Rejectomancy

Eliza C

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135-day from TOR, which is actually pretty short for them. It was a very nice personal rejection. I know a lot of rejection letters ask people to submit again in the future, but from TOR it actually rang true.

Nice to have a good personal response from them! I know they keep saying they're trying to bring their response times down. I have a friend who started slushing for them a year ago or less, and recently went paid and offered more hours.

For myself: 2-day form R at CWP. That's two stories down there, one to go.
 

Datepalm

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Well, I suppose the bad news is a 41 day R from BCS (personal and nice, from Andrews) but the good news is that it did manage to come back just in time to get tossed off to CWP, which I was absolutely sure wouldn't happen.
 
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Sai

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What the hell? Two days since anyone has gotten a rejection? I don't know whether to be happy or not (actually, I'm not. Come on people! This thread is the nicotine patch to my duotrope addiction!)
 

J.W. Alden

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What the hell? Two days since anyone has gotten a rejection? I don't know whether to be happy or not (actually, I'm not. Come on people! This thread is the nicotine patch to my duotrope addiction!)

Haha, I was just thinking the same thing. I think maybe the holiday crawl has begun.
 

Eliza C

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Well, here you go, Sai.
4-day, second round, personal R from Clockwork Phoenix for "The Clouds in Her Eyes." This was the story I was most hopeful for of the three I sent. It was passed up to Mike Allen and he said he liked a lot of the ideas in it but ultimately decided it wasn't right for him. Phooey.
 

Datepalm

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Well, here you go, Sai.
4-day, second round, personal R from Clockwork Phoenix for "The Clouds in Her Eyes." This was the story I was most hopeful for of the three I sent. It was passed up to Mike Allen and he said he liked a lot of the ideas in it but ultimately decided it wasn't right for him. Phooey.

Eliza, I promise i'm not story-stalking you. Me too, 2-day, also from Allen, but I think it doesn't count as a personal. Just "ultimately wasn't right". I think i'll give it a shot at Strange Horizons, maybe. I feel the old dear still has a few rejections in it.
 

Marzioli

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Sad, a 14-day form R from Shimmer. And I don't even think it made it out of slush. Are "editors" at Shimmer second round, or do they do slush work too?
 

Eliza C

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Eliza, I promise i'm not story-stalking you. Me too, 2-day, also from Allen, but I think it doesn't count as a personal. Just "ultimately wasn't right". I think i'll give it a shot at Strange Horizons, maybe. I feel the old dear still has a few rejections in it.

Yeah - my first two were form "ultimately wasn't right" even though they were signed Mike Allen, but in this one he said his assistant editors passed this one up to him to read and he liked some of the ideas in it, though ultimately, etc.... ah well.
And I think I've finally thrown you off my trail Datepalm -- mine went back out today to DSF instead of SH!
 

Marzioli

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Based on my experience, their slush readers are also called "associate editors."

Great big bandaid for you!
Thanks KD, always appreciated! I, too, seem to recall them calling slushies "associate editors," but what about the editor position just below "senior editor"--a Mr. "Keffy Kehrli"? I guess it doesn't matter, although I think it'd sting a little less. :)
 

fihr

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My last Shimmer R was from a Senior editor at 20 days, but I still assumed it hadn't made it out of slush. It wasn't the right fit (I had known it was a long shot, but I thought, let them decide). I assumed that she was helping them out with slush, to keep things moving.
 

fihr

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:) I genuinely presumed it was meaningless. *tries to extract foot from mouth* Sorry. You know the story, 'Paperwork'. I actually don't have high hopes for it being a 'good fit' for anywhere. Doesn't matter though - still subbing.

Have just finished another flash piece that probably won't fit anywhere, due to nature of content. Ah well. It just popped into my head and I wanted to write it regardless.
 

Marzioli

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:) I genuinely presumed it was meaningless. *tries to extract foot from mouth* Sorry. You know the story, 'Paperwork'. I actually don't have high hopes for it being a 'good fit' for anywhere. Doesn't matter though - still subbing.
No, I'm sure you're right. The story had some issues that I've been struggling to fix. I just can't seem to bang out a good intro for the life of me. I've had a decent response to the current intro from beta readers, but there's something in my gut that balks when I read it.

Have just finished another flash piece that probably won't fit anywhere, due to nature of content. Ah well. It just popped into my head and I wanted to write it regardless.
I'm frankly shocked by some of the stories I've sold. Not that they're bad, just off the beaten path. You never know! Best of luck. (I can't believe how new all my subs are now. It's depressing).
 

fihr

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but there's something in my gut that balks when I read it.

Yeah, I know that feeling. Hopefully one day, the solution will just drop into your head when you're not thinking about it.

I'm frankly shocked by some of the stories I've sold. Not that they're bad, just off the beaten path. You never know! Best of luck. (I can't believe how new all my subs are now. It's depressing).

At least you have had a really great sale close to Christmas! (I am looking forward to reading it.)

Not sure whether to expect any more R's until the New Year. I have a couple due back any day, if they are still slushing. My bet is that they'll arrive on Christmas Eve. :D
 

alexshvartsman

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As I understand it, they will explicitly tell you at Shimmer if the story advanced to the second round. Not that I know from personal experience -- it's one of a few markets where I never managed to get past the first reader.
 

Marzioli

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Alex, if that's so then the senior editor must do slush too because I've gotten rejections from her as well without notification of bump.

Second round R from Pl@sm@ Frequency. Best R I ever got; I was so relieved. Shortly after I sent it I became dissatisfied with the POV to the point that it really made me hate the story. I plan to change that before I sub it elsewhere.
 

fihr

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...then the senior editor must do slush too because I've gotten rejections from her as well without notification of bump...

Much as I would enjoy thinking otherwise, I believe she does still slush. I think I read it somewhere.

Ah, rejectomancy...

Commiserations and congrats on your PF R. :)
 

Polenth

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As I understand it, they will explicitly tell you at Shimmer if the story advanced to the second round. Not that I know from personal experience -- it's one of a few markets where I never managed to get past the first reader.

I've had a number go through to the second round. They do tell you, and the first reader (who'll let you know you've advanced) could be anyone. I think they all pitch in on first reads.
 

Sai

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36-day rejection from Nature magazine. I'm running low on places to send this little sci-fi flash. Even after so many rejections, I still believe it's a good story. I just need to find an editor who agrees with me.
 

Eliza C

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Alex, if that's so then the senior editor must do slush too because I've gotten rejections from her as well without notification of bump.

Second round R from Pl@sm@ Frequency. Best R I ever got; I was so relieved. Shortly after I sent it I became dissatisfied with the POV to the point that it really made me hate the story. I plan to change that before I sub it elsewhere.

Perhaps so, and kudos to her if she does. I do know they have dedicated slush readers, too. They're listed on their site and one is a friend of mine (the same one who slushes for T0r.com. Perhaps some second rounders are just missed for bump notification? If I think of it at some point, I'll ask my friend.
Condolences on the Shimmr R and (I think) on the PF R.
 

Eliza C

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and just got another one...
81-day from Canadian SF Review with a nice apology for the length of time on their response. This was my first sub to them but I think it's form.
I'm in the same boat as you, Sai. I like this humorous little flash, but not sure where to send it from here (Nature was the first market).
 

Sai

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I'm in the same boat as you, Sai. I like this humorous little flash, but not sure where to send it from here (Nature was the first market).

I ended up sending mine to Tor. I never thought I would get to a point where the long wait would come as a relief ("Up to a year's wait? Yay! That's two hundred plus days I don't have to worry about it anymore.")