“The speed with which a literary magazine responds to submissions is a frequent topic of conversation among those who, as editors take their sweet time wading through the slush pile, are necessarily biding theirs. As the weeks and months pass, it can become a bit of an obsession, and with the preponderance of online journals (not to mention print magazines accepting e-mail submissions), the wait—no longer a matter of eager anticipation of the friendly postal carrier’s daily visit, but an all-day in-box vigil—can be too much. Pity the writer who wonders what happened to not only her submission but also to her e-mail inquiring about her submission. Official response times vary widely.”

Poets&Writers, Inc., from the Jan/Feb 2008 issue.

I think the longest I’ve ever waited for a response was around 10 weeks. But I can relate to both the anxiety of waiting and the overwhelming pressure of a pile of slush.