Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Slush Pile Update

So far we have received 104 submissions:

1 accepted, 11 held for voting, 1 withdrawn, and 71 rejected. In addition to that, we have sent 6 back for requested rewrites, three of which have come back already and been held for voting. That's impressive!

We still have 10 submissions before the editorial board, and 4 more still in our inbox.

In the past few months, we've added five new editors to the staff, so we're churning out replies quicker than ever before. We have reviewed all submissions received before October 9th, so if you submitted prior to that and haven't heard from us, please query.

You may also notice more editorial feedback with rejection letters. We have so any editors reviewing slush that we occasionally have five or six editors commenting before we make a final decision. We are also making an effort to give detailed feedback for stories that have flaws we can point out easily. We hope this extra feedback makes a rejection letter a little less like a rejection and more like a review from an experienced editorial board.

We look forward to seeing your stories in the slush pile...

FMM Staff

3 comments:

kevin said...

My story was among those rejected, but I have to say that the comments were both astute and encouraging. I immediately started another story and hope to submit before the upcoming deadline. Though it also may be rejected, the comments will be well worth the effort. Thank you.

Morgan Moore said...

Yes! Everything you are doing is really appreciated. My story was among those rejected, but it was my first story and first submission _ever_. I felt really motivated by the thoughtful comments to keep working at it, rather than giving up and feeling like "I must just not 'have it'." Thanks again!

JDawson said...

Excellent to hear. Feedback like that makes my job a pleasure...

JDawson
Editor-in-Chief