I've had some of my poetry published but never any of my stories. I guess because it's a whole different ball game. I can't even remember how long I've been getting rejected...but I still do it...why? Cause I love to write. But sometimes being bogged down with so many rejections notes I wonder whats the point. I guess I am a hopeless amatuer. Anyone have any thoughts on their rejection notes?
Dealing with rejection is part and parcel of becoming a professional writer. Doctors have to deal with blood and plumbers with poop. Writers get to look forward to rejection. The key is to learn from them. Treasure each one that is accompanied by a reason. Every handwritten scribble on a form letter rejection should be studied. When you learn why your work is being rejected, you can start learning how to fix it. I wrote a sort of primer on how to get published and posted it on my site. You might find it worth a few moments of your time. Good luck.
First, I commend you for your large collection of rejection notices, which at least gives you genuine baseline credentials to present at the gates of most any on-line writers' forum. It shows you're at least in the game. Beyond that, if you hunt through Duotrope or investigate especially on-line zines, you might find a handful of pubs that provide feedback in one way or another. If you can find 'em, submitting to such places (paying or not) will begin to give you a different kind of picture of what particular editors are actually looking for and perhaps a comment or two about why they selected or deselected your piece, in particular. That's a quite different experience from peer reviews and critiques (both positive and negative, I might add). But it can be very enlightening. I was surprised to discover that a piece can sometimes be selected in spite of a negative impression offered up by another editor or reader. I once wrote a short story that unfolded out of a rejection of something else I'd submitted. The story went several rounds up the post and out of the slushpile and onto the managing editor's desk (with very interesting comments--both negative and positive--from readers pushing it upwards at each stage). Then the e-zine website deconstructed and had to be rebuilt before the managing editor had a final say on my piece, and I was sent a lit mag subscription for the trouble of having waited out the zine's process (3-4 months, as I recall). So, I count that technical rejection as a modest success (compared to not enduring the process at all). But, layering the rejection experience into a story is one way to give it some worth.
Yeah thanks Frank, I read it over and it is informative. Molly, thank you too for sharing that story. I use Duotrope too. It is a really good search engine for book publishers and magazines. I got alot of my poetry published that way.
I've only gotten rejection notes myself so far. One of my works was only getting form rejections which is discouraging so I "retired" that one for now. I'm shopping around a new one that has just one rejection letter that was personal and mostly positive. I'm hopeful for that one.
Rejection slips are a part of the writing and submission process, or that's how I look at it. I've had more rejections than acceptances, but it makes the acceptances for publication mean that much more. Terry
