Analog Submissions

Been kind of busy, so I haven't been hanging around here like I was, but my submission with Analog is currently a 274 days, and I'm really getting aggravated at the delay. Especially because I still haven't heard anything on my query. Even a "Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on" would have been better than crickets chirping in the moonlight.

I'm not holding my breath right now, but not saying it'll be rejected either. It's not a typical Analog story, but if that's what they're wanting to get more of, then they've got it.

Good luck, Tom. I've got my cyborg werewolf (shut up, I am That Werewolf Writer and I can make it SF if I wanna) and my zombunnies story there. Cyborg werewolf has been sitting in the inbox for longer than some of the rejections coming out, so as long as I'm still standing, I'm happy.

Of course, I'd like to hear back either Yea or Nay by the end of June, because that's the deadline for Crossed Genres' "cyborg" month. But I am not holding my breath either.

Responses this week have been for stories in the 92 to 109 day range.

Responses this week have been for stories in the 92 to 109 day range.

I'm at 150.

I've just submitted to Analog for the first time today. The majority of my fiction is not within cooee of being 'hard' (translation: not even close) but I've got a noir near-future story with some cool neurochemical slash philosophy of the mind elements, that might make them acceptable to Analog.

Apparently I'll be waiting a long time, but i thought it worth a crack.

Responses this week have been for stories in the 92 to 109 day range.

I'm at 150.

I'm at 125.

I've either fallen down the back of the radiator or it seems I've survived the initial purge.

You've fallen down the back of the radiator.

You have such confidence in me, green one.

Responses this week have been for stories in the 92 to 109 day range.

I'm at 150.

I'm at 125.

I've either fallen down the back of the radiator or it seems I've survived the initial purge.

You've fallen down the back of the radiator.

You have such confidence in me, green one.

It's all but impossible to predict the reading order. I learned just last week that sometimes shorter stories get read earlier because the magazine has a gap to fill.

It's all but impossible to predict the reading order. I learned just last week that sometimes shorter stories get read earlier because the magazine has a gap to fill.

Mine's less than 2000 words.

It is my belief that Analog eschews the traditional LIFO or LILO reading orders in favour of the more arcane FIDO methodology.

That is: First In Dartboard Out

It is my belief that Analog eschews the traditional LIFO or LILO reading orders in favour of the more arcane FIDO methodology.

That is: First In Dartboard Out

Exactly. They have their reasons and their methods. We very occasionally get a peek inside, but we really don't know what's behind the scenes.

Now that I am retired, I have started writing SiFi stories. As I have been a fan of Analog for a very long time, my obvious path was to submit my stuff to them. Well, I submitted a story, and it took them four and a half months to reject it.

During that time, I started work on three other stories and began reading about the publishing industry. Suffice it to say, my attention is now pointed solidly at e-books. If what I write is crap, I don't want to wait two to five years to find out.

I think I still have one at Analog. I need to go back over my E-mails to see for sure. I could check my list of stories and where they went, but I got in the bad habit of not marking them all when they come back.

But I will be sending one to them and Asimov's tomorrow.

Now that I am retired, I have started writing SiFi stories. As I have been a fan of Analog for a very long time, my obvious path was to submit my stuff to them. Well, I submitted a story, and it took them four and a half months to reject it.

During that time, I started work on three other stories and began reading about the publishing industry. Suffice it to say, my attention is now pointed solidly at e-books. If what I write is crap, I don't want to wait two to five years to find out.

Well, you need more than a couple of stories to tell that. But as you wait for a response from Analog you could try markets that are faster.

Well, I finally heard back from Analog. At 325 days, I get what looks like a form rejection with a slight modification about the delay (it got overlooked, apparently?)

I don't mind rejections. I really don't.

I don't mind form rejections. Not really.

But yeah, I kind of do mind waiting 325 days to get a form rejection. At least make it a bit more personal than that, you know.

FWIW, I seem to be tied for the record over at the Submission Grinder.

