Five Minute Rant

Believe it or not, editors would rather have to choose between great stories than search for enough
barely publishable ones.

-- Mike Resnick

Believe it or not, editors would rather have to choose between great stories than search for enough
barely publishable ones.

-- Mike Resnick

Well, yeah,

At least in my case, that is part of the rant----I should be writing great stories by now but it looks like I may not even be up to the barely publishable level no matter how hard I try or what I learn.

Not about my 'R', I've become very zen about those.
Now it's about seeing how wrong I had been in the construction of my novel.
One the notes I got back was that the first battle sequence in the book took too long, moved too slowly, and needed drastic cutting.
So here I am cutting down view point characters, trying to make the thing speed up and sing, when I see that of 70 some odd pages, I have something like nearly a dozen on a side event that takes place, for all effective purposes, after the battle is won.
It's a chapter I loved writing.
it's a chapter I loved researching.
It's a chapter I loved.

It is no more.

Bob,
Keep them for the "deleted scenes" section of your website. Your fans will love that stuff.

Bob,
Keep them for the "deleted scenes" section of your website. Your fans will love that stuff.

That too.

But I was thinking of changing them slightly and using them as a side short story or save them for another scene that is similar.

actually the lost chapter *almost* makes a complete story....

Rant:

Realizing you made one tiny stupid typo mistake 4 days after submitting to a big magazine. And it's a typo that will make you look like a giant goober.

Rant:

Realizing you made one tiny stupid typo mistake 4 days after submitting to a big magazine. And it's a typo that will make you look like a giant goober.

Know the feeling.

But some stories can get by even that---or so I have heard.

Hmm,

I wasn't going to post here with my latest rejection from F&SF, this one from C.C. Finlay. I though the comment I left in the mixed feelings thread would do but then I thought of something--a question but more out of frustration than really expecting an answer.

Why am I just been receiving "It doesn't grab me"" rejections lately from them? I have gotten a mix, even one or two of their third level rejection but with the last 8 to 14 stories its just this one. With one exception. Ugh, better writing but it's like they know that so they expect more.

It has taken me an entire lifetime to come to this revelation. When an administrator sends you a survey, it is because he must send you the survey; he doesn't want honesty or troubleshooting, but compliments and affirmation. When confronted with anything other than gushing or stroking, he will take offense. Yes, I'm an idiot.
Will I change? Probably not... because I'm an idiot. Also, can rants be good? If so, I could go on for more than five minutes about The Imitation Game. WOW! Cumberbatch delivers one of the greatest performances I've ever seen.

Somehow, no matter how I try to stagger subs or how different the markets' response times are, responses tend to come in clumps. With e-subs more common now, Sundays and holidays are clump fair game. So every day may be Clump Day.

Opened up my email tonight and got 4 rejections, a new record for me.
The only good news is three of them were personal, which softened the blow a bit. A tiny, tiny bit.
There...my five second rant. Aaargh!

Oops! Spoke to soon. Just checked my email again before bed and got an acceptance. I just sold my sixteenth story!

I just sold my sixteenth story!

Another escapee from the Success thread. Yea Preston!

Opened up my email tonight and got 4 rejections, a new record for me.
The only good news is three of them were personal, which softened the blow a bit. A tiny, tiny bit.
There...my five second rant. Aaargh!

Oops! Spoke to soon. Just checked my email again before bed and got an acceptance. I just sold my sixteenth story!

Grats, Preston!

Opened up my email tonight and got 4 rejections, a new record for me.
The only good news is three of them were personal, which softened the blow a bit. A tiny, tiny bit.
There...my five second rant. Aaargh!

Oops! Spoke to soon. Just checked my email again before bed and got an acceptance. I just sold my sixteenth story!

Not too shabby even if no sells.

Somehow, no matter how I try to stagger subs or how different the markets' response times are, responses tend to come in clumps. With e-subs more common now, Sundays and holidays are clump fair game. So every day may be Clump Day.

And now Preston provides additional proof of Clump Day.

Opened up my email tonight and got 4 rejections, a new record for me.
The only good news is three of them were personal, which softened the blow a bit. A tiny, tiny bit.
There...my five second rant. Aaargh!

Oops! Spoke to soon. Just checked my email again before bed and got an acceptance. I just sold my sixteenth story!

Wow, five responses in one day! Congrats on the sale!

Somehow, no matter how I try to stagger subs or how different the markets' response times are, responses tend to come in clumps. With e-subs more common now, Sundays and holidays are clump fair game. So every day may be Clump Day.

For the first time in a while I have gotten a clump. One per day for three days, wonder if tomorrow will be four with Urban Fantasy mag finally sending in a rejection.

Of course all of mine were total rejections.

/rant on

Once again I've maxed out the time a market keeps a story - only to get a form.
Seriously, just give me a damn personal if you're going to keep my story three times longer than others and not buy it.

That seems to be right where I am writing/career wise. On the verge of personals. hoo-freekin-ray.

I'm glad I got a critique on my semi-finalist. My one true "personal" rejection.

/rant off

/rant on

Once again I've maxed out the time a market keeps a story - only to get a form.
Seriously, just give me a damn personal if you're going to keep my story three times longer than others and not buy it.

