We have to be smart about submitting. Knowing the market really is part of it. I guess anthologies are a bit different. Do you know who is backing these projects? I've seen very few that pay well. A lot seem to have no money involved. I don't know. I've checked out a few, but I tend to stick with the magazines and journals. However, if anyone hears about a cool zombie anthology, please let me know.
they never even said this. not on their facebook or on their page OR on submittable. I mean, it would be completely different if there was communication or updates on their pages. I'd be a little more understanding. @deadrats Spoiler: Journal Reality Break Press
I had one like this too. They (a different place from yours) accepted an article from me in May 2019. On their website in June 2019 a message went up saying ‘the anthology will be published this month!’ It still says ‘this month’. I and other people have sent emails and posted on Twitter tagging them to ask what is happening, but they don’t reply.
Two day form rejection (not a fit for me at this time; extremely selective with fiction these days and taking very little in the way of non-genre fiction. This is a very subjective decision on my part and I'm sure another agent will feel differently).
Woke up with a rejection from one story today. There are also recent rejection notices from New Yorker in my inbox: 'We regret that we are unable to use the enclosed material. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your work. Sincerely, The Editors' ' Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your story. Although we are unable to use it in the magazine, we wish you the best of luck finding a home for your work. Sincerely, The Editors' I like to think one of these is 'better' but get real! They are standard form rejections. Oh! and also: Declined by The Masters Review. Declined by The Sun Magazine. No message or anything from these two. This is how lame I am when I'm kind of excited to see 'declined' on my submittable account.
I received a very nice rejection plus feedback from the editors. they really enjoyed it and the emotion within it... but it left them with questions about the character and his action and his lack of interactions with the others. I'm at a loss of what to do now. I left the character's actions vague. Not because I didn't know what to do with them, but because I wanted them as onlookers... there are other intentional choices I made... and I'm happy they had questions because it means it made them think and interpret the ending as they choose... but I'm also kind of down because they didnt accept it BECAUSE they had questions. I dont feel that i should explain it... i've mentioned WHY he does what he does (he's just tired of living. He's lived for centuries and is tired of it)... but i dont feel like I should explain why on this specific day he does what he does.... Should i??? ahhhh!
@J.T. Woody -- To get that kind of feedback means it's probably a good story. And The Masters Review is a solid publication so I would give thought to their comments. Just let it sink in and see how you feel after the sting of rejection starts to fade. I had some similar feedback from a different place. I thought about it, but decided to keep my story as is and send it to other places. Well, last night it hit me how I could address this very simply and how it would strengthen the story. I wasn't even trying to think about it. I was happy and I figured coming close one place likely means coming close at another. But now it's better than what's out on submission. I'm not going to withdraw it from anywhere, but I feel a lot more confident and I know the new version would no longer raise such questions. Funny how these sort of things can just take time for us to really let things sink in. Can I ask you and @Zeppo595 how long your submissions were out with The Masters Review? I've got a story with them now that's been out longer than the recent responses on duotrope. Not much longer, though. I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. And I guess my hopes would be that I actually get a personal rejection, meaning it was really considered and they have something to say about it. I mean my real hopes would be that they love it and buy it. But I try not to be foolish more than once a day.
I had a look at that site. It sounded pretty good, apart from not getting paid, at least you would get exposure. If they are a scam I'm not sure what they may be getting out of it. If they aren't publishing anything, and if you aren't getting paid, then doesn't sound like anyone is getting anything. A scam normally works only if someone is getting something for nothing. What are they getting out of it?
The authors work. There are articles and stories about writers submitting to contests and that contests taking their work for little to nothing and then making money passing it off as their own. Im not saying my work is good enough to be stolen, but they are still my brain babies, and i am protective over them...
I'm not sure they're getting anything out of it, but I also question if they really know what they are doing. It's a lot of work to run a literary journal. The two women in charge seem quite young and their credentials aren't that impressive. They both mention being novelist but leave out the titles and publishers. And I'm not personally familiar with the publishing credits that are mentioned. Sure, I don't know them all, but one of the women listed a few. You always list your best publications. They might have really good intentions, but just be in over their heads. And that could be why @J.T. Woody ran into problems with them. I don't think you have to worry about places stealing your work. They are more likely to buy it than to steal it. I'm saying this about places in general. If you have this fear about a place, the last thing you should do is submit to them. There are enough established publications out there. I tend to avoid these small sort of pop-up publications. And they don't even have any work up yet. They also don't pay their writers which isn't a deal breaker, but saying that the money is for the website when they're not even using a professional email is another sort of red flag. It also bothers me when places say they want young or unpublished writers. They should just want the best story. Period. And if you're going to advertise wanting new voices, isn't it much better to say you are looking for diversity and writers that have been marginalized? I would pass on this one. I think there are better places out there. Ideally you want a publication that is willing to take a chance on you and not the other way around.
Can I ask you and @Zeppo595 how long your submissions were out with The Masters Review? I've got a story with them now that's been out longer than the recent responses on duotrope. Not much longer, though. I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. And I guess my hopes would be that I actually get a personal rejection, meaning it was really considered and they have something to say about it. I mean my real hopes would be that they love it and buy it. But I try not to be foolish more than once a day. [/QUOTE] Submitted May 18th.
What? How did you hear back so quick? I've tried them a lot. My quickest rejection was just over 40 days and my longest took over a hundred. I'm somewhere in the middle of that right now. We are talking about The Masters Review, right? Since you got a fast and personal rejection, I would try them again with another story.
I sent mine in at about the same time. I've got quite a few that I should or could hear from any day. The silence is killing me. LOL. I'll take a long wait over a rejection any day. Summer months are always slower.
A long wait that leads to a rejection is probably worse than a quick rejection. There is no way to know if they are carefully considering it or if it's just at the back of a massive pile of submissions. I've got one submission that's been out with the Georgia Review since December 2019.
I hope you weren't offended by my asking the question, what I read just didn't add up that was all, and I'm a curious cat. That's what came to my mind, that they didn't really know what they were doing, or maybe just learning. I guess no-one actually knows, but at the very least they ought to be up front. Still, I'll give them a wide berth.
Mixed day, got a form rejection from one agent and a request for a full from another. It does seem as if the US agents are rejecting me out of hand, wonder if it’s a style thing or they don’t want the effort of a UK client! do any of you guys sub to other countries? So I’ve now got a few agents with full MS but they all want 16 weeks to read it!
I had a story published in a now retired Australian journal... Thats about it. Submitting international kind of worries me because i am American and what i write may not be understood elsewhere... For example, writing in a southern dialect/culture.
I sent my first query to an agent outside the US earlier this week (I'm in the US). She's in the UK, but an american ex-pat. I think she's a good fit, but I always think that....
