Slush pile at F&SF

GVG posted the slush pile for May 3 and 5. (click to get big picture) He had already taken 6 off the pile. By my count there are about 50 subs there. I guess you have to be very very good to float up to the top of a pile like that.

If they are getting 25 to 30 subs a day, they can't be reading every story to the end - it's physically impossible. A good editor will skim the first page and make a decision to flush the story or keep checking. The editor might skip to the end and see how the money shot works out, or if the writing is compelling he might read the story straight through.

When you sub to F&SF there are several "code" phrases in the rejection. The phrase "didn't grab my interest" means that GVG or JJA did not make it through the first page. "Didn't hold" means it went further. "Nice writing here" means one of them read the whole thing. They are all rejections. I usually get the "Didn't grab" and once I got a "Didn't hold".