That seems to be right where I am writing/career wise. On the verge of personals. hoo-freekin-ray.

I'm glad I got a critique on my semi-finalist. My one true "personal" rejection.

/rant off

I know the feeling--seems like that happens to me a lot. Even though not so much lately.

But speaking of my last post here: Another one to add to the rejections in a clump-with a one day skip between them.

Just submitted my HM to Asimov's last night. This morning I got a form R. Seriously, did they even read it!?

It does look as though they're having a slush purge. Could be just unlucky timing. Alternatively a genre issue?

Sometimes I send a piece to a market because I have a hunch they might occasionally publish something a little out of their comfort zone. When my hunch is wrong these submissions tend to get bounced very quickly. One (not Asimov's) was actually accompanied by the words - "it isn't at all suitable." So there, I told myself. Do not push the envelope with them again! But there's only one way to find out.

Just submitted my HM to Asimov's last night. This morning I got a form R. Seriously, did they even read it!?

Don't rant. Rejoice! They are fast! You can send it somewhere else now.

I on the other hand am going to feel the need to start ranting soon about a certain sub, at 157 days now. I did get a very apologetic email from the editor on 26 Jan, saying it had been held for a second round of consideration, and he'd try to get back to me within the week, but well, clearly that was more than a week ago.

I on the other hand am going to feel the need to start ranting soon about a certain sub, at 157 days now. I did get a very apologetic email from the editor on 26 Jan, saying it had been held for a second round of consideration, and he'd try to get back to me within the week, but well, clearly that was more than a week ago.

I can see your 157 and raise you 18, for the same reason though at a different certain place. And at yet another certain place I have a 260.

I really don't mind so long as after all this time these certain places produce certain acceptances. Failing which I shall have to give advance warning to other forumites to lay in certain stocks of shades, earplugs etc.

Just submitted my HM to Asimov's last night. This morning I got a form R. Seriously, did they even read it!?

Don't rant. Rejoice! They are fast! You can send it somewhere else now.

True, and I already did send it somewhere else! Of course it would be nice to not have to send it anywhere, because it gets accepted.

Just submitted my HM to Asimov's last night. This morning I got a form R. Seriously, did they even read it!?

I need to send them a story--I did four the other day, but forgot Asimov's and Analog. Anyway, I can see if I get one of these super fast rejects.

I'm going to have to keep better track of the days my stories have been out. I know some have gone way over 100 even though not recently. Urban Fantasy Mag may he gone over their stated response time but only by a day or two. Last night I sent something to Asimov's it came back in two or three weeks. I thought that was amazing--as well as disappointing.

With the new guy F&SF is taking longer but still not greatly. Or so they state.

Oh Last story to IGMS also came back in record speed. They usually take over two months. This one was less than a month. I have another one there so I will see if it happens again.

Hmmm, Learned two things with my last rejection from F&SF. One is that Finlay is using the same phrases as the previous readers and editors of F&SF. At least one.

Two is even though he--according to a couple of people here--seems to be freer with personal comments, he isn't that free with them. Of course those who have received comments probably are better writers and would get them anyway.

And a third even my latest and bestest still hasn't gotten vert far.

All I got was the send more stories line--it's been way too long that I have been stuck on that level even though sometimes I don't even get that.

I had high hopes for this story, I even [dare I say it] liked the voice - somewhat experimental [almost run-on sentence train of thought], but readable. It might have not fit Strange Horizons since it's a kind of retelling, but, damn, I thought I'd at least get a comment, at least get through to the second round or something. But, I woke up to a form. A simple form, and since a different story is being held at a different market, this SH rejection felt like I was leveling-down instead of up.
Oh, well. I'll just send it elsewhere.

Hello Alice. Welcome to the Forum.

I think the general rule is, if you don't have high hopes for a story you wouldn't be submitting it. I have just pulled three consecutive forms with a story that cost a lot of hard labour and that I like a lot. All this proves is I sent it to the wrong place three times. Probably I couldn't send it to the right place because they have one of my stories already. So in due course the story will arrive at the right place, where its superb qualities will be properly appreciated. At which point everybody else will wish they'd published it.

And I'm sure your story is the same.

It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I like to imagine that rejections, while disappointing, still have positive value, especially for those of us starting out.

How is that? Well, if you have zero name recognition and zero sales you have to get your foot in the door somehow. If publishers are looking for the next great writer and want to be able to say the equivalent of "I published Stephen King's first story." then they have to take a chance on somebody. But who? Should they go completely by the quality of the writing? Perhaps not, because what if that writer ever only produces that one story. No, they need to see quality AND quantity.

So when I get that form rejection that says, please send us your next story, I take it at face value. They didn't buy that story, but perhaps after they've seen the fifth or tenth one, they'll think, "Hey, this guy's here to stay."

Or maybe they don't remember any of them .. who can say for sure. But I prefer to think that each rejection is opening another door just a little bit more. And if that is the case, then it is better not to send a story to the place you know will publish it right away (OK, that place doesn't exist, but you get the point). Instead, let it do some work first racking up some R's at the places you really want to get published someday.