Rejectomancy

Congrats, mistri! That's a great market to be able to list in your credits!

I'm fine with nonpaying. I'm still very new to all of this. Just trying to get my stuff out there.

Big congrats on the acceptance from DSF! They publish some great stuff. That's awesome.

I know next to nothing about SF markets, but FYI here's Duo's list of markets that accept SF and send a high percentage of personals. The list includes a mix of paying and non-paying; open and temp closed; flash, short, and audio; styles, genre ranges, acceptance rates, and who knows what else - so you'll need to check guidelines, submission periods, and so forth.

Aurealis, Bewildering Stories, The Colored Lens, Cosmic Roots and Eldrich Stories, The Fable Online, freeze frame fiction, Gallery of Curiosities, Havok, Kzine, Outposts of Beyond, Reckoning, The Singularity, Spank The Carp, Theme of Absense.

Good luck!

PS - Congrats, mistri!!

mistri said:

Got a story acceptance from Daily Science Fiction today. Super happy as only my second sale. But story may require edits so won't get too excited until it's all confirmed

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Congrats mistri!!

Luxtizer said:

Does anyone know any other markets that tend to provide good feedback with their rejections?

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KZine does. It's a token market out of the UK.

Ooh, acceptance hidden in the rejectomancy thread.

Congrats, mistri!

Thank you to pdichellis and CharlyT for the recommendations. I will definitely try submitting to some of those markets.

Major congrats, mistri!!

Me, I had a 52 day form nope from Compelling SF after a loong period of nothing but crickets.

First rejection of the new year. A 78-day form from Agni.

Rejection avalanche today, from Liminal, AGNI, subTerrain, and Threepenny Review, as well as learning that an anthology I had a story accepted to last summer, Let Us In, has been cancelled.

Luckily, last year was very good for me, and the afterglow lingers, so I'm not bummed out like I might have been had this happened before then.

Sorry I didn't mean to post in the wrong place but thanks for congrats.

A form reject from Interzone this week. Though it's one of those very polite forms that says they hope you'll send something new soon. But I've even had that line on their forms before so I guess it must be on them all?

William Green said:

Rejection avalanche today, from Liminal, AGNI, subTerrain, and Threepenny Review, as well as learning that an anthology I had a story accepted to last summer, Let Us In, has been cancelled.

Luckily, last year was very good for me, and the afterglow lingers, so I'm not bummed out like I might have been had this happened before then.

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Good for you for staying positive! That's certainly a truckload to take all in one day.

One thing about a rejectolanche is that it reminds you that you're still in the game.

119 day form nope today from Fantastic Stories.

Is anyone else waiting at Farstrider? They've gone quiet on Twitter and Facebook. I have a story that's been there quite a long time that I thought would be a good fit. Queried last week but no reply yet. Not sure whether to withdraw or not.

295 day form from GRANTA. I've gotten higher tier ones that include a line about having enjoyed the story, but not this time. My last two response from them came in the 140 day range. Wonder why this one took twice as long.

485-day form kaput from Tin House. Included a note of apology for the long wait, saying they've been swamped with submissions. (They even shortened their submission window, by a lot: was March THROUGH Sept, now just March AND Sept). The form also invited me to sub again.

PS - 485 days is now my longest rejection, burying my old record of 335 at AHMM.

pdichellis said:

485 days is now my longest rejection, burying my old record of 335 at AHMM.

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Good golly, and I get annoyed by responses taking more than 120 days!

CharlyT said:

Good golly, and I get annoyed by responses taking more than 120 days!

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There aren't nearly as many mystery/crime markets as markets for lit, SF/F, horror, etc., so parking a story or two at long-response markets is part of the drill. (Tin House is an acclaimed lit market of course, but also an MWA-qualified mystery market!)

Got one of those rejections today that hit me harder than usual for no real reason. It's one I've gotten more than once on this story - like, but not science fiction enough (paraphrased). I've run out, again, of places to send this to but still believe in it (thankfully markets keep reopening all the time).

11-day nope from Liminal Stories, and already back out the door.

My longest ever wait was a form at 993 days from Vestal Review. I'd practically forgotten it was out there.

Tamlyn, it's funny how some rejections hit us harder than others, especially on those awkward stories. I have one that I suspect will never sell, and coincidentally it also gets the "not genre enough" comments.

Whoooooooooops. In three years of doing this, got my first "deleted unread because you screwed up the guidelines" R: From Gamut, when I forgot to take my name out of the manuscript. Normally I'm a super-stickler for guidelines, so I'm a little frustrated I screwed up on my first submission to a new pro market--but mostly, I just thought it was a really funny goof-up.

Next month, maybe!

Peace
Ty

Tamlyn said:

Got one of those rejections today that hit me harder than usual for no real reason. It's one I've gotten more than once on this story - like, but not science fiction enough (paraphrased). I've run out, again, of places to send this to but still believe in it (thankfully markets keep reopening all the time).

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It’s funny (annoying) how that happens with some stories. I have a couple of favourites that now seem unlikely to find a home, but I truly do believe in them. One, I think would be more salable with a different ending, but I purposely chose the one I have. If it doesn’t sell, it doesn’t sell. Don’t get me wrong, I normally revise all the time if I think it can improve a story!

Ty - argh frustrating to make a mistake like that, I've done that a few times. Normally realise when I hit send, and it normally happens when I'm submitting late at night and in a hurry!

mistri said:

Ty - argh frustrating to make a mistake like that, I've done that a few times. Normally realise when I hit send, and it normally happens when I'm submitting late at night and in a hurry!

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Those are the terrible groaners, where you drop your forehead onto the desk - repeatedly - and chant "How could I be so freaking DUMB!" Like you, mistri, mine always (okay, I've only done it twice, but still!) happen looooong after I should've gone to bed and whatever was written in the submission guidelines just didn't sink in when I first read them. It might be better if I didn't have the habit of rereading those guidelines *after* I hit the send button. :S

Why, oh why, someone better informed than I, do rejections always come back together? I got a 2 day from F&SF yesterday and then a 342 day from AHMM today. WHAT. Was it just sitting there, waiting for another rejection to come by, so it could hitch a ride back to my inbox? Mysteries of the universe, I tell ya.

pdichellis said:

485-day form kaput from Tin House. Included a note of apology for the long wait, saying they've been swamped with submissions. (They even shortened their submission window, by a lot: was March THROUGH Sept, now just March AND Sept). The form also invited me to sub again.

PS - 485 days is now my longest rejection, burying my old record of 335 at AHMM.

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Wowowow. That's a mind boggling response time. Mine record is 342, also from the beloved AHMM.

66 day form nope today from Nature: Futures. Doubt I'll ever have anything of exactly the right length to send to them again.

Ty, these things happen to all of us. I like to think of it as a second chance to send the story to that market. That's what I tell myself, at least, when I'm done with the self-flagellation.