Query/Submission Statement: October 2023

October was another busy month, and I sent a fair number of queries and submissions. That said, queries are winding down as I wait for replies to those still outstanding. Anyway, here’s how I did in the tenth month of the year of our lord 2023.

October 2023 Short Story Submissions

• Submissions Sent: 5
• Rejections: 3
• No Response: 0
• Acceptances: 0
• Further Consideration/Shortlist: 0
• Withdrawals: 0

Five submission is the most I’ve sent in a single month in 2023, which is kinda sad. In years past, that would be a very slow month. I’ve managed a paltry 32 submissions this year and only three acceptances. I’d like to hit 50 submissions in 2023, but I’d need to send 9 subs in November and December. We’ll see if I can pull it off.

October 2023 Agent Queries

• Queries Sent: 9
• Rejections: 8
• CNR: 2
• Full/Partial Request: 0
• Withdrawn: 0

Nine more queries in October, which brings my total up to fifty. At this point, I’m content to wait for the queries I have outstanding to resolve before I send any more. That said, if an agent who seems a particularly good fit opens to queries in the near future, I’ll definitely fire one off. The rejections and CNRs have been rolling in, and October saw record highs in both. I expect November to also be a month of rejections and CNRs.

I’m still waiting on responses for the three full manuscript requests I received in July and August, and I’ll send status queries on two of them in the next few weeks. The third agent asked for three to six months to review a manuscript, so I think it pays to be patient there.

I admit I’m a little worried about the fact that I received three manuscript requests in short order when I started querying, and I’ve gotten nothing but rejections and crickets since. It might be that just through sheer blind luck I queried the three agents most likely to be interested in my book from the get-go. Hard to say, but best not to read too much into it.

And that was October. My goals for November primarily to send more short story submissions. I’m also working on another novel I’d like to have ready to go if/when SECOND DAWN doesn’t pan out.

How was your month of querying/submitting/writing?