I posted recently about my troubles with an anthology editor ("How Long Should I Wait?" in this forum). I finally got a response from him today, saying essentially, "Your story is over 5000 words. Our guidelines say 5000. Thanks for playing."
It's true that my story is over 5000 words. (It's just under 7000.) It is also true that the web page for this particular anthology clearly states a range of 2000-8000 words.
I assume:
a. this editor is a fathead who can't remember his own guidelines, and/or
b. the editor's previous unresponsiveness is the mark of a backlog, and he is telling me a Big Story (B.S.) to get me to go away.
Again, the response wasn't "not for us," which I could have gotten over, but "your story is too long for our guidelines," which I can't, because it's NOT.
What is the proper response here? (Besides sending the story on to someone else who will appreciate its awesomeness, of course.)
- Rob
But all rejections mean either no, or hell, no. Just about everything else an editor says is just an attempt to be nice, to give the writer an out, to let him down easy.
I posted recently about my troubles with an anthology editor ("How Long Should I Wait?" in this forum). I finally got a response from him today, saying essentially, "Your story is over 5000 words. Our guidelines say 5000. Thanks for playing."
It's true that my story is over 5000 words. (It's just under 7000.) It is also true that the web page for this particular anthology clearly states a range of 2000-8000 words.
I assume:
a. this editor is a fathead who can't remember his own guidelines, and/or
b. the editor's previous unresponsiveness is the mark of a backlog, and he is telling me a Big Story (B.S.) to get me to go away.
Again, the response wasn't "not for us," which I could have gotten over, but "your story is too long for our guidelines," which I can't, because it's NOT.
What is the proper response here? (Besides sending the story on to someone else who will appreciate its awesomeness, of course.)
- Rob
Discussion going nowhere; original question not addressed
My question was whether editorial guidelines changing was a problem associated with certain parts of the market (i.e., small press anthologies, certain genres, etc) or if this was just a random occurrence.
For your information, after sending a short but friendly note essentially saying, "Sorry for the confusion; your website lists a word count of blahblah," the editor wrote back, said that he'd had another set of submission guidelines in mind (for another anthology), apologized to me, and asked for a few days to read and evaluate my story.
The situation was a bit more complicated than the raft of "You got rejected, shut up" responses I got, but that didn't stop people from piling on once they smelled blood in the water.
The fact that all of you have been wrong in this instance is, I am sure, a shock, but I hope you will bear it with becoming fortitude.
I'm sorry that you appear to hold us all in as much contempt as you hold the editor you queried, the one you refered to as a 'fathead'. But since you clearly know so much more than the rest of us, you probably won't need our advice from now on then?
You're new, so I would recommend that you go and read the newbie guidelines if you haven't already done so, spend some time getting to know everyone and how things work, you'll learn a lot.
I have learned quite a bit through this exchange. Nowhere have I claimed to know more than any of you, nor do I hold you in contempt. I will admit, however, that it is a glorious feeling to have been rewarded for sticking by my story instead of quietly slinking away as advised.
My original post was made in anger - a mistake, I admit. I later attempted to clarify my point, but by then the party had started.
I expected slightly more compassion than I got, from writers with presumably similar experiences. I expected helpful advice in navigating the tricky balance between gaining the editor's favor and asserting the story's right to be considered under the stated guidelines. I expected people to read my clarifications and attempt to understand them. I expected people to read my repeated statements of "I can take rejection" and take them at face value. Instead, I was treated to a series of responses more a long the lines of, "You're down? Welcome, brother. Have a kick."
In a way, I guess I have gotten to know some of this community, and I have been saddened to learn a lot about how things work here.
At any rate, the story is being read. And isn't that all that matters?
- Rob
P.S. Do you see what I mean about the discussion going nowhere?
What we expect, we don't always get. You as an adult (I assume) should know that by now.
You haven't gotten to the know the community if you're basing this assumption off this thread alone. Then if this is true, it is limited by what you have read from members in this thread.
They have given you helpful advice.
You mean the way everyone else in this thread expected the editor to be done with me and my story, and the way that turned out to be oh so WRONG WRONG WRONG? I know. Isn't it wonderful?
Hence my use of the word "some."
Um, no. I was advised to give up.
- Rob
Do be sure to keep us updated on the status of that submission.
What for? This thread was never about acceptance or rejection of a story that had been read. It was about getting the story read and accepted or rejected on its own merits. I'm getting what I wanted. My story is being read and evaluated.
If it should be rejected, what will my sharing that news here achieve, besides giving a handful of naysayers the opportunity to nod sagely to themselves?
If it should be accepted, what then? Let's just say that any constructive comments or congratulations from this forum would be a great surprise at this point.
If it helps in some way, just know that I've gotten both rejection and acceptance letters from editors in the past. You may focus on the rejections if it makes you feel better.
Again, thank you all for your time. It's been stimulating, but I really must get back to writing now.
This thread was never about acceptance or rejection of a story that had been read. It was about getting the story read and accepted or rejected on its own merits.