Discussion: Q1 Volume 36

The real thing you want from F&SF--aside from an acceptance letter--is for the editor to write "Charlie" on your rejection. Look for that. When you get it, do "Dear Charlie" on your cover letters from there on out. It's been noted he only gives that to people he really wants to see more stories from. When you've gotten that, it apparently means you've hit a higher bar. Probably like getting an HM or Silver here.

He's generous with his comments, but it took me a few times to get my "Charlie."

Thanks! My October rejection feels a lot better now.

For those who do not get Dave's newsletter:

Illness

On Sunday, March 10th, after teaching his very fun “And the Plot Thickens” workshop, Dave suddenly collapsed from a combination of pneumonia and a heart attack. Dave is in the hospital recuperating and will most likely be getting a pacemaker in the near future, but unfortunately he will have to postpone his current online classes for about three weeks. Dave does expect to be able to appear at the Writers of the Future in two weeks, and his workshop this summer in Ireland shouldn’t be affected. His doctors agree that he should recover well with a few changes in medication and lifestyle.

Good news! Dave's pneumonia has cleared up, his new pacemaker is working, and he'll hopefully be released from the hospital soon!

But I hope he takes it easy and so I for one am just fine with Thursday being a few weeks off.

Re: Q1 results

Got Dave's newsletter last night and he's recovering from pneumonia and a heart attack. Here's to hoping his recovery goes well!

Check here for more details.

Good news! Dave's pneumonia has cleared up, his new pacemaker is working, and he'll hopefully be released from the hospital soon!

But I hope he takes it easy and so I for one am just fine with Thursday being a few weeks off.

I think Dave is due for some serious lifestyle readjustments. We admire people that push through and carry on, but we don't want them to sacrifice their health to do so. Hopefully he will take it slow and make sure his body has fully recovered and is up to the tasks he once took for granted. I want to see Dave around for a long, LONG time. As we age, that often means recognizing our new limitations, and working within them.

Here's to Dave's good wisdom and good health!

The real thing you want from F&SF--aside from an acceptance letter--is for the editor to write "Charlie" on your rejection. Look for that. When you get it, do "Dear Charlie" on your cover letters from there on out. It's been noted he only gives that to people he really wants to see more stories from. When you've gotten that, it apparently means you've hit a higher bar. Probably like getting an HM or Silver here.

He's generous with his comments, but it took me a few times to get my "Charlie."

I didn’t know this and have gotten quite a few sign-offs with “Charlie” over the past two years.

I’ll make a note to tweak my cover letter going forward. Thanks Wulf!

Also: sorry for the duplicate message about Dave earlier. For some reason the other posts weren’t showing up (or I’m completely blind) when I dropped mine.

John Goodwin, president of Author Services, said on an FB post that results should be in by the end of the month for Q1.

Thursday cometh.

John Goodwin, president of Author Services, said on an FB post that results should be in by the end of the month for Q1.

Thursday cometh.

Cool! I figured out my Q1 is doomed. I put it in before finding this forum and Dave's tips. Even if it were otherwise good enough (which I don't assume) there are too many F-Bombs.

John Goodwin, president of Author Services, said on an FB post that results should be in by the end of the month for Q1.

Thursday cometh.

Did he mention as to which month he was referring?

John Goodwin, president of Author Services, said on an FB post that results should be in by the end of the month for Q1.

Thursday cometh.

Did he mention as to which month he was referring?

We've still got a week left in this one.

John Goodwin, president of Author Services, said on an FB post that results should be in by the end of the month for Q1.

Thursday cometh.

Cool! I figured out my Q1 is doomed. I put it in before finding this forum and Dave's tips. Even if it were otherwise good enough (which I don't assume) there are too many F-Bombs.

I'm sorry. *hugs!* At least you know for next quarter, though.

Thanks.

Any chance for results tonight? Looks like they were done on a Tuesday night Q4 last year.

Thanks.

Any chance for results tonight? Looks like they were done on a Tuesday night Q4 last year.

Allow me to let you in on an open secret:

Every day is Thursday. (Translation: they can come any day, but Thursday was kind of 'the day' for awhile, so we refer to it as Thursday regardless.)

If anyone felt like doing some analysis on the results days over the last few years, though,
I for one would be interested!

