Cryptic Rejection Letters...

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RTH

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Perhaps a silly question, but:

I received a rejection from a nice journal yesterday. Luckily, it was one of those rejections with some encouragement; in addition to the standard form, the editor wrote in a line that said "Please send again."

At first I thought, as is usually the case, that they liked me but that the piece I sent didn't quite fit -- so they're open to another. This has happened before.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if he meant for me to re-send the same story? It's a university publication, and since the form said they couldn't find a place in this issue I started to wonder if they thought it might have a place in another -- after the summer doldrum.

Of course, it's most likely that if this was the case, they would have said this explicitly, but I can't convince myself 100% one way or the other, for some reason.

Anybody encountered anything like this before? Any other examples of problematic submission responses?
 

Tina

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Perhaps a silly question, but:

I received a rejection from a nice journal yesterday. Luckily, it was one of those rejections with some encouragement; in addition to the standard form, the editor wrote in a line that said "Please send again."

At first I thought, as is usually the case, that they liked me but that the piece I sent didn't quite fit -- so they're open to another. This has happened before.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if he meant for me to re-send the same story? It's a university publication, and since the form said they couldn't find a place in this issue I started to wonder if they thought it might have a place in another -- after the summer doldrum.

Of course, it's most likely that if this was the case, they would have said this explicitly, but I can't convince myself 100% one way or the other, for some reason.

Anybody encountered anything like this before? Any other examples of problematic submission responses?

I received something sort of like that last year. The letter said that my story had made it past the first couple of reviewing levels and that the magazine "was hoping we'd have room for it but now it appears we won't." I decided if they'd really wanted it, they'd have made room and took it as a "happy" rejection.

My guess is that the editors want to see more of your work, perhaps some other pieces, but that's only my guess.
 

Julie Worth

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You're thinking too hard. He means to send in other work. If he had meant anything else, he would have said something like, send it again in six months.
 

nevada

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If they didnt have room in this issue and he wanted it for the next they would have accepted it and kept it for the next issue. It's not a start over process for each issue. Please send again means send me something else.
 

RTH

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Thanks, everyone --

That's what I figured, but for some reason I just couldn't convince myself all the way. I think I AM thinking too hard... :Shrug:
 
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