Query/Submission Statement: August 2023

August was a busy month in submission land. Most of my time was spent sharpening up my query package and sending queries for my novel SECOND DAWN. I won’t lie; short story submissions have fallen by the wayside of late. Anyway, let’s have a look.

August 2023 Short Story Submissions

• Submissions Sent: 1
• Rejections: 0
• No Response: 0
• Acceptances: 0
• Further Consideration/Shortlist: 0
• Withdrawals: 0

Exciting, huh? One submission and no responses. I’ve sent a grand total of 25 short story submissions this year, and it’d be nice to hit 50. I’ll need to catch the short story bug again to do that, but it’s still possible.

August 2023 Queries

• Queries Sent: 20
• Rejections: 7
• CNR: 2
• Full/Partial Request: 2

Clearly, this is where I’ve been spending the bulk of my submission time. I sent 20 queries last month, received 7 rejections, and managed to score another two full manuscript requests, for a total of three. All my FMRs are still pending, so whether it’s to be heartbreak or jubilation has yet to be determined. I’ve been very transparent with my query process, and if you’d like to follow my progress in more detail, check out the posts below.

• Query Quest: A New Rejection Frontier
• Query Quest: Baby’s First Query Rejection
• Query Quest: Agent Query Checklist Part 1
• Query Quest: Rejection #2
• Query Quest: What Are My Chances?
• Query Quest: Full Manuscript Request
• Query Quest: Who Should I Query?
• Query Response Round-Up: Week of 8/18/23
• Query Response Round-Up: Week of 8/25/23

Anyway, that was August. I really feel like I hit my stride with queries last month, and my query package, I think, is pretty strong and has all the pieces I need to query to any agent at any time. Still, this is all new to me, so it’s definitely a learn as you go kind of thing.

How was your month?