Note to Self
Just because the publisher responds quickly doesn't mean it's a rejection. Huh. In my (not very limited) experience with subbing short stories, no news is good news. The longer it takes to get an answer (relative to the average for that market), the better the chances of the story at least making it to the second level review.
This morning I got an email from a publication that has an average response time of twelve days, responding to a story I sent six days ago. I almost moved it to my "subs to pubs" folder without reading it, assuming it was a form rejection. And you know what they say about assuming*. What the email was actually telling me was that the story's been passed up to the next level review. Which is not an acceptance by any stretch of the imagination (as I know very well), but is also definitely not a form rejection. Boy am I glad I actually checked, because otherwise the story would probably have gone out to the next market on the list tonight. I'm cringing just at the thought. And this is why I read my emails, rather than assuming I know what they say.
* Sometimes you're wrong.
This morning I got an email from a publication that has an average response time of twelve days, responding to a story I sent six days ago. I almost moved it to my "subs to pubs" folder without reading it, assuming it was a form rejection. And you know what they say about assuming*. What the email was actually telling me was that the story's been passed up to the next level review. Which is not an acceptance by any stretch of the imagination (as I know very well), but is also definitely not a form rejection. Boy am I glad I actually checked, because otherwise the story would probably have gone out to the next market on the list tonight. I'm cringing just at the thought. And this is why I read my emails, rather than assuming I know what they say.
* Sometimes you're wrong.