(It's the little things that keep me from going nuts )

Well, I finally heard back from Analog. At 325 days, I get what looks like a form rejection with a slight modification about the delay (it got overlooked, apparently?)

Ugh, that sucks. Did you query at any point?

Got my rejection today too. 125 days.

Do you think they're starting to catch up on the slushpile?

After 247 days, I can now say: Captain Nick Aames is scheduled for a third appearance in Analog!

After 247 days, I can now say: Captain Nick Aames is scheduled for a third appearance in Analog!

Another sale? Congrats Martin. The editor clearly likes your stuff.

Question: is there a point, after many sales to the same mag, where you no longer submit with the plebs through the slush pile, and start going straight to the editor? I guess Brad would be at this point with Analog?

After 247 days, I can now say: Captain Nick Aames is scheduled for a third appearance in Analog!

Another sale? Congrats Martin. The editor clearly likes your stuff.

Question: is there a point, after many sales to the same mag, where you no longer submit with the plebs through the slush pile, and start going straight to the editor? I guess Brad would be at this point with Analog?

As of the last time we discussed this, Brad still goes through the slush pile.

Mind you, I think his stories may get pulled out of order. (Heck, I have anecdotal evidence that MY stories get pulled out of order: a couple of times, mine were read roughly a month ahead of others in the same time frame. On the other hand, this one was four months behind the rest; but it was long, just 200 words shy of a novella, so Trevor held off looking at it until he had space for it.) But he still goes through slush at Analog, and he still gets rejections there.

But is there such a point? Yes. I'm pretty sure a Mike Resnick or a Nancy Kress goes straight to the editor. As great as Brad is doing, his name on the cover is still not the draw that theirs are.

Received a rejection last week. I think I sent in that story in Feb. I need to refind the submission E-mail to see for sure of the date but I did send in a story in Feb.

Anyway, Last night I sent in another one. I might have two there.

Yes, I still have to go in through the front door, like everybody else. Do I automatically get funneled to the VIP line once I am in? I am not sure. I know stories have gotten "derailed" into the regular slush on occasion. I also know I wait just about as long as the rest of you to hear back from Analog these days. It was shorter with Schmidt, but then I do try to be patient about this stuff. A watched pot never boiling, and so on and so forth. If ever I get antsy about things, I send Trevor a polite inquiry. I try to do that infrequently because I don't want to be a pest. Of course, I also submit infrequently because I don't want to saddle Trevor with numerous stories, all competing with each other for the two or three contracts per year (I am guessing?) I can expect from Analog. Assuming it's even that much, which is a big assumption.

In the end, it's not an ideal situation, but it is what it is. I wish I had a silver bullet. I'd be handing them out to my friends and to all the WOTF winners I am fortunate enough to meet every year.

Just wanted to say that I finally remembered to double check the submission date on that story I thought I sent in in Feb.

I actually sent it in May--toward the end of the month I think. I was confused because I didn't list it on my list of stories I send in. I was surprised when I received the rejection. However another story was still open that I sent to them in Feb. I must have forgotten to mark that one off. I wasn't sure which story I sent in when.

I noticed my status changed about a week ago to rejection at the submission system about (Edit: correction, 100, not 130) days after submission, but I still haven't received any email or other rejection notice (I have of course checked my junk folder). I'm eager to submit to a different market (gotta hurry up and wait...), but on the off chance the rejection might not be a form and might provide criticism I could use to improve my story before submitting elsewhere, I'd kind of like to wait to hear from them.

I've read through several recent pages of this thread and my question is how long after the submission system marks something as closed and rejected does it take to receive a rejection letter? A week certainly isn't too long for me to wait, but I'd hate to wait a month over a form rejection that glitched and was never sent.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

* A personal rejection, explaining exactly why they didn't want the story. NOTE: I never got a personal rejection until my first sale. Since then, I have never gotten anything less. I think Trevor has very limited time for personal rejections, and he saves it for established authors.

...

