Rejection, rejection, rejection...

My first rejection of 2023 is a lovely personal one from twofiftyone.net: "A sad and sweet story well told."

 

That would burn me to the core. Reply all: if it is well told, then buy it asshole.

 

Well, that’s a good way to get blacklisted, and not just at the market in question.

The sad truth is that there are usually more good submissions than there are available slots—especially at the pro-rate markets—so editors have to make tough decisions. Which stories are the most well-told? Which stories are the most unique? Which stories fit our brand the best? Which stories will excite our readership the most?

Tons of reasons a good submission might get rejected.

 

Lol, I know the feeling, but in this case @X Equestris is right on the money. I knew this piece was a stretch for that site - My first publication with them was an outlandish listicle called "The Erotic Novels of Ernest Hemingway", and this cute microfiction tale was fun, but in a very different style. But I took a chance anyway. If nothing else, hopefully they'll remember my weird little story the next time I send them something, and the positive vibes will give me an edge

 

I've decided my role on this thread is Appreciative Audience. It sure as hell isn't turning out to be Serious Contender.

 

A few days ago, I expressed my concern that if my query didn't motivate an agent to request more than the first 5 or 10 pages of my novel, they'd miss all the good stuff in the rest of my novel!

I was, of course, trying to strike a balance between being serious and humorous about the ups and downs of queries. But that got me to thinking about a rejection I received several months ago. It came from a well-known agent. The rejection was a downer, of course, but the fact that she replied to my query was an upper, and the words she used in the rejection were also an upper because they conveyed a polite, kind attitude toward me and my writing.

Last week I got my second novel as clean, clear and concise as I possibly could. Considering the personable and responsive nature of that agent's rejection of my first novel, I decided to query her regarding my second novel. The very next day I received her rejection with the same wording she had sent me for my first novel!

I immediately assumed that her "form" rejection and "rapid" reply were a knee-jerk response to my query. Nor could I resist assuming how unlikely it was that she had read any of the ten pages I included in the query. I could be wrong, of course, but it certainly made me more aware of how foolish it is to ass-u-me anything about the process of seeking a wider audience for our stories.

 

I appreciate thoughtful form rejections though I recognize them as such immediately upon reading them. It shows concern for the often tender feelings of writers, and takes no more time to email than, "This is not right for me." I think I might've mentioned that the tackiest rejection I ever got back in the days of snail mail was the word, "Sorry!" scrawled across the title page of the manuscript and mailed back in the SASE.

 

A 68-day form rejection from Boulevard.

2023 rejection count: 7

 

Been on another lil' submitting spree the past couple of days. And what happens when you submit? You get some more rejections, of course!

Already got a 1-day and a 90-minute form letter rejection from a couple of agents. That brings my total to 10

 

I'm glad I missed those days (apart from the few places left who prefer postal subs to keep their numbers down), though electronic submissions making things more accessible has also upped the number of competitors, I suppose.

I read an interview once with some editor about the tricks people tried to make their submissions stand out. My favorite was the guy who mailed his manuscript in a pizza box - complete with a smaller pizza box inside, self-addressed and postage paid for return mail. It didn't work, but at least it was memorable!

 

I once saw a resume with a small packet of sugar attached along with a sticker note that expressed the sender's hope the sugar would sweeten the potential employer's attitude toward said resume.

It didn't.

 

53-day form rejection from Voyage.

 

15

(This was a 3 day old submission)

 

I'll remember that in the unlikely event I ever apply for a restaurant job. (Not dissing the business; I just never developed an appropriate skill set.)

 

16

 

My full request from CamCat came back as a form rejection a couple of weeks back. Wasn't overly shocked as I didn't get the impression my book was their normal fare.

Onto the next one.

 

Good for you, Shannon. Your query was good enough to trigger a request for more. I've never been that lucky. Got another rejection this morning and like you I wasn't surprised because I didn't think it was their normal fare.

 

I need to space my submissions out better, or something. I have over 15 active submissions, but only one is "in progress" in Submittable. Some of the submissions are from last summer, but I don't want to have my stories out at too many places at once. Just wish they'd get moving on them!

Do you have a cut-off for the number of markets you'll submit a story to at one time?

 

Sorry, accidental double post. I always end up replying to myself when I'm just trying to edit a typo. *bangs head on keyboard*

 

17

 

I don't have any sort of cut off for the number of places I'll simultaneously submit a story to. I like to have my stories out at many places, usually 5 to 10 places at a time. I'll go higher sometimes. When the rejections come in it helps me to know the story is still out at a number of places. And given a lot of places are only open to submissions for a set time I don't want to miss the window and wait another year to send in a story. Especially, when I think I've got something really good I will send it out a lot.

 

Found a 24-day form rejection from Seize The Press Magazine tucked away in my junk folder. Check your junk folder, people! It was there for over a week before I noticed. Also received a 22-day agent rejection last night.

I am up to a dirty dozen for the year now.

 

Back in 2019, I had a story reach the final round at Flash Fiction Online, and they were kind enough to give me detailed feedback about it - very helpful stuff that I used to drastically improve the story. Since then, it's been shortlisted, held for consideration, or otherwise come close at 7 different places, but it hasn't actually been accepted. I got discouraged and put it aside for a while but recently tried the revised version at FFO just for the hell of it. It's been nearly 4 years, they have a different editorial team, and I changed the title and a lot of the story. It was worth a shot, right?

20 day form rejection. 2023 rejection count: 2. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