On the Fine Art of Prognostojection...

Prognostojection is an art practiced by writers who should not be day traders*--the obsessive-compulsive ones--and can only be pursued once one knows more of the ins and outs of the writing world. This is the art of looking at the rejections of others and using that to guess where one's own submission stands in the process.

Some venues have a consistent flow of submission and rejection. For example, in the snail mail world, F&SF always makes a fast turn-around. In the e-mail submission world, Venues like Fantasy and Lone Star Stories are very good about getting stories turned around quickly. Other venues work in batches, elimination a lot of stories from their slush pile, and then not moving anything for a few weeks....or months. Other venues have no pattern at all to their rejections, a terrible source of frustration to prognostojectors.

So, where does one begin? ( Cut to spare the flist )

Sudden fencing (and not the fun sort that involves sabers)

Fence guys calls at 1:00. Can we come now?

I'll be busy for the next few days....