Dear guys,
It's been _over a year_ now and I haven't heard back on my article proposals.
I know you know the story, but I sent something in early last year. It 'fell into the black hole' and was lost when you dug yourselves out. When we cleared that up I resent in a new proposal over four months ago and was told it would be at the top of the heap to look at.
Don't know if this will help, but I do a "pitch week" three times each year, about every four months (around 30 ideas at a shot). It usually takes four+ months to hear back. My last one was right before christmas and I have yet to get a response which is not unusual. I suspect it will be early May before or so I do. It was during my most recent pitch week (x-mas) that I heard back on the queries I sent in during the previous one in August. I'm planning another flurry in May and I wouldn't be surprised if that's when I hear back again.
Contributor
|
Dear guys,
It's been _over a year_ now and I haven't heard back on my article proposals.
I know you know the story, but I sent something in early last year. It 'fell into the black hole' and was lost when you dug yourselves out. When we cleared that up I resent in a new proposal over four months ago and was told it would be at the top of the heap to look at. I've emailed a few times with no response. Am I in a new black hole or being punished by the gods of Greyhawk for abandoning them all those many years ago? And if it's the former, any idea when those ideas might crawl out of that hole?
Thomas M. Costa
THOMASC148@aol.com
Dude.
If it's been a year, there's an extremely good chance the article somehow got lost. It happens sometimes. Not often, but it does. It would behoove you to send an email to Jason Bulmahn (dragon@paizo.com) with the article attached and let him know you originally sent it a year ago.
...
That goes for anybody who has been so patient. If we've publicized having done a couple submission meetings and you haven't heard anything back from us, there's a good chance your submission got lost in the mail. You don't have to be that patient. :)
...I do a "pitch week" three times each year, about every four months (around 30 ideas at a shot)...
Hal, I am in awe of your productivity! That is a staggering number of article proposals.
Hal, I am in awe of your productivity! That is a staggering number of article proposals.
Keep in mind, I only do pitches every four months or so, that means I just need to come up with a new idea every four days. All I do is carry around a little note book, whenever an idea comes to mind I just write it down. So, over that four day period, read a couple books, watch some movies, some Discovery channel specials, listen to the radio all of sudden you've got a hefty list of ideas. As the next pitch week approaches I sift through them looking for the ones that seem most interesting to write.
Once you make the little notebook part of your routine it becomes second nature to keep your radar open for ideas.
How about if you know that DRAGON have your article, have read it, might even like it, but haven't talked to you about it since you sent it in in November and haven't responded to the 3 or so e-mails sent asking what the status is ...
-- George Krashos
November '05? :)
I submitted "Take Cover" back in November 2004 and it just made it to print now. Six months without a response is far from unusual, it's been my experience that the quicker the response the more likely it is to be a rejection.
|
Contributor
|
Mike,
It's been a year since my original submission, but only 4 months since I resubmitted my submission and was told it would be put at the top of the pile. As for emailing, I can't seem to get a response from anyone, thus I came here.
Thomas,
Yikes. That's unfortunate. I'll bug Jason for you today. :)
Anyone know when the next meeting is?
Thomas,
Yikes. That's unfortunate. I'll bug Jason for you today. :)
Can you bug him for me, too? I don't have any issues, But bugging him sounds like fun. :D
Anyone know how caught up they are on queries at the moment?
My oldest unanswered e-mail with Mike dates to 05/16. I've heard back from him on a query sent in on 05/05.
My oldest unanswered e-mail to Jason (dragon@paizo.com) seems to be from 12/01/05. I know that query's gonna get rejected, though (it was for a big racial sub level, and sadly WotC has said no more racial subs :( ). My next oldest after that is from 01/27.
Hope that helps give you some idea about where they are.
We recently had a meeting. Responses might be in the mail... uh...
I have a super-power... I possess the unerring ability to submit queries just *after* the cutoff point for the next submissions meeting.
Funny, I don't remember writing it on my character sheet...
Alrighty. I'll check my e-mail later for my rejection e-mails from Jason. Have I ever mentioned I was a pessimist? ;)
Ah, but see.... If I check now and don't find any e-mails from you, then I can reach the pessimistic conclusion that you hate my ideas so much you didn't even deign to offer a reply. :D
Then when I get an e-mail next week, I'm pleasantly surprised....
No need to check quite yet. We are one meeting away from being caught up to only a week or two ago. Unfortunately, that meeting will not happen until early next week.
Close.. so close now
Oh... -swoon- You are killing me! :)
Somehow, the waiting just got harder since the end's in sight.
|
Ah, but see.... If I check now and don't find any e-mails from you, then I can reach the pessimistic conclusion that you hate my ideas so much you didn't even deign to offer a reply. :D
Then when I get an e-mail next week, I'm pleasantly surprised....
It's a win-win kinda thing because, if he sends you a rejection, then at least you know he really does care ;)
Nah - if he really cared, he'd buy me flowers once in a while.
