Couple of reasons. Since Susan and I are collaborating at long distance, reading the MSS as they come in would involve a lot of photocopying and extra mail costs, whereas if we wait till the end of the submission period I can just take a few days off, fill the trunk up with envelopes and drive down to California. Plus, it’s just easier to spend a couple of days going through the whole stack than to spend a few hours on it every week.
But in general, as an editor, I think it’ll be better to wait till all the stories are in and then judge them on an equal footing. And as a writer, I want to discourage rejectomancy — particularly of the “I haven’t heard anything, but Bob’s already got a rejection notice — they must like my story!” variety.
It’d be different if I was running a magazine — then it’d be rolling acceptances and rejections, and worry about fitting the acceptances into the publication schedule later.
You're just letting the subs pile up? How come?
Delayed due to the illness, or have you already lost the thrill of slushdiving?