How to Follow Up on Short Story Submissions

One of the most difficult parts of being a short story writer is waiting for a response to a submission. It's even more difficult when a publication falls behind and the response takes longer than expected. Or worse, when there's no response at all.

If you've waited the maximum amount of time stated in the publication's guidelines and still haven't received an acceptance or rejection, it's time to send a status query.

Wait Time

The first thing you need to do is double check the magazine's website. If they have fallen behind on their reading, some magazines will revise their guidelines or post an announcement on their site.

If the website has not been updated and the guidelines state that the publication's response time is under a month, give them an extra week. If the response time is over a month, give them at least two extra weeks. Then send your query.

The Status Query

Keep your letter simple. Address it to the appropriate editor. State the title of your story and the date you submitted it. Then ask about the status. That's it. The letter shouldn't be any longer than three or four sentences.

The Response

Most editors will respond with an acceptance or rejection within a couple weeks. If it's an acceptance, congratulations! Now write a new story. If it's a rejection, submit the story to another magazine.

Sometimes an editor will ask you to resubmit. If he gives special instructions, follow them. Otherwise, follow the guidelines the way you did the first time you submitted your story.

Once in a while a publication is unresponsive. That could mean one of three things: they didn't receive your submission or query, they're no longer publishing the magazine, or your story and query letter have gotten lost in the slush pile. When this happens, you have no way to know the reason. You have to decide whether you want to send another status query, resubmit your story, or send a withdrawal and move on to the next magazine on your list.

Be aware that there are a few magazines that only respond if a story is accepted for publication. They don't send rejections and they don't respond to status queries. In these cases, it's usually stated in the guidelines. If you decide to submit to a publication that only responds upon acceptance, then you only need to wait the amount of time designated in the guidelines. Once that time has passed, you are free to submit your story to other magazines.