably a ton of stories to wade through even after a first reader culls out the ones they don't want. Lots of snail mailing and waiting. This information is courtesy of John Floyd who has been published numerous times in WW over the years.
The upside is, with the longer wait until rejection, there's usually a note included as to why the story doesn't work for them, which helps with your next submission.
I currently have 12 manuscripts out to Woman's World--10 romances and two mysteries--so if it takes eight months to get a rejection and the rejection contains notes for improvement, it'll be four more months before I see the suggestions and they'll have--at my current pace--another 12 stories to wade through before I can put their suggestions into effect.
Maybe--just maybe--I have already figured out what they want, or will have figured it out before I put 12 more stories in their slush pile.
7 comments:
Michael -
Curiosity killed the cat, but I'm hoping you're not in the mood to kill flesh and blood humans when there are so many characters to dispatch instead.
Assume your 800 word romances and 700 word mysteries are targeted to Woman's World. Dare I ask if you've sold to this hard to crack market yet?
I too figure this is most likely WW. Good luck!
Yes, the 800-word romances and 700-word mysteries are for Woman's World. I've not yet cracked the market, but I've only been trying to since the beginning of this year.
I've not yet received rejections for any of the stories I've submitted to Woman's World this year. I hope that's a good sign as what I've heard from other writers is that rejections are quite prompt but acceptances take quite a while.
I have heard taht as well.
On one of the lists I am on, it was suggested that they are going to drop the word count to 500 for each. That was contradicted by somebody else who claimed to have gotten a note back in March saying they were dropping both deals all together. So, I don't know what the real deal is on that.
My experience has been than it can take up to six months to get a rejection.
Hope your source saying WW was dropping romance and mystery fiction was wrong, Kevin. Even though I haven't managed to sell either yet, would be a shame to see another market (especially a well paying one) bite the dust!
I've gone as long as 8 months waiting for a reply and been rejected by WW. So, longer doesn't always mean acceptance.
From what I understand, the first reader mails the best stories on to the final editor, who lives in Seattle and she has the final say. Between the romances and the myteries there are probably a ton of stories to wade through even after a first reader culls out the ones they don't want. Lots of snail mailing and waiting. This information is courtesy of John Floyd who has been published numerous times in WW over the years.
The upside is, with the longer wait until rejection, there's usually a note included as to why the story doesn't work for them, which helps with your next submission.
I currently have 12 manuscripts out to Woman's World--10 romances and two mysteries--so if it takes eight months to get a rejection and the rejection contains notes for improvement, it'll be four more months before I see the suggestions and they'll have--at my current pace--another 12 stories to wade through before I can put their suggestions into effect.
Maybe--just maybe--I have already figured out what they want, or will have figured it out before I put 12 more stories in their slush pile.
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