[Gisele Posts: 489 Status: Offline]

Hi, everyone!

I submitted a few poems to Jack & Jill back in July, so it's been six months and I haven't heard a peep--response time is stated as three months. Just wondering what others would do at this point? Would you wait a while longer, send a status query, or just resubmit? I'm thinking it might be quicker just to resubmit and state that it is a resubmission???

I had even submitted these same poems to Turtle in January of 2013 and never heard back. I know there was probably a lot of confusion with Turtle being acquired by US Kids, but I'm getting mildly frustrated at this point...lol

I also hate sending something out to another market without having gotten an official response.

Thanks!

Gisele

[Sara Posts: 349 Status: Offline WWW]

I think everyone's having trouble getting a response from J&J and HD. (Take a look at the HD thread on magazine response times: https://www.scbwi.org/boards/index.php?topic=17418.0)

Since you already subbed the poems twice (once to Turtle, once to J&J), I might just send a SQ with a note that if you don't hear a response by such and such a date, you'll assume they weren't a fit. That would give you that mental freedom to submit them elsewhere. It probably would be fine to resubmit, but it doesn't sound like anyone on these boards is getting a response lately, so if you do that, you might be in the same boat as you are now a few months down the line.

Just my two cents.

[Gisele Posts: 489 Status: Offline]

Hi, Sara, and thank you so much for your thoughts. I think your suggestion to send a SQ with a note that if I don't receive a response by a certain date that I'll assume they weren't a fit is probably the best way to go. Think I've been on this carousel long enough.

Gisele 

[DellaRF Posts: 1,629 Status: Offline website: www.DellaRossFereri.com Twitter: @DellaRF WWW]

Gisele,
If it were me, I'd probably just submit the poems to other markets and mentally chalk it up as a 'no.' (And you never know, 6 months or a year from now you just may hear back.) Frustrating business at times. 

[Gisele Posts: 489 Status: Offline]

Hi, Della! Yeah, you're probably right. Since no one seems to be getting responses from them, at this point, it's probably best to move on. Thanks for chiming in. I appreciate your thoughts!

Gisele

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,819 Status: Online Language is so cool! WWW]

Move on, but don't withdraw until you sell them elsewhere. You could cost yourself a sale that way. Hopefully US Kids will resolve it's issues in the meantime.

[Gisele Posts: 489 Status: Offline]

Thanks, Debbie. Although, that's what I'm hoping to avoid. Getting into a situation where I sell something while it's floating around, possibly being considered somewhere else. Sigh. 

Gisele 

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,819 Status: Online Language is so cool! WWW]

Unless you've sent an exclusive submission, this isn't an issue. You politely withdraw the manuscript from whichever publisher hasn't gotten back to you. If they really wanted it, they should have responded in a timely fashion.

You can still send an SQ, of course. Give them a set time frame (in your mind) to reply to it and then move on.

[Gisele Posts: 489 Status: Offline]

Thanks, Debbie. What's the deal now with most of these magazines -- are they okay with simultaneous submissions as long as you mention it? I've noticed that many guidelines don't mention it one way or another. Think that's what I'll do instead of withdrawing it.

Gisele

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,819 Status: Online Language is so cool! WWW]

I'm not in a rush to make a sale so I usually send to one at a time the way you did. Most of the magazines respond within six months and none of my pieces are timed to events. In your situation, I'd assume it was a no and move on, but I never withdraw anything in case my assumption is wrong. If they haven't responded to your status queries, the simultaneous aspect of this submission is really on them.

[Gisele Posts: 489 Status: Offline]

Great points, Debbie. Thank you. I am going to resubmit it elsewhere and not worry about withdrawing. I think giving a publisher six months before sending somewhere else is a reasonable time frame. After all, writers can't be expected to wait indefinitely.

Gisele