Today I wrote the final e-submission response for the final batch of e-submissions. By now, if you’ve sent an e-sub to Black Gate, there are five possible results:

1. 1. I’ve let you know that I’ve forwarded the story on to John O’Neill for serious consideration and he’s purchased your story.
2. 2. I’ve let you know that I’ve forwarded the story on to John O’Neill for serious consideration and he’s passed on your story.
3. 3. I’ve passed the story on to John but you haven’t heard from him yet. John’s steaming along and should get to your tale soon. I apologize for his delay — we had to send his nephew to Tijuana to pull John out of the gutter, so he’s a week or so behind yet. He didn’t have any manuscripts with him, though, so nothing important got soiled.
4. 4. I’ve rejected the story and sent you a note.
5. 5. I’ve sent a rejection but you haven’t received it because your spam filter blocked me or because your address changed. 

If you’ve sent me something and haven’t heard back yet, drop me a line. Do remember that when I came on board John took the physical slush and I took the electronic slush, so I can’t answer any physical slush questions, other than that I know John is still working his way through some, alternating between reading those and reading the stories I forwarded on to him for serious consideration.

When we re-open for submissions again we are likely to employ reading periods to help keep things under control. Those reading periods will, naturally, be announced both here and on the web site.

To celebrate, this weekend I will unload some 160 bales of hay into my barn, grade a bunch of papers, and, hopefully, finish the polishing pass on my novel.

My best to all! Have a great weekend.

Howard