I’ve got a story out on submission that has been out for long enough that the magazine recommends querying. But a part of me doesn’t want to query. I have this hope that they’re considering it, thinking about it, and waiting for me to demand an answer so that they can say no.
Wow, writing that fear out makes it look pretty ridiculous.
Because it is a fear.
The three other stories I’ve submitted to this magazine so far got quicker and quicker rejections. First 42 days, then 22 days for the next one and a mere 19 days for them to decide my third offering was not the story they were looking for.
But this one. 93 days and counting. Longer than the 3 months after which it is recommended to query. So I wonder, is this a good thing? Are they on the fence? Looking for a place where it might fit? Or did it slip through some electronic crack and they just forgot to fire off the rejection?
I’m pretty sure it’s the latter, and I don’t want to query and get that rejection in return for my effort. It’s so much safer just to wait and hope that it’s being held because they want to place it.
Of course, the real solution is to get more stories out for submission so I don’t keep obsessing over this particular one. I haven’t run out of venues for other stories yet. I just need to take some time to give that project some dedicated focus.
Which probably won’t happen this week, because I’m in a training at work that is sucking all of my mental energy. It’s a good thing, because I’m learning a lot, and a horrible thing because it’s very concentrated learning. My head feels full after two days of it and there’s two more to go. Ah, but this weekend is a long weekend. There will be time there, as long as I make it happen.
And the first thing I should do is write that query!