Withdrawal

I don’t make a habit of withdrawing stories I submit for publication, but I have done it a couple of times in the past. I did it again this morning. I have a longish story, 5200 words, that’s been with a penny-a-word market for over five months. I queried about it a few weeks ago and was told that the editor’s reader would get to it “soon.”

Under normal circumstances, I probably would have been content to let the story stay with them another month. There aren’t many markets that take 5000+ word stories of that type, and it’s a market that has been getting some decent coverage lately. However, a much better market came along that has a very short window for submissions. So, with some regret but with a mind toward taking the reins, I issued an apologetic retraction this morning. The editor responded quickly with regrets and understanding, and his own apology for how long he’s had the story, saying he hoped that in the future he’d be able to respond faster to my submissions.

Big sigh of relief. I mentally cringe when I get back a letter in circumstances similar to these, half-expecting some sort of tirade, but the editor was eminently professional about the situation—and I hope I was, too. If the story had only been out a couple of months, I would have felt guiltier about pulling it for a better market. If the new market hadn’t come along, I would have been fine with the original market if they’d accepted the story, so it seems a little fickle. However, five months is a long time—a lot of pro markets like F&SF, AHMM and EQMM manage quicker turnarounds than that.

Of course, I run the risk that the original market might have accepted the story and the new market will reject it, but those are the kinds of risks a person has to take.

I watched the season premieres of NCIS and The Unit last night. NCIS did a good job of making us wonder if a regular character was going to be killed off. They’ve done it before. I thought they managed the perfect balance between creating suspense and not stringing us along too long before the question was answered. The Unit was very good. It was like the middle episode of a trilogy, with part one being last spring’s finale and the conclusion coming next week, but it didn’t tread water like middle episodes sometimes do. I was waiting for the unit commander to snap his wife’s neck when they were in the hotel room, just to wipe that smirk off her face. I have House, L&O: SVU and Boston Legal on tape/DVR.

Tonight: Back to You, the new Kelsey Grammar/Patricia Heaton sitcom, Criminal Minds and maybe the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, which runs at the same time.