strange rejection

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 13, 2016

I submitted a short story to an online publisher and got a strange rejection. It was a small online publisher, but it was a paying market so I gave it a shot. I usually write novel-length works, but I always wanted to write a short story. I hadn't written one since I was in college, but I gave it a go. I worked on it until I was satisfied it was good and submitted it to the publisher. Basically, the story is a Twilight Zone-like story where two college grads are given a time traveling device by a strange alien they encounter on a country road. The device can only go forward, but the students find it useful to skip things they dislike such as classes, or whatever. One of the students figures he can profit from the device and the two fight over it. As a result, the device is smashed on the ground which causes the two to age quickly and then die. One of the grads had gotten a job offer at NASA and he makes a comment that he's going to make good money there. I never wrote the exact job that he is was offered, but I was trying to setup that he was a greedy person because at the end of the story when the alien finds them dead, it makes a comment that "time is the only real wealth". Perhaps I will change his occupation. Sorry for the long explanation, but I wanted to explain it before I tell about the rejection.

I sent the submission in and got a reply within a week or so. They liked the story but suggested that I make a few changes and submit it again. They had a couple of questions about the plot and some sentence structure, but that they liked it. So I make the changes, send it back. I added a note on the changes, but they replied that they had discussed it and liked the way it was. At least as far as the plot points. After another week or so, I get a reply. The editor said that he really liked it and thought that they would accept it, but that his partner didn't think it was for them and that they had to agree on submissions before accepting. The person added that his partner wanted to tell me that she happened to work for NASA and that they do not accept jobs there because they are greedy, but because they like the job.

Now, I'm not going to suggest that I got rejected because I angered a NASA employee who happened to be an editor for this publisher, but it does make me wonder, though. I thought it was a strange rejection at any rate.

cornflake · Jul 13, 2016

I doubt that's why a story got rejected, but it's a little odd to diss NASA employees in a sci-fi story. It's also not logical. You're certainly not getting rich working for NASA afaik.

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 13, 2016

I didn't intend to diss NASA, it was the character that was greedy and I happened to pick NASA for his upcoming job. I guess him being offered a Wall Street job would work better. Still, what are the odds of that happening?

cornflake · Jul 13, 2016

Better than the odds of working at NASA? I don't get why someone greedy would want to work at NASA.

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 13, 2016

No, what are the odds of my writing something that would insult an employee at NASA and then submit it to an editor who happens to also work for NASA?

Jeneral · Jul 13, 2016

In a sci-fi market? I could see it being pretty likely.

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 13, 2016

I guess it's possible. Anyway, I'm going to change it. In fact, I don't think I need to mention a specific job. I think I can establish their greed by the device itself. At least they asked for more material in the future and that is something.

Treehouseman · Jul 14, 2016

As a plot, the "device used for greed" really only makes sense for Goldman Sachs circa pre-GFC or some private financial outfit.

NASA hasn't got that sort of money! That's probably why it was such an odd thing in a story - on the level of a character getting a Walmart cashier job to bring in the Big Bucks. Probably not realistic, even for scifi.

So your issue might be your ex-NASA editor going, DUUUDE, we'd give that guy a $20 gift voucher and two tickets for Ghostbusters. The plot makes no sense!

Diana_Rajchel · Jul 14, 2016

These days a greedy genius would work for a Silicon Valley for-profit, not a government agency. Think Facebook, Google, Twitter, axwhacked out startup.

MaeZe · Jul 14, 2016

A publisher with two editors that disagree and go back and forth on their feedback to you? That is beyond strange. But even more disconcerting is that your description of what they said doesn't sound very professional.

On the bright side, anything other than a rejection form letter sounds very promising.

As for NASA and not making money, I can attest to that. People I know are often interviewed on The Science Channel's astronomy and cosmology programs like, Space's Deepest Secrets, and, How the Universe Works. Michelle Thaller is one of them and she works for NASA. If you work at NASA you are not allowed to make any money for your part in the programs.

Treehouseman · Jul 14, 2016

MaeZe said:
A publisher with two editors that disagree and go back and forth on their feedback to you? That is beyond strange. But even more disconcerting is that your description of what they said doesn't sound very professional.

.

