My very first rejection letter

Well, today I recieved my first rejection letter and yes it was my first submission that I talked about in another thread. Now I'm just curious about what to do with it. Maybe I should start a scrap book of rejections. Though I would recommend GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominater to anyone wanting to send out their stuff. Their editors are very professional and friendly.

 

This may sound odd, but congratulations! You have taken a first step, my friend. Let this and the other letters of rejection be your stepping stones to success.

 

Did you you get any comments, or their standard rejection form?

Btw, congrats on your first rejection. Every one is another step towards an accepted manuscript. Never give up!

 

It was mostly form rejection, which I fully understand since a lot of poetry gets sent to them. Anyways, here is what the letter said:

1 December, 2008

Dear Ken John Lewis,

Thank you for sending us "The Horizon". Unfortunately, it's not what
we're looking for at this time.

http://www.gudmagazine.com/works/view.php?id=9756

Best of luck with this piece in other markets.

Sincerely,

Debbie Moorhouse
Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine
http://www.gudmagazine.com/

Though it was nice of her to wish me luck.

 

Aaaw, that was nice of them. I always imagined they'd be awful fire breathing dragons.

Congrats though - that was a really brave step to take!

 

I think most of them aren't that bad because they're also writers.

 

The first rejection is just the first step towards acceptance.

 

I read something similar in a novel I read recently (can't remember which, though), but it was said by an obsessive stalker .

 

Someone wrote a novel of my life??

 

Maybe you have an obsessive stalker too.

 

I think the important thing is to not let it affect you. I think I've received 2 rejection letters. One was for a cheesy romance novella from mills and boon , and the other one was for a children's novel, which i actually have sticking up on my wall because it was quite personalised and had some positive praise and was encouraging.

 

Congrats SD! You've taken your first serious step into the world of freelancing! I think you should be proud.

 

It's too bad (but not surprising) the letter didn't give any further infornation that would help you improve the piece. So it will be up to you to see if there is a way you can tighten it up. ANY piece of writing can be improved.

Set it aside for several days, then look it over with a fresh and brutally critical eye. Meanwhile bask in the glow. You completed a submission cycle, and survived. That is worth celebrating!