All Together Now - Call for Submissions?

[WotC_Huscarl]

There's an automated response along the lines of, "We received your message; if you haven't heard anything within 90 days, assume we're not interested." From what I can gather, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, depending on how the email router in Rhode Island feels about autoresponding that day.

I send a response to every pitch I read. Most of the time, it's "Thanks for the proposal, but this one isn't what we're looking for right now." Sometimes I'll explain why we weren't interested. That either means I thought there was a kernel of a good idea there but it isn't coming together, or I like the quality of your writing and your ideas but not this idea. And sometimes, I get to write, "great idea, send me a detailed outline."

The thing is, much as I'd like to, I don't get to plow through the inbox every week. We get a lot of submissions. I tend to read them in clumps. I'll plow through a month or more's worth at one time, then might not look at them again for six weeks. When I do read, I tend to start with the newest and work backward. That means some people get dropped off the back end, because I never work back more than three months. But it also means that if our schedules coincide, you might get a response within just a few days.

Steve

 

[Jhaelen]

When I do read, I tend to start with the newest and work backward. That means some people get dropped off the back end, because I never work back more than three months.

So, when I don't get a response after 90 days it means you weren't interested _or_ I dropped off the back end?

This seems to indicate I should probably resubmit my pitch every 90 days until I get a reply, right?

I guess, I don't quite get what the advantage of starting with the newest pitches is, other than that it increases the chance that submissions drop off the back end.

Is it maybe because you prefer pitches expanding on ideas from the most recent products?
I would assume that after the release of a new supplement the chance of submissions dealing in some way with the new content is high.

 

[Dedekind]

That sounds like every publishing house I have ever heard of!