122-day form phooey from LampLight. But also got an acceptance for a mystery reprint (from a different market), so my inbox wasn't entirely evil.
Rejectomancy
- Thread starter Aggy B.
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Got my first rejection since I started submitting again. It was for a flash which is kinda weird (but that's why it's a flash).
It's kind of nice how little I care about the rejection emails? Like I used to really really care. And today I was all "Wait, I was looking for another email, but good to know"
It's kind of nice how little I care about the rejection emails? Like I used to really really care. And today I was all "Wait, I was looking for another email, but good to know"
Sorry about the rejection, pdchellis - but I'm glad you had an acceptance at the same time to cheer it up 
That's great! What made you stop caring so much?
I've found that the more I get, the more I'd rather have rejection then crickets, to be honest. I just like subbing and being in the "game"...
That's great! What made you stop caring so much?
I've found that the more I get, the more I'd rather have rejection then crickets, to be honest. I just like subbing and being in the "game"...
Thanks DF and Sara K. The reprint (a sometimes comical private eye story about a multi-million-dollar art heist) will be live and free to read in the next few days & I'll post a link on Braggage.
Meanwhile, I got another form, a 36-day pass from a comedy site for a humor piece. The piece has now collected several R's. Maybe it's not as funny as I thought it was.
Meanwhile, I got another form, a 36-day pass from a comedy site for a humor piece. The piece has now collected several R's. Maybe it's not as funny as I thought it was.
Sorry about the R, pdchellis! Have you had any personal feedback on it?
I've just received my 1-day R from Clarkesworld, as to be expected. Unfortunately, as I e-mailed it on to Shimmer I did something incredibly dumb. I forgot to attach the goddamn thing to the email! I've never done that before, and resent immediately, but I feel like a prize idiot.
I've been doing things like this lately - I really need to be more careful, clearly. Ugh.
I've just received my 1-day R from Clarkesworld, as to be expected. Unfortunately, as I e-mailed it on to Shimmer I did something incredibly dumb. I forgot to attach the goddamn thing to the email! I've never done that before, and resent immediately, but I feel like a prize idiot.
I've been doing things like this lately - I really need to be more careful, clearly. Ugh.
Sorry about the Rs, everyone.
I had two rejection victories today!
Rejection victory one: I've only been writing and submitting since January, but I've already had more rejections than I can recall off the top of my head. This is good because it means I don't remember (and take personally) any single one -- I just file them away and keep going.
Rejection victory two: I decided, this time, to redraft one of my stories before sending it back out. I haven't done this before because it was critical for morale that I just keep churning them back out. But now that rejection achievement one has been unlocked (see above!) I find I can quite easily take a day to redraft without deciding I hate the thing too much to try. AND the result is that I now have a story that I'm really really happy with!
(I'll be back here to pollyanna-ify whatever rejections v2 collects, haha..)
ETA does anyone know when Liminal reopens to fiction subs? I think they'd be a good fit for one of my pieces that's doing the rounds right now... Unless Strange Horizons bites... Please bite, SH.
I had two rejection victories today!
Rejection victory one: I've only been writing and submitting since January, but I've already had more rejections than I can recall off the top of my head. This is good because it means I don't remember (and take personally) any single one -- I just file them away and keep going.
Rejection victory two: I decided, this time, to redraft one of my stories before sending it back out. I haven't done this before because it was critical for morale that I just keep churning them back out. But now that rejection achievement one has been unlocked (see above!) I find I can quite easily take a day to redraft without deciding I hate the thing too much to try. AND the result is that I now have a story that I'm really really happy with!
(I'll be back here to pollyanna-ify whatever rejections v2 collects, haha..)
ETA does anyone know when Liminal reopens to fiction subs? I think they'd be a good fit for one of my pieces that's doing the rounds right now... Unless Strange Horizons bites... Please bite, SH.
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Congrats on your two rejection victory! They are a necessary evil, but kind of thrilling at the same time. I'm glad you got a good story out of rejection, regardless of how it does in the future. As for Liminal, I'm not sure - I'm quite curious too, as I have some stuff that could sit well with them.
For me, Shimmer gave me the nicest personal rejection I've ever gotten - including my other 2 rejections from Shimmer. It start with "I sat with this one for a while" and spoke about all the philosophical world questions my story made her think about - which is yuge because it means my subtext is working! And she really did have a long hard think about my story!
