OH NO!

Congrats yesandno! It's a great, scary, teetering-on-the-edge sort of feeling, isn't it?

P.S. If I recall correctly, 7-11 sold hamburgers shaped like hot dogs for a while, so they could keep them warm on their little hot dog roller things. Indeed, it was a Bad Idea.

OMG JH, 7-11 just started selling those here. They look like, well, turds.

Yesandno. Submitting is a horribly scary thing. The thing to remember is that once you've sent it, you must stop worrying about it. It's out of your hands. Move on to the next story. When, or if, you get a rejection, send it out somewhere else. Unless you get a personal rejection with a comment. If the comment is valid then you could change the story, or decide to nto change it. The important thing is to send it out immediately, and stop worrying about it. Really. It's hard to do but it can be done.

And congratulations.

Well done yesandno the first step is always the hardest, but now it's done and you shouldn't worry about it coming back. Move on to the next story and submit that too.

Good for you! It gets easier to send. Sort of.

yesandno said:

p.s. As long as the rejection isn't accompanied by a note that reads: "You SUCK. And furthermore, you will ALWAYS SUCK" I think I'm okay with it.

Click to expand...

That hardly ever happens .

The first rejection stings a bit, but follow it with another submission takes the sting out.

And uh, the letters saying "You suck" aren't common?

Cath said:

And uh, the letters saying "You suck" aren't common?

Click to expand...

They aren't? So does that mean that me having several is a bad thing?

yesandno said:

Well, I did it. My first submission ever. I hit the send button, and it went. I hovered over the "withdraw submission" button, but have so far resisted. I figure I should go ahead and get my first rejection over with. It's not a big deal right? Right?

Click to expand...

I beg to differ--it is a big deal! It means you've accomplished something--you've written something that you're proud of--you want to share it with the world--and you've taken the first step to accomplish that.

Regardless of the outcome of this one submission, congratulations are in order!

Nah, it translates to no. Nothing else.

Congrats on getting the first one out of the way. Now, get working on that second rejection!

(and yes, perfectly normal. It's probably not a bad instinct to have, if it causes you to have a last look over them).

It is a normal feeling, but that could mean anything really. It could just be bad timing or they have had a lot of that type of story recently. I wouldn't read anything into it. Put it back into an envelope and send it right back out again.

Check out Stephen King's book On Writing. He filled a spike in the wall with rejection slips. I mean, who among us wouldn't like his sales record?

I have 3 rejections already and I have my first story out with 2 others.
Perhaps we should do a submission contest to see who gets more rejections or who gets accepted first...

nah. doesn't mean you suck. it means exactly what it says.

have you read Heinlein's rules? (did I spell that right?)

don't tinker. push that puppy back out the door.