Rejection, rejection, rejection...

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

  1. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Please don't respond to a rejection. You can mention in the cover letter of your next submission that you were encouraged to send work again, but, personally, I wouldn't do that either. No matter how nice the rejection, it's still a rejection. Congratulations on making it so far. Hope you get em next time.
     
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  2. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Not sure what to tell you. We choose what we want to write. If something you want to write seems too hard emotionally, then maybe you're not ready to write it. Or you don't ever have to write it. Or you can write it and decide not to do anything with it. I've done all of those things when it comes to writing or not writing.
     
  3. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    A 123-day form rejection from Boulevard.
     
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  4. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    You seem to have slightly misunderstood me.

    I'm not saying the writing is hard (though of course, it always is). I'm saying I can't go back to past projects because they remind me of painful events from my life at that time.

    The writing is like a document of that time in my life, even if I was writing about something completely different!!
     
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  5. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    'Dear _________

    Thank you for sending us "______." We enjoyed your work, but we couldn't use it for The Southern Review this time.

    We hope that you will continue to send us your work.

    Sincerely,

    The Editors of The Southern Review'

    Another positive rejection! This time for a different piece.
     
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  6. Ellen_Hall

    Ellen_Hall Active Member

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    That's a form rejection.

    If they really "enjoyed" it, they would have accepted it or at least sent a personalized rejection.
     
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  7. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    I presume they read it and enjoyed it.

    Usually they just say something like 'we appreciate the chance to read it' or something, so it was better than that.
     
  8. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    It seems to be a higher tier form rejection maybe. You can always look on wikirejections to see what their standard form looks like and what a higher tier form looks like if you like. I sometimes look some stuff up on there to compare. The Southern Review is a great journal and pretty hard to crack. But you should definitely try them again.
     
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  9. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    But you still have the choice on what you want to work on. Presumably, you've gotten better along the way and maybe it's just better to focus on new stuff. When I do want to revise something old I almost always use the blank document trick. Of course, I remember the story (the important parts anyway). So, I just open a blank document and start from scratch. It doesn't sound easy, but it seems to work like a charm. It's the only way I really have been able to bring back dead stories. However, nothing is making you revisit those old pieces. Honestly, if you've got so much emotional attachment connected to them, you might be better focusing on work where you can actually focus on the story. Writing is always about choices and the possibilities are endless.
     
  10. Ellen_Hall

    Ellen_Hall Active Member

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    A slush reader probably passed it on to the editors, one of whom might have actually read the MS, depending on the length.
     
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  11. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Hey @Ellen_Hall -- Are you a fellow submitter? Welcome to the thread.
     
  12. Zeppo595

    Zeppo595 Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, well I never said it was anything other than what it was -a positive rejection especially compared to others I receive.

    I'm not deluded.

    You also don't know with certainty the tiers of rejection at that publication. Sounds like you just get a kick out of having an 'a-ha, but you're wrong!' moment.

    Even though I got rejected and don't have any illusions that I was close to publication.
     
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  13. Native Ink

    Native Ink Active Member

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    I have a special email folder for rejections that ask me to submit again. For my next few submissions, I always mention that they asked me to submit again in the first line of my cover letter. Some editors take the invitation to send more work seriously. Others are probably just being polite. Either way, it doesn't hurt to mention their invitation when you submit again.
     
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  14. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    My submissions are dwindling. As many of you may have noticed, I'm not posting as many rejections. I sold a lot of my stories which cuts down the number of stuff I have on submission. That's not a bad thing. I need to finish a few more stories. I've got one that needs to be gone through a few more times. That one is worth more work. But I'm not so excited about some of the others I've gone through a draft or two with. The stories I have out have all been rejected by some places. But my best one has been with one of my favorite publications for a long time. So, I don't want to send it anywhere else. New stories, I guess is the only answer. How often to you add new stories into your submission mix?
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
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  15. Ellen_Hall

    Ellen_Hall Active Member

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    Oh, they smother me with rejections. Paying magazines reject my short works 96% of the time (not factoring withdrawals).

    This does not bother me, because I know editors rarely actually read my work; so the rejections mean little from an artistic point of view.

    Many editors do not even touch the "slushpile." I tell this to people who are exasperated with endless rejections and think this means they are bad at what they do.
     
