There's a drought in Texas

Two months have passed since my last acceptance, a sales drought I haven't experienced since sometime in the previous century.

I've received only five rejections during the past two months, so it isn't that my work is getting kicked back. Rather, my submissions are just sitting.

Sometimes, this is a good sign. With some markets, the longer the editor holds a story the more likely an acceptance is forthcoming.

On the flip side, long delays sometimes mean submissions were never received. A few times this year I've followed up after long delays only to discover my original submissions were never received or had gone into an editor's spam folder. (This happens most often with submissions sent to gmail accounts.) Following up has led to at least two acceptances, but most often the follow-up also receives no response.

So, I'm hoping the new year brings a flood of acceptances because this drought is killing me.