:P :P :P
i haven't heard back anything about any queries, but i did hear back about a submission that's going to be printed sometime this year - won't say what that is yet, although some of you may have figured it out by now. ;)
Hmmm, looking over some notes I've recently dug up, it would seem I've still got some article queries outstanding from Febuary. Are these still on the table, as it were, or should I just go ahead and resubmit them for consideration?
|
Contributor
|
Hmmm, looking over some notes I've recently dug up, it would seem I've still got some article queries outstanding from Febuary. Are these still on the table, as it were, or should I just go ahead and resubmit them for consideration?
Don't resubmit them. They're in the pile of submissions Jason's going to start responding to in the near future. That pile goes back as far as... uh... *cough*uary.
;)
Okay, good to know. Thanks Mike.
That pile goes back as far as... uh... *cough*uary.
;)
You sure it doesn't go back to *cough*ber? I could've sworn I had a query from back then that was still hanging out there. :)
That's *cough*uary of 06, right? :-)
... all the rest have 31, except *cough*uary which has... damn, I always forget how many *cough*uary has.
Speaking of Black Holes....
:D
I'll dig through my old stuff and see what I have from December; I'm sure there was something. Then I'll send it to Jason's black hole. Er, to Jason's e-mail. ;)
edit: Should we send it to Jason specifically, or should we send it to dragon@paizo.com?
Director of Games
|
Speaking of Black Holes....
:D
I'll dig through my old stuff and see what I have from December; I'm sure there was something. Then I'll send it to Jason's black hole. Er, to Jason's e-mail. ;)
edit: Should we send it to Jason specifically, or should we send it to dragon@paizo.com?
Either will work, and as an aside, some of the ones in my pile are from December, so no need to resend those. The process is almost done.. just a few more days everyone... hopefully... ugg.
Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon
Ah. Mike was wrong for the first time this year, huh? Not bad Mike - June 5th. Impressive. ;)
I'm almost positive I have nothing from November or older, but I'll double check just in case. For anything else, I'll wait until you give the word that all your replies are sent.
The waiting used to get to me, too. I've sort of gotten used to it. Only sort of, though. ;)
Jason - I went through my sent mail. I do in fact have a query from December 1st that hasn't been responded to yet; but I'm not too worried about it, since I know it'll be rejected - it was for a racial substitution article for monstrous races. But since the big, mean wizard said no more Racial Subs...
Everything else I have outstanding is from January forward, so nothing (important) seemed to get sucked into the black hole. Yay! :)
Either will work, and as an aside, some of the ones in my pile are from December, so no need to resend those. The process is almost done.. just a few more days everyone... hopefully... ugg.
Jason Bulmahn
Managing Editor of Dragon
I have a couple from November, should I resend them or should I simply wait patiently (something I am getting exceedingly bad at... :))
Hi All
On average, about how many article ideas do you submit per query, and how much detail do you provide for each one? I've read the submission guidelines, but I'm not sure how much info to include. For example, an Ecology article is supposed to be 3,000 words, and always has the same subsections (Origins, Physiology, Psychology, etc). So in a query for that type of article, do you just put in a quick blurb (like a sentence or two) about each subsection?
Thanks,
GXI
Hi All
On average, about how many article ideas do you submit per query, and how much detail do you provide for each one? I've read the submission guidelines, but I'm not sure how much info to include. For example, an Ecology article is supposed to be 3,000 words, and always has the same subsections (Origins, Physiology, Psychology, etc). So in a query for that type of article, do you just put in a quick blurb (like a sentence or two) about each subsection?
Thanks,
GXI
Queries should be relatively short... for ecologies I try to include at least three creatures. For the most part I try to limit it to a single brief paragraph for each creature. If you search hard enough on here you can find the two sentence (successful) query Amber Scott wrote for the duergar - I never go quite that short, but it's proof that brevity can sometimes carry fruit - that was her 1st successful query to Dragon.
- Ashavan
Actually, Amber had an article way back in issue 299; Duergar was her first successful query after a long hiatus, though. :)
Actually, Amber had an article way back in issue 299; Duergar was her first successful query after a long hiatus, though. :)
I'll bow to your greater familiarity with her work.
At any rate.... search back in the messageboards for posts from F. Wesley Schneider on ecologies, he outlines what he's looking for (and perhaps more importantly, what he's NOT looking for).
- Ashavan
It's so good to know that I am not the only person who has three or four articles (articles, not queries) floating aimlessly through Dragon's little black hole slowly being torn apart and atomized by the powerful forces contained therein.
I even have an article that has been on permanent "standby" (their words not mine) since 2004! Of course, I can't even remember what that article is!
I even have an article that has been on permanent "standby" since 2004!
thank God I'm not the only one :oP
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
^_^
So while deClench provides the entertainment by singing one of my favorite Byrds songs...
How's the slush pile, Jason? Do you have any sort of anticipated date as to when you'll be done sending out e-mails from the last meeting? (and if you are done, I'll need to re-send some queries your way...)
|
Contributor
|
So while deClench provides the entertainment by singing one of my favorite Byrds songs...
How's the slush pile, Jason? Do you have any sort of anticipated date as to when you'll be done sending out e-mails from the last meeting? (and if you are done, I'll need to re-send some queries your way...)
I suspect the date will be some time after Origins, as Mr. Bulmahn is at this moment somewhere in Ohio.