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  16. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Hey, a 4 percent acceptance rate really isn't that bad. I agree with what you're saying, but I have made it out of the slush pile in some of those places where it's easy to assume that the editors don't touch the slush. Rare, maybe, but it can and does happen. What sort of stuff do you write or what places do you like to try? And feel free to join in posting your rejections. Here we like to celebrate out attempts no matter the outcome.
     
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  17. alittlehumbugcalledShe

    alittlehumbugcalledShe Active Member

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    I sent in some pieces of poetry a few months back and I still haven't heard anything. I don't even mind being rejected, it's the radio silence that drives me insane.
     
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  18. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I hear that. I've been waiting on this one place over a year. They sent me an email update to let me know my story was still being considered. And now more waiting... I should be so lucky, though, still being considered by such a prominent journal. I mean there's something about it that makes them want to hold on to my story. But it can drive me crazy when I think I should have heard something but I haven't.

    In my experience acceptances have always taken longer (and in some cases a really long time) than rejections. It makes sense given the different levels a story might have to go through, depending how the publication is set up. That being said, rejections can take a really long time. And a story can get rejected at any point going up that ladder. It's hard not to read into long waits, but it's probably best not to.

    I've been doing more reading and writing than submitting lately. I don't imagine I'll make any more submissions until I've got another story ready to start submitting. I've got something in the works. I think it will be ready by the end of the week. I've probably got a little more than a dozen submissions pending. I guess I'm really into the writing I'm doing now which is a great way to forget about what you've already done. Good luck, me friend.
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2021
  19. alittlehumbugcalledShe

    alittlehumbugcalledShe Active Member

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    Thanks! Yeah, it's the first time I've ever submitted anything seriously. I literally wrote those poems all within a day, so I'm not expecting too much... but my fingers are crossed. Speaking of which, I'm actually waiting on a yes/no from a band looking for a new lead singer and it's driving me insane just the same. The demo I sent was immaculate, but they've got tons of people applying. I know they haven't listened to it because all they said was 'thanks, we've got it' and nothing else. Otherwise, they would have commented at least something (which is what usually happens).

    I just satisfy myself by imagining a dashing act of jumping through their office window with a crash, screaming at them to read/listen to the bloody thing already, and then leaving in quick fashion via the nearest exit, i.e. back out the window. Though I suspect that would rather put them off.
     
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  20. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I don't know—do a good enough heavy metal scream on the way out and it might get their attention. :brb:
     
  21. B.E. Nugent

    B.E. Nugent Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    They'll remember you anyway!
     
  22. alw86

    alw86 Active Member

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    I dunno, stage presence and a sense of theatrics is easily as important as voice in a good lead singer for most genres, a demonstration might just put you over the edge!
     
  23. alittlehumbugcalledShe

    alittlehumbugcalledShe Active Member

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    Of course, I would have to be wearing the fanciest of clothes, of which I am already quite prepared.
     
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  24. Watson Watson

    Watson Watson Banned

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    It depends on length and whatever else I’m working on, but I probably average one new story submission a month. Right now I have a dozen or so stories spread out at different journals. Occasionally I’ll retire a story if it’s not getting any response beyond a form rejection, but I try to keep the number of current/simultaneous submissions relatively high, with each story going to multiple journals. I try to be discerning with journal choices and select ones I have read before, but I also shoot for smaller outlets that I’m less familiar with because I have a pretty limited background with writing groups/workshops/publication and figure as long as I do my job—a thorough proofreading of interesting writing—then I have a chance of a response of some kind.

    This turned out to be true when the formatting of a submission got messed up and an editor responded with a note that many of the other editors refused to read the manuscript, but she had—read it—and found it interesting and offered some advice.
     
  25. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    @Watson Watson -- I think it's awful that they wouldn't read your story over a formatting issue, but I can't say it doesn't happen. I once mailed out a submission and had stapled my story together. This is before I knew that staples were the kiss of death in the literary world. The story was mailed back to me in perfect condition. No page turning crease by the staple or anything. It looked like it hadn't been touched. And it probably hadn't been. Sure, I could have been form-rejected by something on the first page, but it also could have been the staple which is just stupid, IMO.
     
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