As a writer, one of my pet peeves is not receiving a response to my submissions within a reasonable time.
What’s a reasonable time? Well, three to six months, I would think. Usually, that happens. Sometimes though, I have received no response. This usually happens with electronic submissions. There’s no automatic “Thank you for your submission” response to indicate the publication received it, and no rejection communique ever. The submission disappeared into a black hole, it would seem.
It is never pleasant to write rejection notes, but I consider them a courtesy. Writers want to know. I try to respond to all submissions to Still Crazy within the six-month time frame. Usually, it is less than six months. All submissions are entered into an Access database, and I record my responses by date sent. Still, I sometimes get emails from people asking the status of their submissions when my records indicate I have sent an email to them some time ago. Why does that happen? Well, one possibility is an Internet provider that interprets my email as spam. It’s always good to enter submissions@crazylitmag.com into your email address book in the hope that this will foil the spam detectors.
Of course, it’s possible that a submission may fall “through the cracks.” I know how easily that might happen because I receive many submissions. If you do not receive a response within that 6-month time frame,
it’s okay to write a follow-up email.
B. Kussow, Editor