Jibber Jabber - Q1 - 29

Hey, just be glad I didn't write it using mathematical notation.

Hey, just be glad I didn't write it using mathematical notation.

Trust me, I am.

It's okay with me if all (forum) November entries become finalists, as long as not all finalists are November entries. I submitted on December 19. 🙂

Sounds like some kind of logic puzzle... (even setting aside the fact that that would probably leave us with far too many finalists!)

If all November entries become finalists, it will mean there were at most eight November entries. Hiiiiiiighly unlikely, but possible.

Also, taking (1) the Duotrope results and (2) the statement that entries submitted earlier are received by KD earlier as axioms, we can prove the theorem "entries are not responded to ** in the order in which they are received":
There exists an entry A sent in earlier than at least one other entry B, such that A received a response later than B received a response; therefore, entries are not responded to in the order in which they are received.

(** Note we cannot conclude from this information alone that entries are not read in the order in which they are received. Note also that the above conclusion is valid based assumption of the validity of our axioms.)

Yes! Rarelier have I seen a sexier piece of text. (Let's all just pretend Rarelier is a word...)

Hey, just be glad I didn't write it using mathematical notation.

Please do!

Formal logic sounds like just the cure for Duotropery.

Personally, I think all these rejections are people who saw the blog post for Q4 and think they've been rejected, not realising their story actually went into Q1. It's quite easy to get confused between quarters unless you pay close attention. Not everyone is like us sad people who spend hours each week haunting the WotF forums and practicing Duotropery!

Personally, I think all these rejections are people who saw the blog post for Q4 and think they've been rejected, not realising their story actually went into Q1. It's quite easy to get confused between quarters unless you pay close attention. Not everyone is like us sad people who spend hours each week haunting the WotF forums and practicing Duotropery!

All of them?
Well, it's not really impossible. There are a lot of people submitting and few of us poor forumoholics.

Still, no Novembers. Maybe all November entries will turn finalists.

I'm cool with that - Mine is a Nov. entry, too

Four more results reported on Duotrope. At least one of them is a November rejection, handily disproving that conjecture. 🙂 (Sorry, November submitters!)

Four more results reported on Duotrope. At least one of them is a November rejection, handily disproving that conjecture. 🙂 (Sorry, November submitters!)

The flood has begun. Do we still doubt or shall we acknowledge the truth?

I'm in. I'll buy that those first four on the day the announced the results for the previous quarter might have just been trigger happy or downright confused, but this looks like real action. Good luck everyone!

Personally, I think all these rejections are people who saw the blog post for Q4 and think they've been rejected, not realising their story actually went into Q1. It's quite easy to get confused between quarters unless you pay close attention. Not everyone is like us sad people who spend hours each week haunting the WotF forums and practicing Duotropery!

All of them?
Well, it's not really impossible. There are a lot of people submitting and few of us poor forumoholics.

Ok, I take it back!

1. 142-day form rejection from Writers of the Future Contest on March 1.
2. 76-day rejection from Writers of the Future Contest on February 29.
3. 109-day form rejection from Writers of the Future Contest on February 29.
4. 120-day form rejection from Writers of the Future Contest on February 29.

Stupid alligator...

Don't be so hard on yourself. You merely refrained from jumping to a conclusion until sufficient evidence had accumulated. As a someone who deals daily with the young folks who are purportedly our future leaders (and janitors, golf course managers, and pyramid scheme perpetrators, for that matter), I wish more of them could do the same. I was skeptical until this morning, too, though my skepticism was eroding a bit over the past few days.

Don't be so hard on yourself. You merely refrained from jumping to a conclusion until sufficient evidence had accumulated.

To be a completely niggly pain-in-the-wazoo: actually, our resident alligator did jump to a conclusion: the conclusion that the first set of results were not accurate reports of Q1 responses. Which may still be true. So she shouldn't be so hard on herself because the newly reported results don't invalidate her previous conclusion.

(I know, shoot me, shoot me.)

