So how long will this all take?

The question every submitting writer wants to ask the agents or editors who have their work.

At SUCKER LITERARY, we try to be very transparent about the submitting/responding process. So I will break down the steps for all of you who have submitted (and those of you who are just curious).

We are now entering our reading and critiquing period. This process is rolling. From the moment I received the first set of submissions on March 1 when we opened the doors of this reading period all the way through doors closing on May 1, I’ve been fielding submissions to our readers. So the responding process actually has been going on for some time. However, the getting of the actual YAY, NAY, or MAYBE to you all will take another several weeks to several months. This is because our staff of 25 readers must fill out feedback sheets, which include whether or not a piece should be accepted, rejected, or mentored. Then they send those back to me, and I read EVERY SINGLE one. How long does that take?

Well,  I have a day job, my own writing, and a family with two kids under ten. SUCKER LITERARY is my labour of love, but in order for it to happen and to happen in the best way possible, each part of the process takes a lot of time (time I have to find in between all other parts of life). So the AMOUNT of time it takes really depends on. . .life.

Decisions about accepting and mentoring come from initial recommendations (on the feedback sheets)  from readers, but ultimately the piece must resonate with me. This part of the process also takes some time and cannot be rushed because I want to publish the VERY best work from emerging writers of short form YA fiction.

Once  decisions are made regarding pieces, notes and feedback sheets are given to the folks we have agreed to mentor or accept. And they, like all of us on staff, have lives filled with many other responsibilities. I do not like to rush their process of revising. So that part of the process can take more weeks or months. Revising can also take a round or two and so add a few more weeks or months onto that. Once revisions are completed, well, that’s a whole other timeline and blog entry!

So how long will this take? If you are a writer interested in being published, you really need to accept that the road there is not short and if it is, something isn’t right (sorry). Rushed publications mean more mistakes and more mistakes really irritate readers.

Ultimately, writers must be patient and must not rush the process of publishing just to satisfy the itch we all have to share our work with the world. We have to remember the responsibility we have not only to ourselves but to our readers.

So, if you have submitted to us, please be patient and remember that this time we are taking is for ALL of us so that our work can be the VERY best.

Related articles

• First Five Frenzy with Sarah LaPolla of Curtis Brown, Ltd. (chasingthecrazies.wordpress.com)
• Contests: Are You (and Your Manuscript) Ready? (chasingthecrazies.wordpress.com)
• Sucker Volume 2 Press Release (suckerliterarymagazine.wordpress.com)