Rejectomancy

V1c

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akaSylvia- That's awesome! Great ending to the story :)

And defcon, so sorry for that. Sounds a bit. . . .odd. I might be inclined to thank her for the feedback and say it might be useful to the story it belongs too, which isn't yours (although I probably wouldn't, many places specifically say they don't want responses to rejections, I'd be torn)
 

Eliza C

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I received a rejection saying my story was close, but the ending failed, then the editor goes on to explain why the ending failed... and it's not the ending I wrote. I even double-checked the sub to make sure I hadn't sent in the wrong thing. So somewhere along the line, editor misread my ending and rejected me for it. : /

Well that just totally sucks.
 

Sai

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Aaand I know this is the wrong thread but they bought the story. *faints*

Ahaha, that's awesome! I, of course, take all the credit since I called it back on the 10th:

Yikes. I hope on your story's next outing you get a nice, quick acceptance :).

So, you're welcome ;).

I received a rejection saying my story was close, but the ending failed, then the editor goes on to explain why the ending failed... and it's not the ending I wrote. I even double-checked the sub to make sure I hadn't sent in the wrong thing. So somewhere along the line, editor misread my ending and rejected me for it. : /

Man, that's rough. I would probably send a reply since they said the story was really close except for this one thing, and that one thing has nothing to do with your story. But just because it's what I would do doesn't mean it's the right thing to do (in fact, it usually means the opposite...).
 

Eliza C

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Aaand I know this is the wrong thread but they bought the story. *faints*

Lightspeed - that's fantastic! You should definitely post this in the braggage thread too!
 

Eliza C

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Fingers crossed for you! On a side note, I'm out at 10 days for another query from a well known fledgling market... With the lack of response, I don't know if they ever got the query. And now I'm also worried they never got my sub to begin with. :eek:

I've had 2 markets recently say they sent rejections that I never received. Since in the last couple of weeks I got R's from 9 different markets in 11 days, I really don't think it was a problem at my end! I queried both -- one took about a week or two to reply, the other took a month! I also sent back my side of a contract to a market two months ago and have never heard back or received the completed contract back. Query = nada. Spam folder empty. I think it's safe to say some markets just aren't speedy about replying. (I did snail mail a letter recently to that one market with a hard copy of the contract.)
 

kd1984

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defcon: That is incredibly strange. I'd venture to say that you are perfectly in your rights to respectfully respond and mention that the feedback is helpful but not for the story that you sent.

AFM: A four day form from Innsmouth Free Press.

I am absolutely convinced I will never make another sale. It's a tough day.
 

KitCat

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I received a rejection saying my story was close, but the ending failed, then the editor goes on to explain why the ending failed... and it's not the ending I wrote. I even double-checked the sub to make sure I hadn't sent in the wrong thing. So somewhere along the line, editor misread my ending and rejected me for it. : /


Wow that sucks Def, so sorry *hugs*
 

Marzioli

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Aaand I know this is the wrong thread but they bought the story. *faints*
This is usually the type of thing I frown on in rejectomancy, but this time I feel only happy for you! Congrats! That's freakin' amazing.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy
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After a week of silence, tonight I just got a 42-day form reject from Flash Fiction Online followed by a 675-day personal reject from Tor.com

Ok, forgive my ignorance (only ever submitted a couple of queries and one full MS, so I don't really know the whole querying game, plus it may be different here in the UK) but WHY would you wait 675 days to hear back from a publisher? especially one that doesn't accept simultaneous submissions? If it meant I couldn't send it out to anyone else I'd have pulled the plug after 6 months max and just said 'sorry, had your chance, gonna try someone else now'

Anything else just smacks to me of desperation. Or am I just not getting the etiquette?
 

Marzioli

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Anything else just smacks to me of desperation. Or am I just not getting the etiquette?
It's just the market. Tor.com is perhaps the single most prestigious market for fantasy and sci-fi and the best paying to boot. Not including contests like WOTF of course.

On another note, 33-day from Asimov. I can't pretend to know how this market works, but my sub had been under review for two weeks so I thought something may be happening for it. No such luck.
 

O'Dandelo

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Really sorry to hear about the Rs, folks.

Sylvia, super explosion congratulation fireworks! You must be the first of the W1S1ers to crack JJA's cold heart. Do many happy dances today.

And kd, that's not true. You're much too talented.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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It's just the market. Tor.com is perhaps the single most prestigious market for fantasy and sci-fi and the best paying to boot. Not including contests like WOTF of course.

What market are we talking here though? Traditional press or epub? full length novels or short stories? If it's an epub for a short story I say almost 2 years is a helluva long time to wait for not much reward, even if it is accepted. I'd have withdrawn it if I hadn't heard anything back in less than a quarter of that time. It just doesn't seem worth it.
 

Marzioli

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If it's an epub for a short story I say almost 2 years is a helluva long time to wait for not much reward, even if it is accepted. I'd have withdrawn it if I hadn't heard anything back in less than a quarter of that time. It just doesn't seem worth it.
It's a great credit for your resume, and for a 4K story it'll get you about 1K bucks. Also if you've exhausted quicker markets, what the heck is the harm? They tell you up front they're just two editors (and they're having a good time), so if you don't want the wait then don't bother with them. But keep in mind you only have to wait 2 years if they were really considering it. Schlubs take the 6 to 9-month walk of shame at best.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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It's a great credit for your resume, and for a 4K story it'll get you about 1K bucks. Also if you've exhausted quicker markets, what the heck is the harm? They tell you up front they're just two editors (and they're having a good time), so if you don't want the wait then don't bother with them. But keep in mind you only have to wait 2 years if they were really considering it. Schlubs take the 6 to 9-month walk of shame at best.

Ok, when you put it like that I guess there's some logic there ;)

But I'm still thinking that waiting 2 years for $1000 is like driving 20 miles to save 2p a litre of fuel... :D
 

V1c

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Ok, when you put it like that I guess there's some logic there ;)

But I'm still thinking that waiting 2 years for $1000 is like driving 20 miles to save 2p a litre of fuel... :D

The difference being after the waiting you can say you were published by Tor. After the driving you can say you drove.
 

fihr

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...a well known fledgling market... With the lack of response, I don't know if they ever got the query. And now I'm also worried they never got my sub to begin with. :eek:

Mine is also a well-known fledgling market. However, I did receive a acknowledgement for the original sub. I guess the next step, if you don't hear back in a while, is withdrawal. Last time I did that with a mag, I received an R for the same story about a month later. :)

Defcon said:
and it's not the ending I wrote. I even double-checked the sub to make sure I hadn't sent in the wrong thing. So somewhere along the line, editor misread my ending and rejected me for it. : /

That's lousy. Hope the next sub goes better.
 

fihr

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...and I now have the response to my query.

116 day R from Lamplight. Made it to the final round though, so I'm pleased. (Project Deadlight - hope yours is more successful!)
 

Marzioli

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No response to my query to Lamplight, but they did bounce me back with a big fat 114-day R.

And now a 49-day R from TM Magazine, sporting a new form. The latter part, after the apology for delayed response, reads:

"Unfortunately, we are unable to publish your story at this time; however, we enjoyed your submission and hope you will submit further work to us in the future. As a token of appreciation for your submitting work to us, we invite you to a complimentary year's subscription to our online magazine..."
 
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Brynn

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43-day form R from TM. I'll take one of those festive band-aids is they're still going around.
 

Eliza C

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As a token of appreciation for your submitting work to us, we invite you to a complimentary year's subscription to our online magazine..."
They've been offering the free year on the website. I think this may just be one more way to get the word out. I signed up. I like free stuff :)