Gollancz Open Door 2022

[WillowTreeBough]

Can't help you with this one, but it's very regular that open windows last a lot longer than the indicated 3 months (I was in that went from 3 months to 18....)

Hey thanks for the swift reply! I received an Email back in March saying that I’d made it to the next round, but nothing a since then. Hope springs eternal.

 

[HareBrain]

Hey thanks for the swift reply! I received an Email back in March saying that I’d made it to the next round, but nothing a since then. Hope springs eternal.

They did keep to their original time estimate for the initial sift-through, so hopefully it won't be too long. Make sure you check your spam folder to be on the safe side. And congratulations on getting to the next stage!

 

[WrittenWord]

Has anyone else heard from Gollancz since then? They said they’d follow up on the works that made it through the last round in three months and that date has elapsed…

They posted on Twitter a small update on July 6th. They are either behind or staggering responses, not sure which.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1676950776395235330

Unagented Submissions announcement!
To those of you who made it to the second round of consideration and have not heard back from us yet, we are still working through your submissions. Please be patient with us

If you have not received an email from us since the confirmation of your submission being received please check your spam folder! It usually likes to gobble us up

 

[WillowTreeBough]

They posted on Twitter a small update on July 6th. They are either behind or staggering responses, not sure which.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1676950776395235330

Hey thanks (and to HareBrain too)! I’ve not been on Twitter/X in a while so that’s super nice to hear.

 

[WrittenWord]

Update via their Tumblr says they're still working through submissions. @WillowTreeBough if you're still around.

https://gollancz.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F731700075848400896

We are occasionally open to unsolicited/unagented submissions, however as we are still (shamefully) working through our last batch - thanks to a grave underestimating of how many we would get, and overestimating of how much time we had around everything else - I can’t say for certain when we plan to re-open them.

- Posted on Oct 20th.

 

[WrittenWord]

Yet another update on their open submissions period via tumblr, posted yesterday.

https://gollancz.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F732626276238622720

Text:

To The Asker Who Messaged About the Open Subs:​

I saw your message come through over the weekend and was going to answer it today, but for some reason Tumblr, cursèd webbed site, has deleted it! I'm sorry I'm not able to reply directly.

Congratulations on making it through to the second pass round! We got nearly 1500 submissions, which is why it has been taking so long to get through them all.

Everything that got through to the second round is getting a deeper read, and we are getting back to people individually when we have read it. I currently have four loaded up on my Kindle for reading.

Unfortunately, alas, there are only six of us (and for a few months only four of us), and we're also trying to cram in All The Other Things that work requires of us (boo hiss). We were young, naive, foolish, and in the midst of a bright summer when we imagined reading through submissions, and were delighted we got so much interest! Unfortunately it turned into a bit of a Battle Royale between "How wonderful, lots of books!" and "how many hours are there in a day?

So all I can promise is that hopefully you will hear soon, and just be really contrite that we didn't get through them more quickly!

This makes it sound like they're staggering responses, which is something I suspected before. Does that mean some people have already gotten their offers or rejections from the second round? Or how is this supposed to work from here on out?

Anyone have experience with open submissions?

 

[WillowTreeBough]

Yet another update on their open submissions period via tumblr, posted yesterday.

https://gollancz.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F732626276238622720

Text:



This makes it sound like they're staggering responses, which is something I suspected before. Does that mean some people have already gotten their offers or rejections from the second round? Or how is this supposed to work from here on out?

Anyone have experience with open submissions?

Hey thanks for the update! I haven't heard anything from them yet, and since then have written an entire other doctoral dissertation, but I live in hope to one day hear back from them.

 

[leafify]

Hi all. I'm new here. Searching for news or updates about the Gollancz Open Door brought me here! It's almost 2 years now and still no news for some of us waiting for the second round. I wonder if they'll do a third round and it will be another couple of years lol?

I haven't seen anything more on their Tumblr or on Twitter, though someone on there did mention speaking to an editor about their submission at the fest they had. Has anyone heard anything else since?

 

[Serendipity]

I can't believe Gollancz have taken this long to reply to hopeful authors. In 2022 I thought I had no prospect of getting my novel published. Now it's 2024 and my second one is due to be published later this year. (Both novels were published by publishers.) I would not be surprised if some of the authors still being considered end up withdrawing their submissions and getting them published elsewhere.

 

[leafify]

An update from Gollancz's Tumblr:

https://gollancz.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F748279948071124992

 

[WrittenWord]

Just got The Email. And now our watch is ended.

Good Morning,

I hope this email finds you well.

This is a courtesy email to inform you that, should you have not heard anything from us by now, please be advised that we will not be taking your submission any further.

We received some incredible pieces and are delighted that so many of you have since secured agents and book deals.

We apologise that we cannot provide any additional feedback at this point but please do keep an eye out for any announcements of potential future Unagented Submissions opportunities.

Best wishes

 

[WillowTreeBough]

I have never been so disgusted as I am with Gollancz. Taking two years to get back to authors and then not even bothering to put our names on the emails. The discourtesy is STAGGERING.

Love how these big companies can hold us hostage to their garbage behavior, so much so that if we complain about it, WE get drummed out of the business.

This has killed a lot of my hope as a writer.