A tenth one just now.
I can't believe I'm actually counting rejections on Duotrope

Anyway, I hope that if any of us forum people gets a mail, for good or for ill, they will share the knowledge.

There are 340 people registered in the forum, only about 50 are actually active users, and given that a few are past winners or haven't submitted in Q1 for whatever reason, I guess that leaves about 40 of us - which makes us a very small minority of the submitters.
So, there's still hope for all of us.

A tenth one just now.
I can't believe I'm actually counting rejections on Duotrope

We're a bad influence on you.

It is confirmed. Just got my rejection, and I am an early November entry. Oh well, this story is going to the next publisher. If anyone would volunteer, I'd love to send you some of it just to see if you know a good publication to send it out to. It's about a space-age spy.

Dear Entrant,

We are working on ways to make the contest results faster and
have worked out that as stories are judged, you are notified
of results as soon as possible.

Your story has now been judged and did not win or place in
the 1st quarter. Even though you have never had to wait for
results in order to submit for the next quarter, this hopefully
gives you incentive to submit for Quarter 2, which is happening
now, the deadline being 31 March. The more often you enter,
the better chance you have of winning, and improving your skills.

I do urge you to join our forum if you have not already, or subscribe
to our judge, David Farland's newsletter. Lots of great tips at both
locations to help you.

I do hope you are already working on that next story and do let me
know that you did get this e-mail.

Best regards,

Joni Labaqui

Guess it's time to update that signature. And finish up my Q2 entry.

To be a completely niggly pain-in-the-wazoo: actually, our resident alligator did jump to a conclusion: the conclusion that the first set of results were not accurate reports of Q1 responses.

Yes, quite true. Thanks for keeping me honest!

Anyway, I hope that if any of us forum people gets a mail, for good or for ill, they will share the knowledge.

Last time around, I got my rejection on the same day I joined the forum. It was humbling, to say the least, but the ultra-supportive crowd here makes it quite bearable. Your math on forum membership is interesting, especially in light of the fact that so many folks from the forum appear in the semi and above crowd each quarter--we're in great company!

Guess it's time to update that signature. And finish up my Q2 entry.

Sorry to hear it, Cap'n. We're tied with two R's apiece now, not that collecting rejections is such a fun competition to be in (I'm sure I'll be one up on you in a week or two, though. The only thing I hate more than rejection is losing a rejection contest!).

There is though, for me at least, a certain excitement in knowing a story is freed up to be submitted elsewhere, in some cases to markets that respond more quickly and might even be more appropriate for a given story. Best of luck with it and your Q2!

The rejections are really rolling in now on Duotrope. Every email I get will be a dread-filled occasion now until I know one way or the other how mine fared (and I get a lot of blog associated email so I may just roll over dead from dread, hahaha).

We're tied with two R's apiece now,

Actually, this is my first entry. So I'm zero for one. I'm really just glad that I got the rejection now instead of at the end of this quarter.

Is there any chance that there can be new threads made for obsessive Duotropery, "how to not obsess" (or alternatively, "how to obsess") and the other wandering topics? It's wearying to skim through dozens of posts to find out that there have been no results that we are sure are actually results. Since this tends to be the first place that actual news are posted, I'd like to be able to check JUST that without all the rest.

Am I the only one? Maybe I should start a new thread that is for concrete results only, "POST ACTUAL RESPONSES HERE NO REPLIES NO CONGRATULATIONS NO OBSESSING". I don't know if it would work, but maybe it's worth a try.

Is there any chance that there can be new threads made for obsessive Duotropery, "how to not obsess" (or alternatively, "how to obsess") and the other wandering topics? It's wearying to skim through dozens of posts to find out that there have been no results that we are sure are actually results. Since this tends to be the first place that actual news are posted, I'd like to be able to check JUST that without all the rest.

Am I the only one? Maybe I should start a new thread that is for concrete results only, "POST ACTUAL RESPONSES HERE NO REPLIES NO CONGRATULATIONS NO OBSESSING". I don't know if it would work, but maybe it's worth a try.

