I think it’s an unreasonable expectation for writers to expect their stories to be published within a few hours or the same day based on:

-different time zones in the world

-some pubs close or slow down on weekends and holidays


-the fact that editors are volunteers and typically have day jobs, and other responsibilities and priorities(parenting, fitness, life stuff)

-editors are providing a voluntary service and it takes time to review submissions. Most publications state their publishing turn-around in their guidelines, so writers should already be aware, and be respectful of this. My pub publishes between “1-3 days, quicker if I’m fast, slower if I’m busy!”

-some writers don’t even read the guidelines and send in stories with typos, grammatical errors, poor quality photos (I run a photography publication) or do NOT follow the rules and formatting guidelines. This is super frustrating for editors as we end up spending extra time on reviewing submissions because writers simply didn’t proof thru stories or bother to read guidelines!

-for “print” publications, before online pubs became ubiquitous, their turnaround times can be 2 weeks-6months+. In this online world, sadly it seems everyone wants everything “done now!” And this seems impossible, and unrealistic and doesn’t provide any benefit to writers or editors to “rush” through submissions just to please someone’s personal timeline.

If you want to know what upsets editors on their end, read this…

https://medium.com/six-word-photo-story-challenge/dont-piss-off-the-editors-c774bdbee91b?sk=2a38db7c7f8ef8b92370ce7a061a61cf