Storm Clouds mean "Grrr"

So, when I send off a query, I only submit to publishers who accept unagented authors. I include the items each publisher requires, and of course I only send to those who like my genre.

(More on genre later!)

Some, for example, require only a cover letter and 3 sample chapters. If you send them anything else, they throw the submission away. Some require double-spaced in Times Roman font, others want New Courier, single spaced. A few require the entire novel printed out and mailed to them, along with a SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.) For those, they generally require that you don’t simultaneously submit to anyone else until they respond.

I, as the dutiful query-ee, send them exactly what they say they want, with the understanding that They, as the professional query-er, read it and respond within a reasonable amount of time.

Reasonable time varies with publisher, so that’s why they list their anticipated turn-around time on their website.

Well, I have three (3!) publishers whose responses are LATE. Per their OWN standards, they should have responded last month. I’ve been patiently waiting all this time, and now it’s PAST time. Ugh.

What could that mean???

Me? I like to think their staff is sitting around a room discussing whether or not to take a chance on this unknown writer, and that the heated discussion (with my advocates protesting loudly for me and outweighing the naysayers) is what’s keeping them so long.

But, a big part of me thinks they stopped reading and simply tossed it in the trash.

Grrr. I hate waiting.