I don't know if that's because I'm perverse and don't like to be told what I should like, or whether it's because the recommenders haven't a clue. It's been fairly constant for a long, long time. I know exactly how many, month by month. It's more or less a hundred a week. An hour or so at a time, but not much longer.
Most submissions are terrible.
Not quite instantly. Not just by smelling them. But you can judge them the way you size up someone you meet at a party. If there's chemistry, you know right away. Sometimes you're wrong.