It was something like the sixth (?) agency I queried, but they took a month (only a month, I know!) to read and offer me rep, so I'd queried something like 60 before I stopped. I had 14 (?) requests... it was a lot of rejection.
I liked the post not because I like that you got seven rejections. But that you continue to persevere when others would have quit a long time ago. That's respectable.
It's so hard. I always thought of myself as a good writer until I decided I wanted to write and publish literary short fiction. I am giving this my best shot, but I continue to feel discouraged. I currently have 50 submissions out right now. But I know every one of those could turn into a rejection so I've got to send out more and write more and send those out too and read all the literary journals and just get better because I might not be there yet. I don't know. I really can't tell if I'm any good at this or not. I mean I know I don't suck, but I'm just not publishing on any sort of scale like I should be if I'm any good at this.
Thanks for asking, man. The screenplay I am in love with. It's close to finished, at least the first draft. I'm not quite sure how I want to end it. I don't usually plan things out and I'm not really looking to do that, but I feel like I need a better sense of how I want to end things and what sort of message or impact I want the last 20 minutes to have. Then it will quickly become another rejected work. I don't know. I think screenplay writing is different, and I'm enjoying the challenge. I could probably benefit from a class or two. I might look into something online. Know of any good online screenplay writing classes? How's your's going? Your project sounds so cool, I wish I could do it. I think it's going to turn out great.
I don't know of any online classes; I'm kind of teaching myself, sort of guided by a professor of mine. That book was recommended to me and it's been helpful. I can't say it's a definitive text as there's no such thing for writing, but for someone who's never written a screenplay, it's a hell of a place to start. Mines coming along. Slowly, but it's coming. It's never going to see the light of day, haha. I'm just using it as a jumping off point as it's not a feature-length script(and, you know, copyright laws ). But it's giving me the tools to consider writing a full length one...someday...maybe. I'm way too swamped right now to work on much for myself. Work, nineteen credit hours, baby due in 70 something days and a five-year-old equals a ton of stress which never fails to suck the creativity straight out of my brain.
Just had some poetry rejected. The editor included some feedback and said that I should drop the rhyme scheme and vary the length of the lines in a particular poem. Maybe not bad advice... unless it's a sonnet!!! I don't know if this editor thinks I shouldn't be writing sonnets or didn't realize that poem was a sonnet. Could he really not have known it was a sonnet? I don't even understand a poetry editor giving such feedback. This is a small POETRY journal. I fully expect my poetry to get rejected. I'm not even complaining about that. But a sonnet is a pretty easy form to spot. Even a bad sonnet is obviously a sonnet.
Five rejections today. All standard form rejections. The literary world is showing me no love at the moment. I'm trying to look at it as that's five publications that just opened up for me to submit to with a new story. Now, I have to go send out five more submissions. Also in the mail came a copy of one of the literary journals I subscribe to. I had a piece come close with this place. This is the issue I would have been in if my story had been accepted. But I completely know why it was rejected now. There is a short story in there with a character that is in a similar situation as mine. It's a totally different story, but there is no way they would have published both stories in the same issue. The story they did publish is quite remarkable, probably better than mine. It's just a weird feeling to actually be able to see who was my direct competition for this issue. I'm pretty sure it came down to me or this guy for one of these slots.
^Hey, that's encouraging, right? Keep at it, and remember that stories get rejected for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the writing.
After 250-something days, another form rejection. This place usually responds much quicker than that. Either my story was held for a while or got lost. I really thought the story I sent them was right up their alley. It's okay. I'll send this baby out to some other places. I just got my hopes up a little because it was out so long. Is anyone else submitting? I think I need a support group for my rejection woes.
I'm on submission with a novel. One very complimentary rejection, one very strange rejection (clearly didn't read the novel) and nada from the rest.
I've got a couple short stories out, and received a few rejections in the past week or two. Two were form rejections (one for a poem that I wasn't expecting to get accepted anyway, and one for a short story), though one of them held the slightest hint that the story had been seriously considered. The other said they'd had a run on weird westerns recently, so competition in the sub-genre was stiff. On the brighter side of things, one of my stories is basically on a waiting list. It barely missed the initial cut of the anthology due to funds. The publisher is doing a fundraiser, so if that meets its goals it'll get in. I don't think that will happen, with only a few days left and all. They said that even if the fundraiser fails, they'd still be interested in publishing the story--at a similar pay rate to the anthology--in a sort of e-zine they'll be setting up on their website. So...fingers crossed on that one.