Well, taste is taste, ha! It might be a bit like those TV talent shows where everyone has to agree for the participant to go on to the next round. So one editor who is a literary buff might say the writing is great, but then your hard-core fact checker might nix the story on inaccuracies (SF readers tend to be picky about stuff like that).

At least the feedback was good, and honest. A lot of times your story will be rejected and they won't tell you why...

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 14, 2016

I never intended at all to make it sound as if people work for NASA because they are greedy. I don't even know if most of them make good money, but I am sure it is a well-paying job. I know they don't get rich. Actually, after it was brought to my attention, I changed it where the character only says he's going to make good money at NASA. It is later that he says he's going to get rich selling the device that the alien gives him, but I guess that the first image of the character still carried over even after I had rewritten it.

I don't know much about the publishers, but I did see a post here that was a couple of years ago that had one of the owners as a guest blogger. They paid 10 bucks for short stories and where it was my first real attempt at a short story, I thought I'd give it a try. They seemed like a small, but legit online publisher. They are called 4 Star Stories and apparently ran by David Gray and Mary Gearhart-Gray. David Gray was on the guess blog of that post of the member Melinda Moore's Enchanted Spark blog. I'm assuming this is the same publisher because everything matches up. I don't recall seeing a name in the e-mails, but I could have overlooked it. Anyway, they sounded like a good place where I could submit my short story. Now, I don't want any misunderstands. I am by no means trying to be critical of 4 Star Stories. They were nice to me and I am thrilled for them to even consider my work and hopefully, my future work. I just thought it was an interesting story. I am also not trying to say that my story was rejected because of the NASA thing. That can be easily changed. I just thought it was funny that it was added in my rejection letter. They were real helpful to me fixing several points in my story. I hope that I haven't caused them to look bad.

Roxxsmom · Jul 14, 2016

I'm guessing that this editor felt pretty strongly about the point, or she wouldn't have included it in the rejection letter. Many rejection letters are pretty vague, maybe even bland and generic, even when a story gets to a higher level during submission.

I suppose it's a cautionary tale about how we writers should do our homework, even about "throwaway" lines in stories about personality types and the professions they gravitate towards. You never know what a slush reader (or acquisition editor) might be knowledgeable (or sensitive) about.

Note, it doesn't sound like the acceptance process for this publication is worked out between the various members of the editorial staff either. If one editor told you the story was accepted without running it by his colleagues, then came back to tell you sorry, it's not accepted after all, because all editorial staff have to agree about acquisitions, it sounds kind of disorganized. This could be because it's new and they're still ironing things out, of course.

morngnstar · Jul 14, 2016

I suspect it was not so much an issue of being insulted, just that she didn't think that plot device was believable. She was not saying that as a NASA employee she was offended, but that as a NASA employee she is well-informed that NASA employees don't make that much money. Then again, if it wasn't about being insulted, not sure why they wouldn't ask for you to revise and change the occupation.

MaeZe · Jul 14, 2016

Treehouseman said:
Well, taste is taste, ha! It might be a bit like those TV talent shows where everyone has to agree for the participant to go on to the next round. So one editor who is a literary buff might say the writing is great, but then your hard-core fact checker might nix the story on inaccuracies (SF readers tend to be picky about stuff like that).

At least the feedback was good, and honest. A lot of times your story will be rejected and they won't tell you why...

It wasn't the difference of opinion I was referring to. It was sending a letter that had the feel of one editor gossiping about the other. But it could be the way the letter has been summarized and not the impression I would get reading the actual wording.

cornflake · Jul 14, 2016

scifi_boy2002 said:
I never intended at all to make it sound as if people work for NASA because they are greedy. I don't even know if most of them make good money, but I am sure it is a well-paying job. I know they don't get rich. Actually, after it was brought to my attention, I changed it where the character only says he's going to make good money at NASA. It is later that he says he's going to get rich selling the device that the alien gives him, but I guess that the first image of the character still carried over even after I had rewritten it.

It is really not a job that pays well at all, especially considering the education levels of many of the employees, no.

