Resubmitting

Do you believe it needs changes? Not “I believe they want changes,” more “I see something I really don’t like.”

Change it if you like, but keep this in mind: There’s now a slush team, not just one reader. You might have a story that reader X would like, but reader Y read it and bounced it.

Without getting into specifics: I once rejected a story for flaws that I recognized due to my areas of specialty; another reader admitted they would’ve missed those flaws because it’s not their specialty.

Trying to read the slush readers’ minds is a challenge. Read your story instead. Ask yourself:

1. is the dialogue good?
2. Is the description vivid?
3. Do the characters act in believable ways?
4. Does the story have a logical beginning, middle, and ending?

If you have doubts, work on those. But don’t change just because you “should”. Change because you need to.

That was very insightful. Thank you.

Not necessarily heavily changed, it’s more about addressing the feedback they gave. Even small but thoughtful edits can show you’ve taken their critiques seriously. Sometimes it’s less about “liking the story more” and more about showing growth, clarity, or stronger execution.

My rule is to to resubmit a story once. Only if I have identified big holes (speculative logic, didn't stick the ending, or opening isn't in action, etc.). Maybe do a swap with a writer who has achieved higher level rating to get their opinion.

With the help of a friend I did find a couple HUGE holes in a story I really believed in after it received an RWC. I fixed and submitted the next quarter and achieved finalist. 

Posted by: @hknutson

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They say with an honourable mention you can resubmit with edits. Does it have to be heavily changed? I’m wondering what’s the use in resubmitting. They didn’t like the story the first time, why would they like it the second?

This has always been my feeling exactly. The way I see it, there is something inherently and functionally wrong with my story to only get an HM (or R or RWC). Sure, I could slap some fresh paint on it, maybe re-shingle the roof and install new appliances in the kitchen. But the foundation itself is busted. I'd have to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it from the ground up. If I'm gonna do that, I might as well just start a new story. Chalk the old one up to experience and move on.

Having said that, some folks have experienced success with resubmitted stories. But of the thousands of submissions each quarter, they are the rare exceptions. Most folks might move up one tier (HM to SHM). Some folks have even gone backwards (HM to RWC). I've never felt like it was worth it. I'd rather write new stories than keep recycling old ones.

Posted by: @morgan-broadhead

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Posted by: @hknutson

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They say with an honourable mention you can resubmit with edits. Does it have to be heavily changed? I’m wondering what’s the use in resubmitting. They didn’t like the story the first time, why would they like it the second?

This has always been my feeling exactly. The way I see it, there is something inherently and functionally wrong with my story to only get an HM (or R or RWC). Sure, I could slap some fresh paint on it, maybe re-shingle the roof and install new appliances in the kitchen. But the foundation itself is busted. I'd have to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it from the ground up. If I'm gonna do that, I might as well just start a new story. Chalk the old one up to experience and move on.

Having said that, some folks have experienced success with resubmitted stories. But of the thousands of submissions each quarter, they are the rare exceptions. Most folks might move up one tier (HM to SHM). Some folks have even gone backwards (HM to RWC). I've never felt like it was worth it. I'd rather write new stories than keep recycling old ones.

I've gone backwards once. But that RWC to a finalist was worth the trouble. That story had some glaring holes that weren't that hard to fix once they were pointed out by a friend and I figured how to fix them.

My last HM, I can't seem to find the holes.  Wish I could, since I really liked the story.

Posted by: @toddjones

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Posted by: @morgan-broadhead

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Posted by: @hknutson

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They say with an honourable mention you can resubmit with edits. Does it have to be heavily changed? I’m wondering what’s the use in resubmitting. They didn’t like the story the first time, why would they like it the second?

This has always been my feeling exactly. The way I see it, there is something inherently and functionally wrong with my story to only get an HM (or R or RWC). Sure, I could slap some fresh paint on it, maybe re-shingle the roof and install new appliances in the kitchen. But the foundation itself is busted. I'd have to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it from the ground up. If I'm gonna do that, I might as well just start a new story. Chalk the old one up to experience and move on.

Having said that, some folks have experienced success with resubmitted stories. But of the thousands of submissions each quarter, they are the rare exceptions. Most folks might move up one tier (HM to SHM). Some folks have even gone backwards (HM to RWC). I've never felt like it was worth it. I'd rather write new stories than keep recycling old ones.

I've gone backwards once. But that RWC to a finalist was worth the trouble. That story had some glaring holes that weren't that hard to fix once I figured them out.

My last HM, I can't seem to find the holes.  Wish I could, since I really liked the story.

 

I would be ecstatic to go from an RWC to a Finalist on a resub! Muchos congrats on that one and, yes, totally worth it. But I also have to think that doesn't happen very often. And I 100% agree with your second point there; I Just scratch my head when a story I think is amazeballs comes back with just an HM or RWC. It's impossible to know anymore what will or will not land with one of the first readers.

Used to be that if your story checked off certain boxes, you could count on at least an HM. These days though, it's anyone's guess. I'm getting more RWC's now than I ever did before, and it's wreaking havoc on my confidence. I can't tell if the bar has just been raised that much higher now, or if I'm just getting worse as a writer.

I couldn't have found those holes without the help of friends, test readers, and forum buddies that swap stories. Join a writing group and swap stories with others. RWC said look for opening issues and sticking the ending. I adjusted both those and added about 1k words. But yes, this movement in rating is not normal unless you really messed up the first version, which I had a huge logic error in. I was crazy excited when I got the call.

Ask people in this forum for a swap, there are some great people here. It is a HUGE help. Forest through the trees kind of thing.

It does seems much harder to achieve HM or higher over the last year.

My rule is to only resubmit once, if I know how to fix the holes that were in the story and I really feel the story is good. Some stories it is best to just leave where they are at and spend your time writing a new one.