I've been working on a round of literary shorts to get ready for some submission to higher brow publications. Not necessarily the top of the line but I want to get some publication credentials under my belt before I get my novel up to snuff and start querying that (I know that's not necessary but I'm trying to stack the odds in my favor). The problem is that I never know when my stories are finished. I've revised (a couple total rewrites) a few of them three or four times and I just don't know if they're good enough yet.
Good luck! You already have a few novel published, right? I would imagine that could help somewhat. The complimentary rejections always throw me off a little. On one hand, it's great to hear someone liked your work, but (in my experience) they never say why they are still choosing to reject it. How long does it typically take to hear back when you are submitting a novel? If it takes six months to a year to hear back on a short story, I can only imagine it takes at least that long if not longer for a novel. I don't know. Maybe those editors are faster readers.
I think one of the reasons it's so important to read the journals and magazines we submit to is to not only get a feel for what they like but to also see what they've recently published. I know I've changed my mind about sending a story to a certain place after reading something that they recently published with a similar subject matter. It kind of sucks when that happens because you know that they could have interest in your piece if they hadn't just bought or published a story like it. Good luck with your story in limbo right now. I'm not sure how I would feel if a place was short on funds to publish the anthology they had in the works. Shouldn't they have sought out funding before taking submissions? But I hope it works out for you.
Six months to a year. Wow. I'd be skipping the glass and reaching for the bottle. Respect to you. I'm on sub with a novel, and two to three months, one only a couple of weeks. It's a tough run, they either love the characters and want the story tweaked, or hate the characters and like the story. Sigh. Pass me that bottle.
The worst part was that the response implied that it was a recent influx, as in "accepted before we got your story, but not yet published". That's just one of those situations where you're basically relying on chance, I suppose. They had the funding for the way they'd planned the anthology in the beginning, but they got roughly four times the submissions they expected. So instead of just rejecting the top stories that barely missed the cut, they wanted to see if they could gather funds for expanding the anthology.
Nope, that's my first novel. I hear from others that it's actually harder to sell subsequent novels if the first one doesn't sell well (not average - well), which makes it even more nerve wracking. But I have just figured out a problem with the novel, so I'm going to revise it and go on sub with my second book in the meantime. I think the second book is stronger, which makes sense, so I'm hoping for some quicker responses. Argh, the waiting.
I'm curious which publication you are putting in this "higher brow" publication. I'm not a fan of the terms highbrow and lowbrow. If you are going to use those terms, isn't literary fiction highbrow by nature? I read a bunch of literary journals, and have been trying to break into certain markets for years. YEARS! Hopefully, you'll do better than I've been doing lately.
I got a rejection from America. A horror mag, it was a personalised rejection actually: Personal Note: Thanks for sending your story over. It was a good read, but not quite what we're looking for. Keep writing. I hope to see you on our submissions list again. I sent him just the quick reply: Because of you, Derek, I have stopped writing, and also my submission was completely accidental, please return my e-mail, you prick. .. I have also sent the manuscript to Canda, or as well, so more sympathetic response from Brad Ed, I reckon, and soon, please.
Three more rejections. Two of the pieces were out a super long time, and I kind of got my hopes up. Foolishly got my hopes up. When will I learn that this never goes my way? And they were all forms. Usually, when something seems like it's being held longer, it gets a higher tier rejection or a line or two to make it a personal rejection. Today, I got nothing. Just straight out rejected. Sadly, I think it's the end of the line for one of my pieces. It's been out a bunch of times and did get some personal rejections, but I no longer feel it's my best work. I'm going to drop this one. Anyway, this brings me to about 80 rejections for just this year. I read an essay by this woman who had aimed to reach 100 rejections in a year. I remember thinking that's not even possible. I have a feeling I was wrong about that. I'm not aiming for 100 rejections. I'm not even aiming for one rejection. I'm just trying to publish.
I used the term as a blanket statement covering places that hold some amount of repute and recognition. I don't know what those are yet exactly. When I said soon, I should have said relatively soon. I have too much on my plate right now to think about the kind of research I'll be doing when it comes time. I have not yet compiled a list of possible publications. I have a few places in mind, but nothing set in stone.
I would say the only real research you need to do is read the journals. Or (here's a little tip that could make things easier) get a copy of a recent Pushcart anthology. Every story will say where it was originally published. You'll be able to read a sampling from several different journals. I would use that as more of a starting off point and then go onto read the journals you are drawn to. But, from my experience, it is extremely hard to sell literary fiction and takes a great deal of persistence. I've never meant anyone who had beginner's luck.
