“The difference between writing a book and being on television is the difference between conceiving a child and having a baby made in a test tube.”
-Norman Mailer
So, I received a rejection e-mail from Daily Science Fiction for the submission I sent them three weeks ago. I had high hopes for this story to be published there. I sent it to other markets before sending it to DSF, because I didn’t want my only publications coming from the same market (not that I would’ve turned that down, hence I eventually submitted it there :P).
But I especially got excited when Daily Science Fiction hadn’t responded to the submission by the two-week mark. Why two weeks? Because that was when they rejected the first story I sent to them. Technically, it was twelve days. And when DSF bought A Day Like No Other, it was three weeks from the date of my submission.
I know there’s no set rule as to when you’ll get rejected or accepted, but still, there’s always that glint of hope.
The next market I’m sending the story to will be Abyss & Apex. It was between that one and BULL SPEC. I picked the former because their reading period ends at the end of the month. So why not get it in now?
For a Writer's Growth 
Hehe, I always get excited when my submission’s been out for a while. I track my submissions on Duotrope and start to hyperventilate when I pass the average days out, then get more and more excited as the absolute deadline approaches. If I have to query, I’m pumped.
That said, it doesn’t always work that way. I’ve had a story with Flash Fiction Online for nearly two hundred days; they haven’t responded to my queries, and, according to Duotrope, they haven’t responded to any submissions made since July 25. I’ve also had something with Apex Magazine for four months, but I get the impression it is not because it is being considered seriously yet but rather because it was sent to the editor who has been too busy to look at it. (And I don’t mean that vindictively against Apex’s editorial team, or FFO’s either. Editing is an incredibly time-consuming job… I count myself lucky to get rejected on time.)
Anyway, that’s why I track my submissions. It makes writing kind of like a videogame, I find: scoring points every day a submission is out, wondering if you’re going to win… I love Duotrope, basically, haha.
Duotrope is a very resourceful site. That’s where I find the majority of the markets to send my stories. I find myself tracking my submissions via their stats page myself from time-to-time. 🙂
Another good resource is Ralan’s – a comprehensive list of up-to-date markets. I too got rejected from Daily SF – *sob* but am ready to send them another story.
Hi, Sally!
Yeah, I’ve heard of Ralan’s before. I’ll need to make it a point to check them out as often as I do duotrope.
Unfortunate to hear about your DSF rejection. But keep at it!
Hey there! I found your blog while looking up information about Daily Science Fiction, since I’m planning on submitting to them. I hope you’ve had luck placing the story in question since 2011. Trying to get work published is a struggle, and it’s always so disappointing to get rejected…but it’s good to keep plugging along, I suppose.
It’s interesting that you get excited when your story’s been out for a while! I tend to conclude that they’ve decided they’re not interested and just haven’t bothered to tell me. I actually had that happen–they rejected me via Submishmash, and didn’t send a form email. I didn’t check Submishmash for a while, and on, when I did I found out I’d been rejected months ago. It was awesome.
Anyway, thanks for this entry–I found out the answer to my question, which was, “how long does it take for Daily Sci Fi to get back to you?” Nice to meet you!
Hi, Anna! Nice ot meet you too! Glad my post was able to answer your question. 🙂
As for the story in question, it actually was accepted into a sci-fi anthology that just released this past weekend. I made a post about it today! lol.
And DSF is really good about responding in a timely manner. Hopefully I’ll see your work sent to my e-mail sometime soon!
See you around!
Oh wow, congratulations! That’s wonderful. I’m glad that your story found such a great home.
Yeah, it seems like they only take a few weeks, which is rare, and much appreciated, since they don’t accept simultaneous submissions. I’m confident about this particular story and would very much like to see it placed, so if they don’t take it I want to start sending it to other places immediately. I don’t normally write sci-fi though, so I’ll have to do some research to figure out where else to look.
See you!
Yes, it’s awesome when markets respond quickly…. although I haven’t had anything accepted by them, another market that responds quickly is Lightspeed Magazine (Lightspeedmagazine.com). Also, you can check out duotrope.com for a healthy list of markets to submit to.
Thanks! I do use Duotrope sometimes, although I mostly use the list at pw.org, and the interviews at a blog called Six Questions For, which interviews the editors of various Literature magazines (http://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.com/). That one is really great for getting more detail about what they’re actually looking for.
I’ve only just started to use Duotrope, since their information is more up-to-date. I’ll check out Lightspeed Magazine, thanks. Thanks for the info!
Cool! I didn’t know about Six Questions For! That’s pretty neat. Thanks for sharing!
No problem! It’s a little difficult to know what to look for, but it’s fun to just read the entries. It’s one of my favorite blogs on the Internet.
Well, that’s life I guess. I have one story where one magazine said they couldn’t use it, but could I do a bit of fixing and send it to them again?? Well I did and they rejected it. Likewise at Daily Science Fiction, I got an e-mail saying the story had “made it to the second round” (first story to get that far). But it was still rejected.
But you know what? Even if they didn’t like the story enough to publish it, they still liked it enough to “seriously” consider it. So I have another story that received an “Honorable Mention” in the Writers of the Future Contest (bIt of a pain to send stories in to them since the contest judging seems to go on forever …) which is the first time that’s happened to me.
So why not fling it at DSF? It’s not as if “they don’t like me anymore”, right?
And if they don’t like it — er, reject it, I’ll work my way through the higher paying markets and gradually drift downwards until I get to the non-paying markets. Heck, none of us are going to get rich doing this. So at least you get a writing credit out of it.
And I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of my submissions. I look at it every so often (especially when something comes back), but I don’t get too excited if something sits at a magazine for longer than normal. There are just too many potential reasons for that, other than my writing ability.
Wow! That’s awesome you received an Honorable Mention from the WotF contest! I’ve never even received that! Haha, but it IS a looooooong wait to hear results back from them. They tie up your story for so long, which is why I prefer to submit things to them near the end of any given quarter, haha. That is a phenomenal contest though. One of the guys on my blog list, Scott Baker, was a winner a few years back.
I’d say send the to DSF! They are a good-paying market, and if none of the high-paying markets accepts the piece, I do like the idea of drifting toward non-paying. It means you have your sights set high but you’re not ashamed to write for the sheer pleasure of it. Writing credits are good though! It can lead to great connections and it expands your resume. 🙂
Thanks for visiting!