@nvhaskell You're totally right. I've never been good at patience, but this is the time for it. Best of luck to you. I'll keep fingers crossed for us both too, and will be on the lookout for your "Success" post ?
You know you're batting them out of the park when you get not one, but two rejection letters from the same magazine for the same submission, a week apart. ? I feel like it was a coffee room chat, one editor boasting about how bad my story was to another, so that other had to read it and was so offended they felt compelled to re-reject me.
However, it was BCS, so at least they were both personalized, and the second one was pretty long and actually had a lot of really helpful stuff in it, so overall I'm weirdly pleased?
And @nvhaskell, I finally got a form rejection for that 'dream magazine.' Disappointing after so many months but hey ho.
It would be nicer to say "held for consideration" and nicer still not to mention simsubs TWICE. 'hey, you can still submit this elsewhere you know! Like, ELSEWHERE?'
And yeah, I immediately submitted elsewhere. And I mean, like, INSTANTLY. To a (1 cent per word) higher-paying market.
Cause 90 days is the legal limit on lost property and all kinds of offers and propositions.
Any market asking for exclusivity for more than 90 days is WAY out of line!
@czing I know how you feel. I had one story that was with Andromeda Spaceways and had made it to the final round of consideration, then waited 6 months to get a rejection anyway. It can be a little painful, when you get your hopes up, but I also think that it shows us who we are as writers. What do you do when you get rejected? How do you respond? I find I spend an afternoon a little bummed out, but the next day I'm back to writing, and even better, using any feedback from the rejection to learn and make the story better. In some ways, you can even get excited from rejections, because even though it doesn't count as a win, it means you are trying - unlike the multitudes of people who say they're going to write and never follow through. And I've also come to the realization that, even if I NEVER sell anything I write, I'm still going to be writing - because it's become an indispensable part of who I am, and one of my greatest pleasures and meanings in life.
“Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way your turn a phrase. You have a very important job—one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings—and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same.” Brian McDonald
2022: Second Place Winner V39 Q1 2021: HM, HM, SHM 2020: R 2019: SHM, R 2018: HM 2017: HM
Check out my fiction and more at spencersekulin.net
@angelslayah I've gotten many like that. As a comparison, Andromeda Spaceways gave me a whole page of comments from their readers / editors, and those helped me retool the rejected story. A little feedback goes a LONG way.
“Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way your turn a phrase. You have a very important job—one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings—and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same.” Brian McDonald
2022: Second Place Winner V39 Q1 2021: HM, HM, SHM 2020: R 2019: SHM, R 2018: HM 2017: HM
Check out my fiction and more at spencersekulin.net
Yeah. Just "too abstract" or "too adult" or "not enuf action" would have helped me aim my next submission for their cryptic standards! They think I can write and could have had me write FOR THEM. But no.
@storysinger Never gotten a form rejection like that before. Keep submitting! ?
“Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way your turn a phrase. You have a very important job—one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings—and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same.” Brian McDonald
2022: Second Place Winner V39 Q1 2021: HM, HM, SHM 2020: R 2019: SHM, R 2018: HM 2017: HM
Check out my fiction and more at spencersekulin.net
Just had one of my stories rejected but with a note in the rejection that it made the second round - with Apparition Lit. Funny enough it is a story I didn't really expect to get traction on
@czing It's encouraging when they inform you that it made it through a round or two - it means you're getting a lot better. Keep writing!
“Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way your turn a phrase. You have a very important job—one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings—and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same.” Brian McDonald
2022: Second Place Winner V39 Q1 2021: HM, HM, SHM 2020: R 2019: SHM, R 2018: HM 2017: HM
Check out my fiction and more at spencersekulin.net
This market pays 1¢ per word but has been around since at least 2013, so I'm game. They write:
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Hi. We like your story. It reminds us a little bit of "Aye, and Gomorrah" (Delaney) in its pulse and rhythm. It does sprawl and lose its internal connectivity a bit, at times. We'd also need to spend some time assessing a few usages in the text. Our editorial process is very deliberative. We almost never request rewrites. We do identify passages that could be tightened up, and also suggest, at times, "re-plumbing" some passages to reduce friction. Again, we approach this process with great care and caution. Please let us know if this sort of process works for you. If so, we'll move ahead with acceptance and scheduling for publication in 2023.
