Rejectomancy

Tienci · May 5, 2011

dgaughran said:
Was this for the very short fiction comp? I got an R a couple of weeks ago.

Nope, the standard one.

Izz · May 5, 2011

Lillie said:
Got my first rejection.

I'm not bothered. I have bigger problems than that.
My printer isn't working and it's done something to the laptop so it won't shut down unless I take the battery out.

I am furious.
Either I get them working, or I take a hammer to them both.

I'll immolate myself over the rejection later, when I've calmed down a bit...

Getting your first R is both happy and sad

Lillie said:
Ah well. Poo.

Got the printer working, sort of.
Laptop still working.
Story subbed back out.

Bleh.

Yay for getting the printer (sort of) and laptop working!

And double :hooray:

for getting the story back out into sub land! That's often the most difficult thing after an R.

ShadowFox said:
Got my first rejection from the write 1 sub 1 stories.

It looks like a personal rejection... so a reasonably nice one...

Have sent the story back out.

I've also been reading short stories - 1 a day, like Bradbury recommends. Been a while since I really read any. It's quite fun.

Hi Shadow! Commiserations on the R, and yay for getting it back out.

Also, reading 1 short story a day is a very good idea. I need to up my intake, i think.

Lillie · May 5, 2011

Thanks, Izz.

It's been a funny sort of day. But yeah, I suppose stories are like kids. When it falls off you pick it up, dust it off and put it back on its bike to try again.

AlwaysJuly · May 6, 2011

Just got a nice personal R back from Shimmer, saying they'd like to see my next story, so that didn't sting much at all. It was sort of funny, actually, as just last night I edited a story, opened up my submissions tracker to see where it should go, and thought, "Man, this might be good for Shimmer, but I've already got a sub out to them."

Rejectomancy gods are listening, y'all. Be careful what you say!

(That story went out to another 'zine, but if I R there - as is likely, given that it's one of Duotrope's top 25 most challenging markets - it's going straight to Shimmer).

Lillie · May 6, 2011

Commiserations and congratulations on your rejection!

It sounds like there is a lot to be glad about there, even if your story was rejected.

And I shall take your advice and be careful what I say in front of the Rejectomancy Gods!

Sai · May 6, 2011

I also got a reply from Shimmer today, a rejection. It was short but personal which is nice but I still would have rather had an acceptance. Oh well. The sun's shining here for the first time in a week so this R doesn't depress me as much as it usually would.

mfowler76 · May 6, 2011

7 rejections this week; 1 personal from Weird Tales, who asked me to submit something else; 1 personal from Triangulation with a page-long critique -- VERY helpful!

Lillie · May 6, 2011

And the one I sent out yesterday came back to me today. Short and sweet. But they were nice about saying no.

And it's off again. This time to somewhere that takes ages so it can have a rest. Poor little unwanted thing.

Pooey poo poo.

russetpomme · May 6, 2011

crickets here - checked the PO box today after avoiding it for a week (not because I didn't want the rejection, but because I somehow thought this would increase the chances of the rejection actually being there when I checked? Rejectomancy!). I am waiting to hear back from a market I've been subbing to since I was seventeen and even after this long, it feels weird to be looking for an envelope with my own handwriting on it.

GreenRoom · May 6, 2011

Lillie said:
And the one I sent out yesterday came back to me today. Short and sweet. But they were nice about saying no.

And it's off again. This time to somewhere that takes ages so it can have a rest. Poor little unwanted thing.

Pooey poo poo.

I submitted a story to Apex two days ago, thinking that would be my place that took 'ages', or at least quite a few weeks, but then I just looked at the response times from this last week since they reopened, and the turn around on most of the submissions is running around 4 days! So much for my planned resting period - I likely have my R back by this Sunday.

Lillie · May 6, 2011

Oh well. I hope you get an four day acceptance rather than a reject.

I now have an embarrassing one day reject on duotrope. That makes it look like I wrote it in crayon and put lots of XOX on the end...

Lol.

ShadowFox · May 6, 2011

Lillie said:
Oh well. I hope you get an four day acceptance rather than a reject.

I now have an embarrassing one day reject on duotrope. That makes it look like I wrote it in crayon and put lots of XOX on the end...

Lol.

To be honest, I don't think it matters. The difference between a 10 day reject and a 15 minute reject is probably just when the editor had a spare hour to read submissions.

Lillie · May 6, 2011

Thanks.

That's what I'll tell my self.

Anyway, I've decided this rejection business is fun. Like what else would I be doing?

Must write more rejectable stuff...

