Submissions: The Long Road
I've heard many expressions of disappointment, frustration, and sometimes despair about story rejections. As a veteran of many story rejections myself, I totally get it. But sometimes I think new writers (or maybe I should say newer writers, since I'm relatively new myself) have an unrealistic notion of how long it takes a story to finally get accepted and published.
Since I'm an obsessive keeper of records, I thought I'd share my own statistics. I gather that I'm reasonably successful for a writer at my level of experience, so these are the statistics of someone who is doing well. I thought I'd present them as a sort of reality check for other writers.
Year Submissions Acceptances
2007 2 0
2008 72 6
2009 71 7
2010 73 3
2011 65 7
2012 54 6
2013 28 (to date) 2 (to date)
TOTAL 365 31
Types of stories accepted:
Science Fiction: 13
Fantasy: 6
Mainstream: 3
Slipstream: 2
Horror: 1
Crime: 1
Statistics for Stories Accepted:
Drafts:
Minimum: 1
Median: 3
Maximum: 7
Days between first and last drafts:
Minimum: 0
Median: 129
Maximum: 909
Number of submissions:
Minimum: 1
Median: 8
Maximum: 20
Days between first submission and eventual acceptance:
Minimum: 9
Median: 437
Maximum: 1,213
I almost never revise because of a rejection. I'll certainly do it for a rewrite request, but not otherwise. By the time I send a manuscript out, it's already been seen by beta readers (usually my writing group), and I've revised based on some of those comments. I don't see any point in revising it further, because I know how subjective matters of taste are. My typical assumption is that someone, somewhere, will find the story pleasing. I cannot tell you how many times the comments made in a personal rejection by an editor are almost the exact opposite of the comments made by the editor who ultimately accepted the piece.
Since I'm an obsessive keeper of records, I thought I'd share my own statistics. I gather that I'm reasonably successful for a writer at my level of experience, so these are the statistics of someone who is doing well. I thought I'd present them as a sort of reality check for other writers.
Year Submissions Acceptances
2007 2 0
2008 72 6
2009 71 7
2010 73 3
2011 65 7
2012 54 6
2013 28 (to date) 2 (to date)
TOTAL 365 31
Types of stories accepted:
Science Fiction: 13
Fantasy: 6
Mainstream: 3
Slipstream: 2
Horror: 1
Crime: 1
Statistics for Stories Accepted:
Drafts:
Minimum: 1
Median: 3
Maximum: 7
Days between first and last drafts:
Minimum: 0
Median: 129
Maximum: 909
Number of submissions:
Minimum: 1
Median: 8
Maximum: 20
Days between first submission and eventual acceptance:
Minimum: 9
Median: 437
Maximum: 1,213
I almost never revise because of a rejection. I'll certainly do it for a rewrite request, but not otherwise. By the time I send a manuscript out, it's already been seen by beta readers (usually my writing group), and I've revised based on some of those comments. I don't see any point in revising it further, because I know how subjective matters of taste are. My typical assumption is that someone, somewhere, will find the story pleasing. I cannot tell you how many times the comments made in a personal rejection by an editor are almost the exact opposite of the comments made by the editor who ultimately accepted the piece.