Anticipation

I realize now that waiting might be the hardest part of writing. I can control my output, at least to a point. I can control the quality of a query, or edit a short story thirty times, but I cannot control how editors receive my writing, or how long it takes them to respond.

I know that Duotrope's is not an exact science, but it has been very close to accurate so far. So now I sit, watching as the average response time for a rejection passes. Then I with heavy anticipation, I watch the average acceptance day pass. It has been a week since I saw that.

Now, as a new writer, I am unsure if this means that I am on the short list, if they are going to accept it, or if my email somehow got lost in the interwebz. I have checked my sent box and spam boxes a dozen times. Everything looks kosher from what I can tell. I formatted it to their specifications as well, so I doubt they flat out tossed it.

So now I sit here, waiting, and watching the pending submissions drop, and their rejection rate increase. Yet I am still in the queue, and creating a new record for response time, either by rejection (by about double their usual), or a few days by their acceptances.

I need to put it out of my mind, and if it hasn’t come in two weeks I should probably follow up. The anticipation is killing me though. At this point, I just want to know, win or lose what the answer is.