She also gave me some constructive feedback - I'm going to work on the big decision at the end of my story. It mentioned my pacing being uneven, too, which is something I get a lot but I find very hard to action. I don't have an ear for pacing, it seems.
I think I'm going to work on this one, and then set it aside as my submission for Viable Paradise.
For me, Shimmer gave me the nicest personal rejection I've ever gotten - including my other 2 rejections from Shimmer. It start with "I sat with this one for a while" and spoke about all the philosophical world questions my story made her think about - which is yuge because it means my subtext is working! And she really did have a long hard think about my story!
She also gave me some constructive feedback - I'm going to work on the big decision at the end of my story. It mentioned my pacing being uneven, too, which is something I get a lot but I find very hard to action. I don't have an ear for pacing, it seems.
I think I'm going to work on this one, and then set it aside as my submission for Viable Paradise.
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I also suffer from this, and I have found that James Scott Bell's "Plot & Structure" has been a bit help.
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TBH, it was a combination of submitting a lot - you get used to no after a while, and, strangely enough, being published. Because I didn't think much of the one short I've got published, and SH took it, which I didn't expect *at all*
So I've decided I'm no judge of my own work. So I just write, enjoy myself, and know it's not personal or probably much to do with how I write when someone says no.
I mean, I care on some level, but I don't take it personally and I'm not relying on it for food, so... I just sort of get on with things?
ION, DSF said no to another flash piece. Out they go again.
(I really need to edit some of my shorts - much more of a market place)
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It also helps that shorts don't take that long to write. It's much easier to be blasé about 4k of words than something you've committed a year to.
Thank you so much for mentioning this book! It's available on kindle unlimited so I've been reading it since I saw your post. So helpful just to see the plot mechanics laid out like that. I find I do these things anyway, sort of, but being more aware of why is making me a much more careful and conscious writer. Yay
6 day R from F&SF for a bio-punk novelette. Just a form, but signed by Finlay, not a first reader - which means the "second read" point in the queue appears to be around 50. (For folks that are interested in those sorts of things. I'd started at 161. R came after the story had dropped to 47, but may have dropped a little further. I wasn't checking it constantly.)
Sent it out to Asimov's this morning. Onward.
Sent it out to Asimov's this morning. Onward.
Sorry, I didn't see this earlier. Basically, there is usually a slush reader (or several) who read through all the submissions that come in. The ones they think the editor will be interested in are then passed to the editor to read. After the editor reads the story they will either put the story into a "final consideration" pile or send a rejection.
Some markets (like Apex) will send a notice if something is getting passed up to the editor to let you know they're holding it for a little while longer. Some don't, but the rejection comes with the editor's name at the bottom instead of the first readers. (And there are a few markets where the first readers make recommendations, but the editor still looks at everything.)
Basically, if you get past slush it usually means the story is solid, but just didn't strike the editor quite right that day or they'd already bought something similar recently. So, for an author it can be a little confidence boost because it tells you that you're making progress with the craft of writing.
And, it's part of the fun of Rejectomancy.
Thanks for this! The queue number thing just really confuses me. I'm going a little crazy re: my Strange Horizons sub and I just realized you can enter your submissions in grinder and see the little black dot and my black dot is under an increasing hill of red and I can just feel the palpable cloud of impending rejection, sigh.
Like I just said in the middling thread, I am struggling with the patience thing! And I really need to get on with new projects, and accept that the ones out there are not my problem any more.
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I got a very personal rejection from F&SF, with some actual constructive editing suggestions. Which was lovely, but made me wonder if they could go into it in that much detail, why couldn't they just buy it and have me do the edits *cries into coffee*
On a more serious note, it was really nice. Makes me hopeful for the piece.
I got a form no from Flash Fiction Online, and a "submittable screwed up your doc, could you reload is as an RTF?", for the other story I sent to them (ION, I'm still in love with the fact that they take more than one story at once).
So. Not all terrible news. Also, the next thing I'm sending to F&SF is 17k, which will be a bit of a jump from the 800 words that the last one was *evil grin*
I am not fond of the two week wait period though...
On a more serious note, it was really nice. Makes me hopeful for the piece.
I got a form no from Flash Fiction Online, and a "submittable screwed up your doc, could you reload is as an RTF?", for the other story I sent to them (ION, I'm still in love with the fact that they take more than one story at once).
