I actually had a very similar situation at the end of last year! I sent a story to a YA publication that pays $200 per story. It was rejected but they indicated they like my writing. The same story had already been rejected at a couple of places. Eventually I sent it to the YA publication that was my very first success, and they accepted it. They pay $10, I would have preferred the other place. Still, the important thing was it got published. And I keep trying the other place with other stories!
Man, I never knew there was a place to discuss lit rejections. I'm glad I found this forum. I get rejected a lot and occasionally get published. One of my stories was rejected about 30 times before finally being accepted. It went on to win a Pushcart Prize, so I try to remember than when my other stories are rejected, which is still quite often. Since we have crowd wisdom here, I'd love to hear your ideas about something about Duotrope that has always confused me. What do you think people mean when they say they received a personal rejection. I get a personal reply (an unique or customized message signed by an editor) maybe one time out of every thirty rejections, but I see them listed on Duotrope as if they are common. Do you think some of these "personal" rejections are just higher-tier form rejections? I'm just curious, or maybe a little envious. I'd love more feedback from editors, although I do receive a good amount of higher-tier form rejections these days.
Welcome, @Native Ink. Congratulations on the Pushcart. I've been nominated twice, but I haven't won yet. As for duotrope, I love it and couldn't imagine the submission process without it. It's really great that it can track the deadlines for submission windows you don't want to miss as well as tracking recent responses. And quite a few of the listings include interviews with the editors of the publications. I've been using it since I started sending work out years ago, and it great to see the other stories you've tried and the other places you've tried with any given story. It just makes the whole process much easier, in my opinion. As for the personal rejections that show up, some of them might actually be personal rejections which would mention specifics of the pieces submitted. However, it's likely that some of them are just higher tier rejections. Duotrope lets you add a note which is what I do when I get a higher-tier (but still form) rejection. I do know the difference and I only log things as personal rejection that ARE personal rejection. The statistic are great for a point of reference, but I think you have to keep in mind that it's other writers logging these and sometimes a nice form or a high-tier form rejection can be can confuse some people. But a personal rejection will always say something specific to the story and are usually more casual. And a lot of the time the staff will include their name and title with a personal rejection like John Brown, Fiction editor. Or Mary Sue, managing editor. A lot of form rejections just say they are from "The Editor." Wikirejection is a great resource to look up the different levels of rejections these places send out.
the first time I ever thought, I am a writer, I can do this was when an agent, even in rejection, commented on something that he’d loved that was about 300 pages into my book.
Another piece done and put on submission. I feel like it's been too long since I've had new writing complete to the point I think it's ready to send out. I have another story that I've been working on. First draft of that one feels solid, but it still needs work and I want to send that one to a place that closes the submission window at the end of the month. How's everyone doing with the writing part of things you plan on submitting?
In the past couple of months, I mostly paused from writing short fiction while I completed a manuscript, but I managed overhaul a previously rejected story. It seemed a little too sci-fi for a more traditional journal, so I sent it off to sci-fi mag, but that market has always seemed (1) difficult to crack, and (2) rarely seem to allow simultaneous submission. But fingers crossed!
well book 1 is still ‘out there’ - had another full MS request on it last night. I’m no longer convinced it’s the one that’ll get published though. Book 2 is probably 75% done but I started to lose faith in it and now Book 3 has come along. I’m convinced book 3 will be the one that gets me an agent, it’s different to the other stuff I’ve written. I’ve written 4,000 words so a long way to go
For those of you submitting short stories to lit mags/journals, how truthful have you found the adage “no news is good news”? I’ve read through the posts here and I use duotrope, but I have some submissions that have been out for close to six months, which seems a bit long.
I'm also writing my third novel. The other two were nothing special, but I do feel differently about the one I'm writing now. It's like I'm writing my best chance. I feel like I needed to write the two practice novels to be able to write one that might actually result in a book deal. Here's hoping third times a charm. But you seem to be getting some interest. I'm not sure you should give up on your first book (let alone your second) yet. Good luck, my friend.
It's all a much slower process than we think it should be. But if your story has been pulled from the slush, it's going to take longer than it would if rejected. However, depending on the market, your story might have been even looked at in six months. I've got several over six months and a few over a year. And I still know better than to get my hopes up. But, man, it's hard not to play the what-if game when it starts to feel like a place has had your submission longer than they usually take to respond.
Yeah, I’ve had a few things accepted over the past year or two, and there’s been an uptick in the number of personal/higher tier rejections, but the whole process is still hard to parse. I’ve considered trying to be a reader somewhere to get a better idea of what goes, but I’m not sure about time commitments and so on.
Same here, weirdly enough. There's a definite sense that this third book is just different and all around much better than the first two, like I've somehow levelled up and 'get it' in a way I didn't before. Curious that we should all feel that way in the same sequence, good luck to you both! Edit: And good luck to everyone else in this thread as well! I expect to be joining your ranks shortly...
The submission grinder reveals that most paying sci-fi/fantasy magazines have a rejection rate of roughly 99%. If you get more than one acceptance per one-hundred rejections, you're doing fine.
I heard an editor answer this question once. She said she often had a stack of stories on her desk that she was not ready to reject or accept until she could better envision what the next issue would be. I think once a few stories have been accepted, it is much easier for the editor to consider which stories would complement those. So, hopefully your story is in that stack, but unfortunately, it could also have been assigned to a slower reader or have slipped through the cracks somehow. It is impossible to read the tea leaves, unfortunately. My favorite time in the submission process is when a story has been out long enough for me to almost completely forget about it. I've had editors call me up because I didn't respond to an email because I had stopped regularly checking the email account I use for submitting. Editors will find you when they accept your story, and it is kind of nice when they don't reach you right away. Lord knows there are times when I check that email account twenty times a day.
I like it when an editor writes me to say my story is at the final round of consideration or is scheduled to be discussed at an editorial meeting. It doesn't always work out, but it means it's moving in the right direction as is the case with one of my pieces on submission.
Obviously I’m not subbing shorts but I get the impression that everything in publishing is taking a lot longer than say 2 years ago. So I’d not count anything out yet! I’m getting full MS requests (and rejections obviously!) from submissions in October
Yes it takes time to mature, I think I have for sure. I’m not giving up on book 1, even if it doesn’t get there now. I’ve ideas based on agent feedback to change things but I need some distance before I’m ready to do that. Book 2? I thought it was a good idea but currently it’s a bit meh! Time will tell
Pleased with this rejection (or as much as can be!) Many thanks for sending me your submission and I apologise in the delay in response. With lockdown after lockdown, this last year has been beyond challenging. I did read these chapters with enjoyment and thought it was well-written, with strong characters and a good voice. However, I’m afraid that while I thought it was an enjoyable read, I didn’t love it quite enough to take it any further. As you know, we receive a huge amount of submissions and only take on a few clients each year, and every read is very subjective. I’m sure you will find a wonderful home for this, and many thanks again for letting me read it. “ not bad eh?
Hello all, looking for some advice here - I just received a personal rejection from my dream journal. Should I respond saying thank you for the kind words and I look forward to submitting again next year? What would be the protocol in a situation like this? I've never got this close to publishing in a journal of such prestige. @deadrats yes, it is that journal we previously discussed. Would prefer for you not to name it here.
In terms of novels I get to a point where the writing of the book is so associated with a certain time in my life, I can't go back to it. To me, it's like looking at old photo albums. Even though I have written two novels I understand (from multiple rejections) not to be good enough, the idea of going back and touching them up is about as appealing as editing jpegs of me with my ex. I understand that if you look at writing as a job, you don't let your emotions get in the way like that. Then again, none of my jobs require emotional expression.
