Promoted from a comment on the Q2V40 thread...
There's a phenomenon called rejectomancy: trying to "read the tea leaves" of a rejection. To a degree, it's unavoidable, especially with the tiered results of the Contest--and more so now with RWC. And it's especially understandable if you edit and resubmit (a habit I never had, I just sent it to the next market and wrote another story): you want to know how to improve this story. But too much rejectomancy can drive you crazy. Sometimes it's just the wrong fit of this story for this editor/slusher at this market at this time. Sometimes editing it can make it subjectively worse instead of better.
My advice... Think on the story. Think on the rejection. Try to learn something. If you get a great idea that will make the story better in your opinion, then write that. But otherwise, write another story and send this one to a new market. Don't let a rejection drive you crazy (crazier).
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
Writers are often counseled to let a draft rest before looking over it for a revision. Perhaps we should counsel something similar for looking at rejections and critiques.
2012 Q4: R
2016 Q3: SHM
2019 Q2: HM, Q3: HM
2020 Q2: HM, Q4: SHM
2021 Q1: HM, Q2: SF, Q3: SHM, Q4: SHM
2022 Q1: SHM, Q2 RWC, Q4 RWC
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3:Nope Q4: WIP
I always know exactly why my stories have been rejected. It's so plain in the rejection emails I've received.
Excerpts from real rejection letters in quotes:
“Unfortunately, this story didn't work as well for me as I'd hoped, and I'm going to pass on it for…” - The word "work" obviously defines a labor dispute.
“Unfortunately, the story does not meet our needs at this time.” - So, sometimes it's chronological.
“It didn't quite work for me, I'm afraid.” - Some editors are phobic.
“Unfortunately, this story wasn’t a good fit for us.” - This was obviously a size issue.
“However, this one is not quite ready for us yet.” - When received, the story was timid, I hadn't given it the confidence it needed to succeed.
There you go, detail so refined that one sentence impressed upon me one hundred percent of the information that I would have needed a day before submitting. I have never had to guess why any story has been rejected.
Nope. Not me. 
Have fun.
F x 3
@kent silly question - how do I tell if a rejection email is just ‘form’ or personal?
I thought one I just got was standard but now I’m not so sure.
V40: Q1 HM Q2 HM Q3 HM Q4 HM
@kent silly question - how do I tell if a rejection email is just ‘form’ or personal?
I thought one I just got was standard but now I’m not so sure.
Does it mention anything specific about your story, beyond the title and your name? "Not right for us at this time" is form. "Starts in the wrong place" is personal.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
@sconn Hi,
Martin is right on. Specifics are personal, and relatively rare.
"It was an entertaining farce, but too over-the-top for our tastes," is a personal I received this year. It was set off in a paragraph of its own after the form letter this particular market usually sends.
F x 3
"Your story was so bad we went to the trouble of printing it out, just so we could set fire to it."
Is this personal?
Asking for a friend.
R:6 RWC:1 HM:9 SHM:3
My Blog
Small Gods and Little Demons - Parsec Issue #10
