Author variety in Dragon/Dungeon

[Jack99]

After a half dozen queries with no response and a submitted slush pile article that then never received a promised response, I pretty much gave up on sending in queries for the time being. No use wasting time on coming up with ideas to pitch if they won't even take the time for a form rejection letter. It's not cool to leave people just hanging like that. However, that said, if it's purely a case of not having enough to people to actually provide responses -even if just the rejection forms- then my criticism shifts to management who then direly need to add resources if a much smaller company like Paizo could take the time to respond to queries.

The current information black hole over there since the magazines went electronic is easy way to risk apathy and disinterest by people who actively want to submit material.

Maybe they do not want to employ people who insult them and their work at just about any opportunity they get. But then again, unless you sign your work with Shemesha, it's kinda hard for them to know..

That aside, I agree with you. The least they could do is a short responce saying they are not interested in what you have submitted. In fact, it's pretty pathetic that they do not.

 

[MarkAHart]

After a half dozen queries with no response and a submitted slush pile article that then never received a promised response, I pretty much gave up on sending in queries for the time being. No use wasting time on coming up with ideas to pitch if they won't even take the time for a form rejection letter...

I find myself in the same boat. I submitted 30 queries over the course of 3 weeks. More than 90 days have elapsed, with no word on any of them.

Although I followed the currently posted submission guidelines, during a recent WotC D&D podcast, Chris Youngs discussed submitting to the e-magazines, and his comments made me think that the submission queries they want bear little resemblance to the posted guidelines.

I have to admit, as much as a rejection note sucks, it seems preferable to never hearing anything. It sometimes took the gang over at Paizo a long time to respond, but some response to a query at least gave the writer a sense of closure.

 

[catsclaw227]

I find myself in the same boat. I submitted 30 queries over the course of 3 weeks. More than 90 days have elapsed, with no word on any of them.

Well, this might be one of the issues. One person sends 30 inquiries in 3 weeks. Understandably, because the more you submit the greater your chance of an acceptance (generally).

But if one person sends in 30 submissions, and 1000 people send in stuff, they are probably too overwhelmed to send a rejection letter.

 

[Destan]

Just to throw a fly in the ointment: I've been published in Dungeon during the Paizo Dynasty and the WotC Dynasty, and in both cases received responses - including rejection letters. Those responses weren't as prompt under the current regime, but that is to be expected with all the furor going on these days.

I will say that James Jacobs and Erik Mona were - and I'm sure still are - absolutely excellent when it came to giving feedback, both positive and negative.

Free advice is worth what you pay for it, but I would personally limit myself to one query per month per mag. Polite follow-up emails can't hurt, either.

D

 

[Shroomy]

I just went over to look at the online editions after seeing that DDI is going to start charging a fee. I noticed that much of the content is produced by fairly well-known (in the D&D community) authors and designers.

While this sounds like a good thing, the impression I got was a certain level of consistency to the brand and to the materials already published. One of the more interesting things about Paizo's publications was that they drew from a broader range of authors who had slightly different, though compatible, voices.

Are the online mags taking submissions? Are they getting them in volumes comparable to the paper mags? Am I being deceived by the stylistic sameness of the layouts?

While this thread has dovetailed a bit, I think the reason you are currently seeing the same WoTC staff and freelancers in Dragon and Dungeon is the lead time on the articles. I bet that most of the content you are seeing was commissioned months ago, when only internal staff and select freelancers had full access to the 4e rules.