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I reply: Sure, you may even make editorial changes yourselves, so long as I have the right to refuse. I worked in journalism for years so I'm used to being edited and having to make things right. Let's go forward!
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I must say, this strikes me as eccentric and not a little pompous. Why not just request a rewrite like normal people? But whatever. Even people paying pennies (maybe especially them) gotta feel like they're doing something important. Let's get ON with it!
UPDATE:
Yeah they got right back to me with:
Thank you for sending us "No Such Place as Nebraska." We love it and are glad to accept it.
We will be following up with scheduling and publication details, as well as any editorial questions and suggestions for your consideration.
So I dunno what that initial contact was all about. I'm guessing they've had writers who cant handle editing, but I think it's more professional to assume professionalism...
angelslayah - thanks for the blow-by-blow, and interesting approach, for sure. But huge congratulations on the sale!
We got to share this stuff!
I'm thinkin, in the new year, to start a thread somewhere on the forum of venues that offer comment or critique with rejection. So fuckin rare, it's almost as if markets have given up on the notion of cultivating the writers they want to have.
Like @pdblake here. New Myths liked the work well enough to sit on it since summer, but not enough to givea hint how better to please them next time. It's a shit system and it tends toward a shit industry.
The way I see it, it's up to US to raise the tone!
@angelslayah Hey there, congrats on the sale! It's a long process, but patience and persistence pays off.
“Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way your turn a phrase. You have a very important job—one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings—and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same.” Brian McDonald
2022: Second Place Winner V39 Q1 2021: HM, HM, SHM 2020: R 2019: SHM, R 2018: HM 2017: HM
Check out my fiction and more at spencersekulin.net
@pdblake I had a similar experience. They held a story of mine for 8 months, with it making it to the final round of consideration before getting a rejection. It can be a slog sometimes, haha. But they were nice about it.
“Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way your turn a phrase. You have a very important job—one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings—and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same.” Brian McDonald
2022: Second Place Winner V39 Q1 2021: HM, HM, SHM 2020: R 2019: SHM, R 2018: HM 2017: HM
Check out my fiction and more at spencersekulin.net
@pdblake sorry to hear that! That's a longtime to be considering it, but notwithstanding the form rejection, hopefully it means you were close and the story is a strong one. It'll find a home!
3rd Place Q3 Vol 41
Submission record: R x 2 / HM x 7 / SHM x 2 / W x 1
Stories published in Daily Science Fiction, Every Day Fiction, 365tomorrows, and Gwyllion Magazine.
Hold notice went to rejection at Metaphorosis today, and the feedback comments made me realize I'd accidentally edited out a little detail that is really key to establishing why the characters are put in the position of having to do what they're doing. It's been edited and fixed for the sake of ten words, but drat anyway--and now, every market that's open to it is either closed, or already has something from me submitted, so I get to sit on this story for a while until either somewhere opens, or somewhere else sends me back a rejection.
A couple of their other comments I don't agree with, and may be down to taste or the specific reader, but one I'll give a little more time to, just to be sure (as they were very specific, so I can really take a good look at it).
All in all, I'm more than a little disappointed, as Metaphorosis is a market I never really expected to crack--I always felt my style was a bit of a mismatch, so I was surprised to get even this close to the bullseye really. At least I get to improve the manuscript for the next submission, but...well, poop.
I'm sorry, @doctorjest. The 'almosts' are more painful than the instant form rejections. Especially when a small mistake might have made the difference. Congratulations on getting a personal response though! You must be super close to cracking the code with this story/market.