Well, I just got an e-mail explaining why we don't have results yet, so there's that. It mentioned Dave's illness and said Joni hopes to have contest results going out next week. (She also encouraged submitting to Q2.)

Well, my wildly unscientific assessment of when I got my own responses produced two Sundays, a Monday, and a Tuesday. Nary a Thursday in sight -- and yet, I have come to think of them all as Thursdays.

If anyone felt like doing some analysis on the results days over the last few years, though,
I for one would be interested!

Actually, this is a thing I track (sometimes, my submitomancy goes pretty in-depth!). I don't have it broken down by year, but since V27Q3, which was in 2010 (probably when I started submitting electronically) without missing a quarter, here's the breakdown of the days on which I've received results:

Sunday = 0
Monday = 7
Tuesday = 7
Wednesday = 10
Thursday = 5
Friday = 4
Saturday = 0

These are all email results--I've never placed high enough to get a phone call. It looks like Wednesday is my Thursday, although that could be due to the time difference (I'm on EDT).

I just made my 900th submission (to any market, I'm only in the 40s on WotF submissions) this week! In case anyone was wondering, Monday is the most likely day to receive a response from any market, and Sunday is the least likely (this is also highly unscientific since it includes a wide range of all the markets I've ever submitted to, including many that no longer exist)

Oooh, nice!

Those are some pretty nice stats Beth.

Yes. Kudos. Thursday is not really Thursday, Hmmm. And wow what persistence. How many stories is 900 submissions? You must be very creative. It's more like pooping rocks for me.

Wednesday = 10 !!!!
There is some hope for today, then; but, according to Joni's letter last night it will probably be next Wednesday.

Respect, Beth Powers, for the research. It must have been quite time consuming...as well as cutting into your writing time. So, I'm sure I can safely shoot out a big THANK YOU to you from all of us here in Forumlandia. You may even have impressed his majesty, King Moon, though I shy from speaking for him as he usually has much to offer on the topic...or any topic. Because he is, after all, our fearless leader, going where no Forumlandian has gone before, cutting through the thicket and brambles with agility and strength to provide us the Secret Sauce to our own successes.

Because he is, after all, our fearless leader, going where no Forumlandian has gone before, cutting through the thicket and brambles with agility and strength to provide us the Secret Sauce to our own successes.

And he does all this in hooves!

And he does all this in hooves!

Yes. Yes he does. And dancing all the while. He is a sword-wielding, dancing satyr-king...or, at least, he dances with one now and again (not a king, but a queen).

How many stories is 900 submissions?

According to the Submission Grinder, I have 47 different pieces, but that might not be completely accurate because when I revise to the point that I consider it a new story and change the title, I create a new piece for tracking purposes.

I've decided to focus on submissions (which I control), rather than rejections (which I don't)

Respect, Beth Powers, for the research. It must have been quite time consuming...as well as cutting into your writing time.

It only took a lot of time when I set up the spreadsheet years ago (and I had less submissions then), now I just make a note of the day and time when I receive a response. It's better to decide early on all of the numbers you want to obsess over, rather than trying to go back and recreate statistics through old submissions!

Well, it’s not impossible that we get results today. My phone call was on a Saturday right about now.*

/checks phone is on. Looks at it significantly.

Right... about ... now ...

/sigh

*Australian time, of course.

Hmm, Heard about Dave's heart attack and all that. Therefore there will be delays with the results. Okay, under the circumstances I have no problem with. But did he send out some rejections before the heart attack? I remember a rejection, maybe, for quarter one. Maybe I am remembering the previous quarter's rejection but seems like there was something about One a while back.

Hmm, Heard about Dave's heart attack and all that. Therefore there will be delays with the results. Okay, under the circumstances I have no problem with. But did he send out some rejections before the heart attack? I remember a rejection, maybe, for quarter one. Maybe I am remembering the previous quarter's rejection but seems like there was something about One a while back.

As far as I know, there haven't been any rejections yet for this quarter.

Joni said we'd know by next week.

Joni said we'd know by next week.

Which starts Monday!

I'll put my chips down . . . on Wednesday.

Joni said we'd know by next week.

Which starts Monday!

I'll put my chips down . . . on Wednesday.

It's the week of the gala--I'm hesitant to gamble.