The good news is that although the fiction team are still working from home, she has now been able to get into the office, so all postal submissions can now be read. I didn't ask how big the pile was, but it must be enormous.
My advice to people who are as yet unpublished by The Friend, and still waiting to hear about pre lockdown stories is to be patient just a little longer. Answering queries will take up time which could otherwise have been used to read submissions.
Don't forget that The Friend submission guidelines have now changed. Following the new requirements will help process our stories (a little) more quickly, so try to remember about the file names etc.
* It's still fine to comment there. I do check these and do my best to find answers to any questions raised whenever they're asked.
8 comments:
Thanks for this, Patsy. I have quite a few stories with them from the first half of 2020 (and one from December 2019). They are mostly long crime reads, and they only use around 9 of those per year, so I'm assuming that's partly why it's taking so long for to get a response on these - I've had plenty of other, shorter stories accepted by them over the past 18 months. But there's always that nagging worry that maybe the email didn't get through.
Thank you for this Patsy. I still don't understand their reading process though. They ask for seasonal stories to be submitted 6 months in advance. I sent a Christmas one May '20 and 2 Summer ones Aug '20 but not had any responses. I thought they prioritise and read all seasonal ones accordingly, but I am assuming these haven t been read. I just wonder how they choose which seasonal ones to read?
Thanks for querying, Patsy. It's tricky, because once you've sent your query email to your editor, you sometimes have to be patient all over again if it gets no response (this has happened to me with a few stories, including one from July 2019). I'm hoping they will be able to get through the backlog soon. Must be quite a pile of both physical and digital submissions now!
I've had rejections from ones I sent in the first months of the pandemic, but I'm looking on that as positive, because it shows things are slowly getting back to normal, and now I can study them and see where I'm going wrong. I sent another two just before they switched to email submissions for unpublished writers, so I assume they will be at the bottom of a very large pile!
Thanks, Patsy, for asking the question of TPF. It's good to have an answer and know where we stand. I will continue to wait patiently!
@ Liz – They do seem to prioritise the reading of stories according to the lengths they're looking for at the time. That's understandable of course, but as you say can sometimes cause us concern.
@ ChrisC – I'm sure their system is logical to them, but I confess I don't fully understand it either.
@ Jenny – I think the sheer volume of submissions is the reason we're waiting so long for responses. It probably accounts in part for some things not being read in the order they were submitted. Getting it all sorted into order would take a long time. Hopefully the new submission process will help.
@ Marian – Yes, they probably will be! I'm sure they'll be read and considered eventually, but it is frustrating to know it's likely to be a long wait.
@ New Girl – TPF team are good at trying to keep writers informed. The long delays must be just as frustrating to them as they are to us.
I had the quickest response ever from any magazine recently. I submitted a short story to Peoples Friend late one afternoon expecting a long wait and the next morning at 9 a.m I received an email as follows:
"Many thanks for submitting your manuscript. Although it’s been unsuccessful on this occasion, may we direct you to our website, www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk, where you’ll find our Fiction Guidelines, and tips and suggestions for writers. With every good wish for future submissions."
Now that must be a record. Anyway I laughed and submitted it elsewhere the very same day. No long wait for me.
MarieT
@ Marie – The new submissions process certainly seems to have speeded things up!
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