It's definitely a Schrodinger Market: you have no news until you have THE news. There is no correlation between how long I waited and what my results were.

This response from what I've read stuck out. Not that you're offering anything other than anecdotes, but if your experience held true for me as an unpublished submitter, I'd be more likely to receive a form rejection than something I could use to make improvements, and it might not be worth wasting anyone's time to query analog for that.

I noticed my status changed about a week ago to rejection at the submission system about 130 days after submission, but I still haven't received any email or other rejection notice (I have of course checked my junk folder). I'm eager to submit to a different market (gotta hurry up and wait...), but on the off chance the rejection might not be a form and might provide criticism I could use to improve my story before submitting elsewhere, I'd kind of like to wait to hear from them.

I've read through several recent pages of this thread and my question is how long after the submission system marks something as closed and rejected does it take to receive a rejection letter? A week certainly isn't too long for me to wait, but I'd hate to wait a month over a form rejection that glitched and was never sent.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

* A personal rejection, explaining exactly why they didn't want the story. NOTE: I never got a personal rejection until my first sale. Since then, I have never gotten anything less. I think Trevor has very limited time for personal rejections, and he saves it for established authors.

...

It's definitely a Schrodinger Market: you have no news until you have THE news. There is no correlation between how long I waited and what my results were.

This response from what I've read stuck out. Not that you're offering anything other than anecdotes, but if your experience held true for me as an unpublished submitter, I'd be more likely to receive a form rejection than something I could use to make improvements, and it might not be worth wasting anyone's time to query analog for that.

Definitely query. Usually I receive results before the online status changes, or on the same day. Politely point out the status change and ask if a message got lost. It does happen, after all.

Definitely query. Usually I receive results before the online status changes, or on the same day. Politely point out the status change and ask if a message got lost. It does happen, after all.

Thank you kindly for the speedy info and advice. I'll give it a go.

EDIT: got a form rejection in response to my query about a week later. Now I can move on to my next submission without wondering if I might have gotten some golden piece of advice if only I'd waited one more day... and one more after that.

I sent in a submission on the 1st of December and haven't so much as had a change in status on the submission status. I know Analog takes a while, but when I submitted it, there was a message saying "at present, our average response time is four weeks with a range covering two weeks to six weeks. You should expect a quick response".

Hell, I even took a screenshot of it, because I knew this is pretty quick for such a high rate market.
However, I would like to know where that submission has ended up, considering 6 weeks passed a few days ago. Anyone else had something similar?

I sent in a submission on the 1st of December and haven't so much as had a change in status on the submission status. I know Analog takes a while, but when I submitted it, there was a message saying "at present, our average response time is four weeks with a range covering two weeks to six weeks. You should expect a quick response".

Hell, I even took a screenshot of it, because I knew this is pretty quick for such a high rate market.
However, I would like to know where that submission has ended up, considering 6 weeks passed a few days ago. Anyone else had something similar?

In the past year, my responses at Analog have ranged from 80 to 247 days. And I have never seen the status change at Analog before I got a result. My latest submission there is currently at 100 days.

I think the two-to-six-week message may be autogenerated, and not particularly accurate.

I sent in a submission on the 1st of December and haven't so much as had a change in status on the submission status. I know Analog takes a while, but when I submitted it, there was a message saying "at present, our average response time is four weeks with a range covering two weeks to six weeks. You should expect a quick response".

Hell, I even took a screenshot of it, because I knew this is pretty quick for such a high rate market.
However, I would like to know where that submission has ended up, considering 6 weeks passed a few days ago. Anyone else had something similar?

In the past year, my responses at Analog have ranged from 80 to 247 days. And I have never seen the status change at Analog before I got a result. My latest submission there is currently at 100 days.

I think the two-to-six-week message may be autogenerated, and not particularly accurate.

Yeah, that's what I thought. But this was within the submissions system, not an auto reply email (I actually never received an auto-reply). So I'm just wondering if this is a mistake or if they really are speeding up their pace....