Rejection, rejection, rejection...

Discussion in 'Traditional Publishing' started by deadrats, Aug 19, 2016.

  1. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    A 157-day form rejection from Bennington Review.
     
  2. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    A 38-day form rejection from Ploughshares.
     
  3. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    A 101-day form rejection from Colorado Review.
     
  4. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    A 54-day form rejection from Story.
     
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  5. X Equestris

    X Equestris Contributor Contributor

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    A 20-day form rejection from Daily Science Fiction.
     
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  6. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    Anybody got any recs for places to submit sci-fi/YA/fantasy stories?
     
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  7. J.T. Woody

    J.T. Woody Book Witch Contributor

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    The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy (im wait for this one to open up again for submissions)
    Interzone (i got rejected from here a few years ago... Havent worked up the courage to try again)
     
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  8. Woodstock Writer

    Woodstock Writer Senior Member

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    For YA I’ve been published in Youth Imagination. A new place that has just opened up is Voyage, seems very similar except it pays 10 times as much!
     
  9. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    Thanks! Submitted to Interzone...and promptly rejected.

    Also been rejected by Masters review.
     
  10. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    A 49-day form rejection from The Rumpus.
     
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  11. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    You might want to try One Teen Story. It's not written be teens but not them. They are part of One Story so expect it to be pretty hard to land a story there, but nothing is impossible. I believe they pay $500 for a story. I haven't read the teen version, but I used to subscribe to One Story and they sometimes take on things that cross that genre line. I think the coolest story they published (when I subscribed) was this comic book story. The really interesting thing was that after you read it you were supposed to read it backwards and it was a completely different story, but still worked flawlessly. It was complete comic-book style with illustrations and everything and ran about 20 to 30 pages, maybe. I'm still amazed by it.

    I'm just saying they're not afraid to go outside the box. Also, they just opened submissions today and are free to submit to. Just make sure your story is really polished. It's a tough market, but I think it's worth giving them a try. And make sure you submit to the teen version, not the regular one. They have different submission managers for each. Good luck.
     
  12. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Oops. I just want to submit story to One Story myself and they don't open submissions until the 8th. But do keep the teen version in mind, those of you writing YA short stories. @Zeppo595 @J.T. Woody See above post for more details.
     
  13. Woodstock Writer

    Woodstock Writer Senior Member

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  14. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    My bad. I think they changed it.
     
  15. HeathBar

    HeathBar Active Member

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    One implicit rejection (agency tweeted that all queries received since [DATE] have been reviewed), otherwise quiet. Pausing querying efforts at the moment. I did try #pitmad yesterday, but no luck. Still working on my creative non-fiction piece -- it's close-ish. I subscribed to Duotrope and have been learning to navigate there. @deadrats and others - would love any recommendations on best places to submit creative non-fiction. It's piece exploring three different life moments, ultimately connecting dots between them, with a wee bit of pop culture (rock music) sprinkled in. Probably end up between 4-5K (currently 3546, but I know I need to flesh out one part).
     
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  16. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    @HeathBar -- I really like The Sun Magazine. You can read two things a month on their website for free. I also do recommend a subscription because it's an amazing publication that has never run ads. Reading a few pieces from them will give you a better idea if your piece is a good fit. If you end up breaking your essay up at all and end up with shorter pieces, I also like Brevity. Depending on the tone, Barrelhouse could be a possible place to try. They like a little pop culture. It's hard to really know without seeing your piece. My biggest suggestion when it comes to creative nonfiction is that you really want the writing and subject matter to feel current and timely and that there's still a good story being told.

    Duotrope has a feature where you can see where other writers who submitted work to a publication additionally sent the same piece. Make sure the listing is set to nonfiction while looking for places for the piece in question. I think this can be really helpful.
     
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  17. HeathBar

    HeathBar Active Member

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    This is great - thank you. I’ve been reading a bunch of stories online and elsewhere, but without much direction. Now I have some....:)
     
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  18. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I think you're strong enough to try again (whenever you're ready). These places don't think twice about the stories or writers they reject. And rejection is all part of this. The vast majority of submissions we make are going to be rejected. But a new story is always a new chance. I don't know you that well, but I believe in you. You seem like a really smart and kind person. And I say don't stop taking chances on yourself. This is hard. It doesn't get easier. Even as our writing improves, the submission game is still a bitch.