Aggy B. · May 6, 2011

Still crickets for me. Making me nervous. Expecting a whole slew of Rs on Mother's Day.

shelleyo · May 6, 2011

I'm expecting at least a couple today, tomorrow, the next. Could come anytime. A third might show up in the next several days, too. I don't know why I'm thinking about them at all, but I am. I don't have enough out there, probably. I have the sneaking feeling everything that's out there now is going to come back. I'm fine with a couple of them coming back. One I hope comes back now, but it probably won't for a while. I want to make some improvements and send it elsewhere. The rest, meh.

You guys with the personal rejections and the ones asking for more: :Thumbs:

If I get any responses on Mother's Day, since I'm anticipating all rejections for some reason, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to even read the emails until Monday. That is if I can keep myself from it. That sounds kind of childish, I guess, but I think I'll feel better that way.

Shelley

Nathaniel Katz · May 6, 2011

GreenRoom said:
I submitted a story to Apex two days ago, thinking that would be my place that took 'ages', or at least quite a few weeks, but then I just looked at the response times from this last week since they reopened, and the turn around on most of the submissions is running around 4 days! So much for my planned resting period - I likely have my R back by this Sunday.

Advance warning: I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to despise you if you get a four day rejection. Mine's been there for four months. I know I should just forget it, but - perhaps because I sent it out before I realized the whole "send and forget" strategy - it's driving me insane every time I think about it. Why won't you just reject me already, damn it! Why!?

EDIT: congrats on the personal rejection from Weird Tales, mfowler.

alexshvartsman · May 6, 2011

Nate: If you've been at Apex for four months that's a good thing. It probably means your story made it all the way to Cat Valente's desk (where it's likely to languish for a LONG time until she gets finally gets to it).

My previous Apex submission took 129 days to get an R, and Rose had a similarly long wait around the same time. At least this means you got past the slushies, which is no small thing at that market.

mfowler76 · May 7, 2011

I agree with Alex; the only personal rejection I've received from Apex came after they held it for a couple months. The two-day rejection I received this week was a form-letter.

And in other rejection-related news, Lightspeed lived up to their name this week with a two-day R and Mr. Adams' signature line: "It didn't quite work for me, I'm afraid." Gotta love it.

soapdish · May 7, 2011

Wha--really? I've had something at Apex for ~~FIVE~~ FOUR months (actually, ~~five~~ four months exactly, today). Man, I hope that's a good thing.

Hugs for everyone with recent Rs. Though you all seem to be great sports about them.

ETA: Oops, counted wrong. It's 4 not 5.
*counts again* Yep, 4.

Sam I Am · May 7, 2011

First rejection of my W1S1 adventure.

But luckily I sent out two more of my stories. Hoping for better luck with those two.

soapdish · May 7, 2011

Sam. Turn it around to another pub. Quick! Then start something new.

Izz · May 7, 2011

A

each for all the rejectees.

Never give up, never surrender!

(as a side note: my current sell ratio is 1 in every 20 subs, which is as good as it's ever been. Duotrope tells me my 5% sell-rate is better on average than that of others who sub to the same markets. My point? Lotsa rejections are a big part of the submission game. And, if we get our stories straight back out when they get rejected, we're winning.

)

alexshvartsman · May 7, 2011

Got my rejection from ChiZine today, and it was form despite the above-average wait (49 days). I'm way too tired to resubmit today (after a 15 hour workday) - but I'll ship this story back out tomorrow. This is the same story that sat at Apex for 4+ months.

Izz · May 7, 2011

alexshvartsman said:
Got my rejection from ChiZine today, and it was form despite the above-average wait (49 days). I'm way too tired to resubmit today (after a 15 hour workday) - but I'll ship this story back out tomorrow. This is the same story that sat at Apex for 4+ months.

Commiserations, Alex. But these long waits mean the story's competing right up to the finish line!

Sagana · May 8, 2011

Congratulations on the personals and "send mores".

I haven't gotten anything like that yet and want one

I might check out your markets and see if I can follow in your wakes.

Apex, btw, held my story a long time (3 months+) and sent a form reject. Oh well. I knew it made it past the slush reader as she told me so due to an error in the system. So that was encouraging

Got a reject from Daily Science Fiction that I was expecting. The story was really too long for them. Their form is nice. Trying to decide where to send it next (I have this bizarre method for deciding where to send things. It's nuts.)

Still waiting on Clarkesworld. Last time I sent them something, they rejected it in 2 days. This one is taking longer, but it seems like it's just slower through the large pile they have. It's still at 66 before it even is read. I already know where to send that one next though. So... moving along.

On an upbeat note, there are orchids on the window seat next to my desk this morning

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