A resubmission question

seun · Jan 17, 2008

OK, here's the deal. I recently submitted a short story to an online magazine. I got the rejection last night. The piece was a horror/mystery they said was too open-ended and not explained enough. They also said I write well, gave it good atmosphere etc so at least I have something to work on.

The thing is I personally feel my best short fiction is the stuff where I don't explain everything, where I leave some of it up to the reader. So this leaves me the choice of finding a new publisher or resubmitting to the same one - and send them a much less mysterious/open ended story.

What would you do?

johnzakour · Jan 17, 2008

seun said:
OK, here's the deal. I recently submitted a short story to an online magazine. I got the rejection last night. The piece was a horror/mystery they said was too open-ended and not explained enough. They also said I write well, gave it good atmosphere etc so at least I have something to work on.

The thing is I personally feel my best short fiction is the stuff where I don't explain everything, where I leave some of it up to the reader. So this leaves me the choice of finding a new publisher or resubmitting to the same one - and send them a much less mysterious/open ended story.

What would you do?

If it was me I would try others first. Then if nothing worked out I would modify and resubmit to the first one.

waylander · Jan 17, 2008

seun said:
OK, here's the deal. I recently submitted a short story to an online magazine. I got the rejection last night. The piece was a horror/mystery they said was too open-ended and not explained enough. They also said I write well, gave it good atmosphere etc so at least I have something to work on.

The thing is I personally feel my best short fiction is the stuff where I don't explain everything, where I leave some of it up to the reader. So this leaves me the choice of finding a new publisher or resubmitting to the same one - and send them a much less mysterious/open ended story.

What would you do?

Both - send the first magazine another piece and send the rejected story out to another market. There are lots of places that take horror/dark fantasy material. Look here for markets www.ralan.com

mikeland · Jan 17, 2008

This thread should probably get moved over to the short fiction forum, if there's a mod monitoring.

I agree with the other comments. If you have a story that is less ambiguous that you feel is ready for submission, send it to this market as soon as possible. They left a big door open for you with their comments. And they provided invaluable insight about their personal editorial tastes.

I also wouldn't rush into a rewrite of the rejected story. Do some reading of other markets to find mags more comfortable with the open-ended pieces.

seun · Jan 17, 2008

mikeland said:
I agree with the other comments. If you have a story that is less ambiguous that you feel is ready for submission, send it to this market as soon as possible. They left a big door open for you with their comments. And they provided invaluable insight about their personal editorial tastes.

I like that.

And it was very nice to get a reply I can work with rather than a form rejection.

Shweta · Jan 17, 2008

mikeland said:
This thread should probably get moved over to the short fiction forum, if there's a mod monitoring.

Mod wokeup.
Got coffee?

I agree with the other comments. If you have a story that is less ambiguous that you feel is ready for submission, send it to this market as soon as possible.

Ditto, ditto, ditto. This is a lovely big thing, you can even put it in your cover letter, if you include one. They want to see more of your work!

I also wouldn't rush into a rewrite of the rejected story. Do some reading of other markets to find mags more comfortable with the open-ended pieces.

Agree again.
Especially because you made it clear in post #1 that you don't agree with editorial taste in this matter. What I've been told (and believe) is, the only times you should ever edit based on editorial spec are a) if you agree, and their comments make you go yes that's what was missing! or maybe b) if they'll buy it if you edit

seun · Jan 18, 2008

Thanks for the replies. I emailed the publisher last night with the outline of a different, less open-ended story and will hunt for another publisher for the first story.

Shweta · Jan 18, 2008

seun said:
Thanks for the replies. I emailed the publisher last night with the outline of a different, less open-ended story and will hunt for another publisher for the first story.

They do outlines for short stories these days?
Or... am I confused... is this a short novel, and my moving the post over to short stories was a mistake...?

Pike · Jan 18, 2008

I've been hit by this before, someone not liking the open-ended story and thought I was screwing things up. Then I read how some well-published authors love that kind of short, like an old episode of the Twilight Zone (serious inspiration for me) and finally relaxed. Stephen King is one who comes to mind.

Great advice above. There's always a market for your work. And kudos for the response on the OP. That always helps move the muse!

Pike

geardrops · Jan 18, 2008

If you feel your best stories are open-ended, then good. Personally, I like open-ended stories. (You don't want them so open-ended that the reader can't begin to make heads or tails of it, but a little ambiguity is nice.)

Perhaps they disagree. Does this make your story bad? No. Just makes it not for them.

Try other markets. If you keep meeting the same wall, perhaps your story is too open-ended for reader comfort.

And hey, you got a personalized response. So obviously they liked it (mostly)

seun · Jan 18, 2008

Shweta said:
They do outlines for short stories these days?

No, I just meant a brief description of the story, making it clear it's not open ended.

A resubmission question

seun

Horror Man

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

mikeland

Call me Pookie

seun

Horror Man

Shweta

gone

seun

Horror Man

Shweta

gone

Pike

Chivalry ain't dead

geardrops

Good thing I like my day job

seun

Horror Man