Okay, I made a new thread "QUARTERLY RESULTS ONLY, NO OTHER CONTENT". I'm hoping that others see the value in having a one-stop shop with results only, and will participate.

So if this works out, then I promise I will stop complaining about digressions in these other threads.

Great idea, David. I hope folks will use it (and use it as intended).

A tenth one just now.
I can't believe I'm actually counting rejections on Duotrope

We're a bad influence on you.

Thirteen now, and counting.

It is confirmed. Just got my rejection, and I am an early November entry.

And one of us got hit just now. Things are getting really rough over here.

Is there any chance that there can be new threads made for obsessive Duotropery, "how to not obsess" (or alternatively, "how to obsess") and the other wandering topics?

Well...I really think that sharing all that was the actual purpose of this thread.

Okay, I made a new thread "QUARTERLY RESULTS ONLY, NO OTHER CONTENT". I'm hoping that others see the value in having a one-stop shop with results only, and will participate.

So if this works out, then I promise I will stop complaining about digressions in these other threads.

That was a great idea, as well. We definitely needed such a thread.
So this one is left to us Duotrope addicts to obsess, congratulate, commiserate, etc.

Is there any chance that there can be new threads made for obsessive Duotropery, "how to not obsess" (or alternatively, "how to obsess") and the other wandering topics?

Well...I really think that sharing all that was the actual purpose of this thread.

For everyone but me it apparently was. I think we'll all be happier now.
Now I can stop being an annoying crabbypants, and y'all can talk about whatever you want to.

Okay, I made a new thread "QUARTERLY RESULTS ONLY, NO OTHER CONTENT". I'm hoping that others see the value in having a one-stop shop with results only, and will participate.

So if this works out, then I promise I will stop complaining about digressions in these other threads.

That was a great idea, as well. We definitely needed such a thread.
So this one is left to us Duotrope addicts to obsess, congratulate, commiserate, etc.

Yup! Don't get me wrong, I do some Duotropery myself, although it's easier not to obsess about any particular submission with dozens of stories circling the drain at a time.

And for anyone who is confused and is looking for the thread I referenced, moderator Brad (who is my hero) has implemented a better solution than what I had in mind and made a new subforum. So I changed the name of that other thread to "discussion of dedicated quarterly results thread(s)" since that thread now need not be dedicated only to results.

On with your regularly scheduled programming....

I like having a thread where we can go to see results right off without a lot of skimming. Thanks Steffenwolf. I also like having THIS thread, where we can lament and comisserate together 😉

I just noticed (way behind the curve, as usual) that Duotrope also tells how many users have WOTF entries with pending responses. If we use the ballpark figure of 1000 entries a quarter I've seen thrown about, that means about 10% are on Duotrope, while 5% are on the forum, according to George's rough estimate. I wonder how many of the forum 5% are also in Duotrope? Just interesting, that's all.

I like having a thread where we can go to see results right off without a lot of skimming. Thanks Steffenwolf. I also like having THIS thread, where we can lament and comisserate together 😉

I like having a thread for commiserations too, and I'll still stop by here from time to time. I think this will work out well.

Awesome on the results subforum! Thanks, Brad, and thanks to steffen for playing the role of the gadfly.

I, too, like this thread for its social approach. Q1V29 Socializing / Kaffeeklatsch / Lounge, whatever. See, results are cool, but so are friends, and these threads are where I've come to see the folks here as my friends.

As for obsessing...

OMMMMmmmmmm iamalastminutepapersubmitter OMMMMMmmmm

Don't be so hard on yourself.

Commiserations, Cap'n.
And with that I'm officially wrong, the results are coming in. But don't fret, my skin is tough and scaly, on the top at least. Of course my soft underbelly might be accounting for my sudden inbox phobia.

Good idea David re. the new threads.

Would anyone like to comment on the usual time elapsed from the start of the flood until we get to the HMs, semis and finalists?