Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine submission

[Jed Power]

Thought someone might be interested.

On July 7, 2011 sent a story to A. H.  Couple of days ago I sent an e-mail query about the submission status.  

Received today: "At the moment we are responding to stories received in early June.  Therefore we estimate it will be another 1-2 months before you will be notified of our decision."

Best,

Jed 

[J. E. Seymour]

Yeah, I sent one in July of last year as well, and asked for an update in December.  She told me to check back in March.  Sounds like it might be even later than that.  Although, I am on the "skip the slush pile" list.  Don't know if that makes a difference.

Ellery Queen, on the other hand, with their electronic submission thingy, sends rejections at lightning speed.

[I. J. Parker]

Electronic submission thingy?  I submitted electronically to AHMM.  Not sure what the difference is.  Maybe the slush pile is being dealt with more quickly.

[J. E. Seymour]

Ellery Queen has gone to electronic submissions only.  There's a form on their site.  AHMM is still snail mail.  I presume you have been previously published by AHMM and maybe that's why they'll look at electronic submissions from you?  Here are the guidelines from their site:

Submissions should be sent to:

Dell Magazines
AHMM
267 Broadway
4th Fl.
New York, NY 10007-2352

Style. We prefer that stories not be longer than 12,000 words; most of the stories in the magazine are considerably shorter than that.They should, of course, be well written. We are looking for stories that have not been previously published elsewhere, and among them for those that are fresh, well told, and absorbing. They should be entirely fiction: please do not send us stories based on actual crimes, for instance, or other real-life events.

Manuscript preparation. Manuscripts should be typed on plain white paper (not erasable paper) and double-spaced (not space-and-a-half), with your name and address at the top of the first page. The title of the story as well as the byline you want to use should be on the first page of the story also. (We prefer that there not be a separate title page.)

Please do not justify the right-hand margin. The number of lines per page should be uniform. Indicate line breaks with a single line and a centered pound sign (#).

Every page of the story should be numbered, preferably in the upper right-hand corner. If you number the pages by hand, be sure before you start that no page has been omitted.

Do not use the italic, large-size, or boldface characters some computers are capable of generating. Underline words to indicate italics.

Indent for each paragraph. Do not leave 1-line spaces between paragraphs.

Stories should be mailed to us flat, with the pages bound together by a paper clip only-not stapled or enclosed in a binder. A cover letter isn't necessary. If you want the manuscript returned in the event we cannot use it, you must include a self-addressed stamped envelope; contributors outside the U.S.A. should send prepaid International Reply Coupons in lieu of stamps. If you have sent us a photocopy and do not want it back, please advise us of that and enclose a smaller SASE for our response. Please keep a copy of any material submitted, since we cannot be responsible for lost or misdelivered mail.

If you would like acknowledgement of receipt of your story, include a self-addressed stamped postcard in your original mailing that will be returned to you when your submission is opened.

We do not accept electronic submissions. Please do not send disks or e-mail attachments unless we specifically ask you to.

[I. J. Parker]

I see.  You may be right.  I asked before I e-mailed the ms.  By the way, that didn't really speed things up.  :)

[I. J. Parker]

There is only a part-time assistant.  If everything in the slushpile gets read, I can see the problem.  Very good luck to both of you.

[Charles Kelly]

While this isn't right on topic, I can't resist telling you about a story I did on the magazine Arizona Highways several years ago.  A writer had complained he had been waiting a couple of years for his story to run, so I asked the editor how long it typically took the magazine to run a story after it had purchased it.  He said long delays were common.  I asked him what the record was for the length of time between buying a story and running it.  We researched it, and it turned out the answer was "31 years."  Early in its existence the magazine bought an article from a well-known Western historian, and held onto it for 31 years--long after his death--before publishing it.

[I. J. Parker]

Dear God!  It's funny, but I really don't want to wait that long for this story to appear in print.  These days, Kindle waits and every day is money lost.

[Brian Hoffman]

I've got one hanging fire at AHMM from late August.  I expect I'll here about it sometime next year.

[Arnold Edwards]

I sent a story to ALFRED HITCHCOCK a few months ago and it was returned, No Forwarding Address.  Did they change locations?

[Jed Power]

Arnold, 

The address now is: Dell Magazines, AHMM, 267 Broadway, 4th Floor, NY, NY  10007-2352.

I'm not sure if that is the address I used back in July, (although I think it is) but that's what they list now.  

Try Ellery Queen if you haven't already; it's an electronic submission but they seem to respond within a few weeks.

Good Luck.

Best,

Jed

[Sally Spedding]

Two years ago, I sent Strand Magazine a short story and a year's subscription. Zilch, despite several emails...

[Arnold Edwards]

Short stories are getting harder and harder to sell.  The markets are drying up.  I've sold four (4) short stories to print magazines, but the last one was around 2004.  I don't know if I'll ever sell another.  And when they say "2-4 months for a reply" I ignore their request for no multiple submissions.