    I repeatedly try The New Yorker. They usually reject me within three months as they seem to do with most or all of the slush pile. Most of my rejections from them are forms, but in between those form rejections I got a very encouraging personal rejection. I might have made it out of the slush pile with that one, but my time being passed up the food chain was brief. And I know how much of a long shot this is, but every three months I try to have something new ready to try again and again and again. Don't get me wrong. I get nervous every time I hit send with this one. There are a few places that make me nervous about hitting that send button. Okay, maybe it's always a little scary to hit send or submit. I am a professional submitter and I'm rejected all the time.

    Sure, I've had some really great places publish my work, but those same places rejected many other stories from me. You just have to hope you are sending the right story to the right place at the right time. A lot of that is out of our control, but writing great stories isn't.

    There was a piece about aiming for 100 rejections in a year. Some writers are doubling that. Here are some links that talk about the benefit of aiming for a high rejection count. It's pretty hard to get 100 rejections in a year let alone the 215 mentioned in The Kenyon Review piece. But there is something to be said for really putting yourself and your work out there. And, of course, this means trying the places we really want to publish with even if we think a little thing like lack of courage is strong enough to stop us. ;) It's not.

    100 rejections a year
    https://lithub.com/why-you-should-aim-for-100-rejections-a-year/

    215 rejections a year
    https://kenyonreview.org/2016/07/doubling-rejection-goal-received-215-rejections-2015/
     
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  19. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I was just rereading these essays and the one about aiming for 100 rejections https://lithub.com/why-you-should-aim-for-100-rejections-a-year/ really makes some good points. It seems to help with getting over that fear of submitting certain places. If we're collecting rejections or even aiming for them, well, the big places are an almost guaranteed rejection, bringing us closer to the goal of trying to reach 100 rejections.

    I've sort of been looking at the whole submission process as I should send out at least one thing a week. I sometimes submit more and I sometimes slip. But I don't slip often. Still, I'm starting to think if I shift my focus to collecting rejections, it might affect how things are going. I get timid. I miss deadlines that didn't have to be missed. I've gotten too nervous to send things at certain times.

    I know I just talked about The New Yorker, and I am on top of that. But then the article mentions Agni. Agni just opened and I had planned to submit the same story to them that I sent to The New Yorker. I read my story through and changed only a few words in one sentence. It's probably the best story I have out. But I didn't send it to Agni. I thought to myself that I have more time. I can take a week. I can take another week. And I don't know what I'm waiting for. Is this something all writers go through, at least at times?

    Read the essay https://lithub.com/why-you-should-aim-for-100-rejections-a-year/ and I would love to know what any of you think. I've read this piece before, but I've been trying so hard not to get rejected that I think it does hold me back at times that I hadn't really thought about. Should we get rejected 100 times a year?
     
  20. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    Submitting to the New Yorker feels good in terms of the ambition of it, but I think we probably have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting in there without some sort of connection. I honestly cannot imagine they are ever really publishing writers that submit without an agent or hookup.

    I think it's something where the idea of it is better than the reality too. I personally have never read a short story from the New Yorker.

    I think it makes more sense to try to get into places we actually actively read rather than being blinded by the prestige of a publication we don't even read regularly.

    This is just my point of view, if you are regularly reading it/a subscriber I think it's different. But still the odds are insanely low.
     
  21. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    A good story submitted anywhere has more of a shot than a lottery ticket. This may seem like a game of chance, but a lot more goes into it. And anyone not reading The New Yorker is missing out. It's been one of my favorite magazines for most of my life. I think my chances there are just as good as Agni. Or just as good as anywhere else I send my work. Yes, I know it's a long shot, but it's always a long shot, no?
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2020
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  22. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    Yes! Good point. I currently have submissions out there with AGNI and New Yorker. Something like 15 + active submissions now.
     
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  23. Medazza

    Medazza Active Member

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    when I used to quote poor odds to my Dad he’d always reply that it was 50/50- they will or they won’t!
     
  24. J.T. Woody

    J.T. Woody Book Witch Contributor

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    Got a rejection from the last of my 2019 submissions.
    It was poetry, so i wasnt holding out for much.
     
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  25. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    It's just pretty hard to break down our chances of being published like this. I guess if you want to say if a place accepts 0.5% of submissions, you would need to make 200 submission. But a bad story might never be accepted and a good story could be accepted on it's first time out.

    I think the more stories we write, the more are chances improve. Not just because it gives you more things to submit, but writing more stories tends to mean writing better stories. And the game really comes down to better stories. It's always about the better stories we have in us to write.

    Sure, I would like to think I've got a shot with the ones I'm submitting now, but I like to refresh my lineup regularly. There are some stories I didn't give up on, and that's paid off. Still, I always feel my new work is better. And if that's true, it gives me a better shot. But who knows what that really mean?
     
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