I don't know much about the publishers, but I did see a post here that was a couple of years ago that had one of the owners as a guest blogger. They paid 10 bucks for short stories and where it was my first real attempt at a short story, I thought I'd give it a try. They seemed like a small, but legit online publisher. They are called 4 Star Stories and apparently ran by David Gray and Mary Gearhart-Gray. David Gray was on the guess blog of that post of the member Melinda Moore's Enchanted Spark blog. I'm assuming this is the same publisher because everything matches up. I don't recall seeing a name in the e-mails, but I could have overlooked it. Anyway, they sounded like a good place where I could submit my short story. Now, I don't want any misunderstands. I am by no means trying to be critical of 4 Star Stories. They were nice to me and I am thrilled for them to even consider my work and hopefully, my future work. I just thought it was an interesting story. I am also not trying to say that my story was rejected because of the NASA thing. That can be easily changed. I just thought it was funny that it was added in my rejection letter. They were real helpful to me fixing several points in my story. I hope that I haven't caused them to look bad.

.

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 15, 2016

Yes, I've been working hard on my writing, but sometimes it's little things like this that I mess up on. It's the little things I have problems with.

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 15, 2016

I've learned something and that benefits me as a writer so I consider this a good experience.

Jamesaritchie · Jul 15, 2016

The odds of hitting such editors on the first try are probably high, but not if you submitted the story to market after market. Anyway, what bothered me is that those two held a multi- billion dollar device, and used it to skip classes? Am I missing something? Any government on earth would pay billions for that kind of technology, including NASA. NASA would hand over its entire budget for it.

scifi_boy2002 · Jul 15, 2016

This was the first market I hit for this story. As far as governments buying the device, they didn't get time to sell it. When they realized what they could do with it, they got in an argument and started fighting for it which caused it to drop to the pavement and break. The impact caused them to age over a hundred years. They died within seconds. I couldn't tell the whole story here, but only a short time passes between the alien giving them the device and when they figure out what it is. The alien didn't tell them much other than to use it wisely. The skipping classes was more less accidental when they first used the device and I'm sure they could have made millions with it if they had had more time. That is the bases of the story. It's how people waste their time on life, trying to get rich, and how they try to take short cuts in life. In fact the title of my short story is from a Shakespearean quote: "And Now Does Time Waste me".

Treehouseman · Jul 15, 2016

Jamesaritchie said:
The odds of hitting such editors on the first try are probably high, but not if you submitted the story to market after market. Anyway, what bothered me is that those two held a multi- billion dollar device, and used it to skip classes? Am I missing something? Any government on earth would pay billions for that kind of technology, including NASA. NASA would hand over its entire budget for it.

Although governments behave this way in all the dusty thrillers I see in second-hand shops, "in real life" any financial reimbursement wouldn't particularly affect the person who had the tech itself, as a previous poster pointed out.

And the editor who worked for NASA would be aware of the slow turnaround and tight-purse strings of governments (the guy who independently came up with the stealth tech got nothing, as a real world example.)

Jamesaritchie · Jul 20, 2016

Treehouseman said:
Although governments behave this way in all the dusty thrillers I see in second-hand shops, "in real life" any financial reimbursement wouldn't particularly affect the person who had the tech itself, as a previous poster pointed out.

And the editor who worked for NASA would be aware of the slow turnaround and tight-purse strings of governments (the guy who independently came up with the stealth tech got nothing, as a real world example.)

Governments work this way in real life, too. I have a friend who got very rich, very fast because governments work this way, and all he did was invent some classified bit of technology that aids aircraft launches from an aircraft carrier. You shouldn't dismiss what you find in thrillers. There's often a lot more than a grain of truth in them.

Menyanthana · Aug 17, 2016

morngnstar said:
I suspect it was not so much an issue of being insulted, just that she didn't think that plot device was believable. She was not saying that as a NASA employee she was offended, but that as a NASA employee she is well-informed that NASA employees don't make that much money. Then again, if it wasn't about being insulted, not sure why they wouldn't ask for you to revise and change the occupation.

If she just didn't think it was believable, why not tell the author to change that part? It is, after all, easily changed, if it is not really part of the plot.

strange rejection

scifi_boy2002

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

scifi_boy2002

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

scifi_boy2002

Jeneral

Cat wrangler

scifi_boy2002

Treehouseman

Diana_Rajchel

Writing from my Seaside Palace

MaeZe

Treehouseman

scifi_boy2002

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido

morngnstar

MaeZe

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

scifi_boy2002

scifi_boy2002

Jamesaritchie

scifi_boy2002

Treehouseman

Jamesaritchie

Menyanthana

Moonflower