Rejectomancy

[Marzioli]

Thanks guys, appreciate the sympathy.

[J.W. Alden]

Originally Posted by mhaynes

Agreed 100% about Shimmer. It's a really good publication, all the way around. I came very close with my last submission but not quite close enough. (A bit of rejectomancy that seems reasonable to share, come to think of it... Flash is apparently somewhat inherently a hard sell there.)

Yeah, I was told the same thing with my last submission there. And I agree with the Shimmer love. I'd be ecstatic to see my name in one of their ToC's.

Condolences to the recents, especially you Penumbra folk. I had a recent rejection from them that made it to the final round and was waiting 100 something days, so I know the sting of almost making it there!

For now, I'm training crickets. I expect a couple of responses any day though.

[Eliza C]

[QUOTE=J

Condolences to the recents, especially you Penumbra folk. I had a recent rejection from them that made it to the final round and was waiting 100 something days, so I know the sting of almost making it there!

For now, I'm training crickets. I expect a couple of responses any day though.[/QUOTE]

Ow. I've had a couple from Penumbra that they told me went to the final round but they didn't keep them anywhere near 100 days. Bummer.

Sorry to Marzioli too. I know some rejects hurt more than others.

[alexshvartsman]

Originally Posted by Marzioli

Painful 37-day form R from Apex. Just when I was beginning to hope, and all that jazz.

Gah sorry to hear about that. Did it at least come from Lynne Thomas?

I'm at 36 days there myself, so I'll likely be getting mine soon, too.

[Marzioli]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

Gah sorry to hear about that. Did it at least come from Lynne Thomas?

Nope. Seems odd they reject some at 1-10 days, and then sit on others up to 40. I had another there for 43 days a month or so back. Either there's a hidden distribution of slush reading we're not aware of, or some of us may have gotten saddled with a slow reader.

[defcon6000]

63-day form R from LORE. Another one of those impossible markets to crack.

[J.W. Alden]

Got my Clarkesworld R on the new story, then promptly sent it off to Lightspeed . . . and realized after hitting "submit" that I left the "Dear So-and-So" part blank. So it reads:

Dear

Attached for your review is, etc, etc.

I guess it was bound to happen eventually, eh? *shakes head*

[defcon6000]

lol, just received another R, this time from DSF. Fun, fun.

[alexshvartsman]

42 day form R from DSF for one of my favorite stories. With no P.S.

At least I have something to potentially submit to VP now.

[Sai]

13-day rejection from F&SF. Even if it's a rejection, it's still kind of nice to get mail.

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

42 day form R from DSF for one of my favorite stories. With no P.S.

At least I have something to potentially submit to VP now.

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the R.

[Eliza C]

Originally Posted by J.W. Alden

Got my Clarkesworld R on the new story, then promptly sent it off to Lightspeed . . . and realized after hitting "submit" that I left the "Dear So-and-So" part blank. So it reads:



I guess it was bound to happen eventually, eh? *shakes head*

ug, I felt that as I read it! I've come too close to something like that too many times myself. I think you're right - send enough submissions, it's probably bound to happen sometime. Oh well, could have been worse, you might have left the name of the Clarkseworld editor in there...

[Eliza C]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

42 day form R from DSF for one of my favorite stories. With no P.S.

At least I have something to potentially submit to VP now.

Sorry about the reject, Alex. Good way to look on the bright side, though. I think you said you were up against a tight deadline for the workshop submission and, hey, better to have one of your favorite stories to sub than one less ready. I've known a couple of folks that went to VP and loved it. Good luck with that.

Defcon - sorry about the two in one day...

[zanzjan]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

42 day form R from DSF for one of my favorite stories. With no P.S. At least I have something to potentially submit to VP now.

Sorry about the rejection, but good luck w/ VP, it's an incredible experience.

[llambertlawson]

I'm at 60 days with Apex. 64, actually. Are y'all implying that's a good thing? Im thinking I should query in case it never arrived or something. I love reading Apex, but I've never subbed there before this story.

Just got an R from Penumbra after...um...100 days or so. Almost but not quite. Oh well.

[alexshvartsman]

Originally Posted by llambertlawson

I'm at 60 days with Apex. 64, actually. Are y'all implying that's a good thing? Im thinking I should query in case it never arrived or something. I love reading Apex, but I've never subbed there before this story.

Just got an R from Penumbra after...um...100 days or so. Almost but not quite. Oh well.

I'd query as they usually respond faster. Just check their guidelines to make sure its OK to query after 60 days.

[W.L. Marks]

23 day personal rejection from Strange Horizons. I was starting to hope... Ah well.

Jed Hartman wrote a super helpful letter detailing what worked and what didn't quite make sense to the folks at SH. It's always wonderful to get that kind of advice even if it is a rejection.

Onward...

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by W.L. Marks

23 day personal rejection from Strange Horizons. I was starting to hope... Ah well.

Jed Hartman wrote a super helpful letter detailing what worked and what didn't quite make sense to the folks at SH. It's always wonderful to get that kind of advice even if it is a rejection.

Onward...

The R stings, I'm sure, but getting a personal from SH is pretty darn cool!

[Eliza C]

Originally Posted by W.L. Marks

23 day personal rejection from Strange Horizons. I was starting to hope... Ah well.

Jed Hartman wrote a super helpful letter detailing what worked and what didn't quite make sense to the folks at SH. It's always wonderful to get that kind of advice even if it is a rejection.

Onward...

Sorry about the disappointing reject, but that's impressive that you got a personal response - that's a lot farther than I've ever gotten with them.

llambertlawson- sorry for the long reject at Pneumbra - you must have been close. Good luck with Apex.

[W.L. Marks]

It is cool. When they give personals at SH they give great ones. It's nice that they take the time to point out specific issues they had with plot and/or character. I appreciate the effort on the part of busy editors.

[llambertlawson]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

I'd query as they usually respond faster. Just check their guidelines to make sure its OK to query after 60 days.

Hey Alex...thanks for the advice. Just checked their guidelines, and they say they usually respond within 30 days but to query after...<drumroll>...60 days. I think I'll do that. Hopefully it didn't get lost, but you never know.

[W.L. Marks]

That rejection I was just talking about. Just resubmitted it to Lightspeed...which rejected it several weeks ago...ouch! I sent them an e-mail, so hopefully nobody will waste time reading it. I wish there was a way to withdraw from their online system.

W.L. -- feeling stupid and embarrassed.

[sarahthegrey]

Much sympathy to all the recent Rs...especially Alex with that horribly long DSF response. So frustrating.

Originally Posted by W.L. Marks

That rejection I was just talking about. Just resubmitted it to Lightspeed...which rejected it several weeks ago...ouch! I sent them an e-mail, so hopefully nobody will waste time reading it. I wish there was a way to withdraw from their online system.

W.L. -- feeling stupid and embarrassed.

If I *had* to make a mistake like that, it would be with Lightspeed. They're pretty amazingly forgiving. Still embarrassing, I know, but I guarantee they're not holding it against you.

Also: if you're getting personals from Jed Hartman, you're doing awesome. I predict much success in your future.

[gettingby]

Got a rejection from McSweeney's today. I feel like I've gotten so many rejections I've lost count. I have a bunch of submission that are due for a response. Even though literary journals take so long to respond I feel like it is hard to keep all my submissions out there. The rejections keep creeping up on me.

[Aggy B.]

A one hour-ish R from UFO for "A Toothy Adventure." Not a surprise, but I fear salvaging that story will mean killing it and starting with fresh body parts.

Aggy, on pins and needles about pending responses from Goldfish Grimm's and BCS