So. Not all terrible news. Also, the next thing I'm sending to F&SF is 17k, which will be a bit of a jump from the 800 words that the last one was *evil grin*
I am not fond of the two week wait period though...
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If it helps, the first time I sent something out at got a no, I didn't send anything out for two months after that. It took me a year and a half to stop checking emails daily - now I"m happy I've got the grinder because at least it remembers what I have out, because I often forget.
It does get easier. Just takes a while.
I forgot to add that some places just have a submission number (like Asimov's). It doesn't change. But for Apex or F&SF, the number shows where you are in the pile. (At Apex you actually go all the way down to 1 or 2 if you get into the editor's "for consideration" pile.
The Submission Grinder is great, but it's important to remember that the info is self-reported by authors so it's a good sample, but it doesn't represent/record every submission to a market. And there is always a portion who don't report rejections, even if they record the submission. (Which can lead to outliers that throw the curve off.)
Best of luck with your submissions. It's challenging, especially at first, but stick with it. Persistence really is key.
Hugs for your F&SF R, Sian! Hey, at least it means you're likely to be accepted soon!
I feel you on the patience thing, Phyllis. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you I did slush read for SH for a year, but that was before they changed their submission portal, so I can't say how they might handle it these days.
Forgot to report my 19-day form R from DSF. I did expect it, as it's a bit more lyrical than the stuff they usually publish. Need to get better at writing flash with straightforward prose.
That's out at Shimmer at the moment, and I'm just at 6 days, so should hear back any moment. My 41-day sub at Cicada is driving me insane, but the theme only closed on 27th March, so the fact only one rejection has gone out for a sub older than mine in the last 30 days should not get my hopes up. But it is, it is, it is.
EDIT: My Shimmer R came in just as I posted this! It was a form R, which is a bit discouraging, but there we go. Not sure where this one'll go next yet - maybe Apex.
I feel you on the patience thing, Phyllis. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you
I did slush read for SH for a year, but that was before they changed their submission portal, so I can't say how they might handle it these days.Forgot to report my 19-day form R from DSF. I did expect it, as it's a bit more lyrical than the stuff they usually publish. Need to get better at writing flash with straightforward prose.
That's out at Shimmer at the moment, and I'm just at 6 days, so should hear back any moment. My 41-day sub at Cicada is driving me insane, but the theme only closed on 27th March, so the fact only one rejection has gone out for a sub older than mine in the last 30 days should not get my hopes up. But it is, it is, it is.
EDIT: My Shimmer R came in just as I posted this! It was a form R, which is a bit discouraging, but there we go. Not sure where this one'll go next yet - maybe Apex.
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Hugs for your F&SF R, Sian! Hey, at least it means you're likely to be accepted soon!
I feel you on the patience thing, Phyllis. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you
Forgot to report my 19-day form R from DSF. I did expect it, as it's a bit more lyrical than the stuff they usually publish. Need to get better at writing flash with straightforward prose.
That's out at Shimmer at the moment, and I'm just at 6 days, so should hear back any moment. My 41-day sub at Cicada is driving me insane, but the theme only closed on 27th March, so the fact only one rejection has gone out for a sub older than mine in the last 30 days should not get my hopes up. But it is, it is, it is.
EDIT: My Shimmer R came in just as I posted this! It was a form R, which is a bit discouraging, but there we go. Not sure where this one'll go next yet - maybe Apex.
Haha, I had the exact same thing -- a 19-day R from DSF for a lyrical short that got a form R from Shimmer. Ugh, annoying because I really love this piece. Thanks for the encouragement! I bet slush reading was quite a revelation. This is my first sub to SH and I think I'm feeling weird about it because it was the first genre magazine I was ever really aware of, a long time ago and before I even considered sending them my stuff, and it would be surreal and amazing to get an acceptance from them. I just have to keep telling myself that there will be other chances, other and better stories, and this is just the beginning...
How funny! Well one of us will surely hit with these lyrical shorts... Mine is at Apex now.
Slush reading was definitely interesting. It really showed me how impersonal it actually is, and how many times things were just very, ever so slightly, off, which was enough if there was another story I read in the same batch that really excited me. It definitely is just the beginning though! Keep sending them everything, is my motto.
Anyway, Cicada just sent out a bunch of rejections for stories much older than mine, and a couple in the same ballpark. I continue to hold my breath, and wonder if any of those subs were for the same theme or not... Tomorrow I'm gonna start a new short, to stop driving myself crazy.