Rejectomancy

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by gettingby

Ouch! Just got my first short story rejection of the year. This one stings a bit, and I have to say I am sad. I thought I was used to rejection after being a journalist for ten years, but it feels different with short stories. And now I am thinking the write1/sub1 challenge could result in 52 stories being rejected. Did I really sign up for a year of rejection?

Hi there! Sorry to hear that you're feeling down after the rejection. I can relate, though, as I was feeling pretty cruddy about my latest rejections earlier this week.

Not to be too blunt, but if you're new to writing short fiction and you're submitting (at least initially) to paying markets, then to some extent -- yes, you did sign up for a year of rejection. Most markets that pay more than a token amount probably take 10% or fewer of the stories they receive. For top-end markets, it's probably more like under 1% in general.

But nearly every short story writer starts with the rejections before getting the acceptances. And though it might sound trite, it really DOES make the acceptances feel special.

I hope this helps and that you hang in there!

[Marzioli]

Originally Posted by gettingby

And now I am thinking the write1/sub1 challenge could result in 52 stories being rejected. Did I really sign up for a year of rejection?

That's nothing, my friend. I already wracked up 22 rejections this year alone. If you get into the swing of things, they're in and out like a boomerang, modified slightly or altered altogether to correct any problems a re-read might have uncovered.

[Lillie]

Yeah, year of rejections.

Just had two of them

That makes 23 stories, 5 acceptances and 95 rejections since I started 10 months ago.

Meh. Really, you just have to get used to it.
Some of my stories have been rejected so much, I can't think of anywhere else to send them.

Keep writing, keep subbing.

[alexshvartsman]

Lillie,

You may not realize this, but at 5% you have a *very* high acceptance ratio compared to many short fiction authors.

[Lillie]

Really?

Wow

That's cheered me up.

Thanks, Alex!

[JenWriter]

Aaaaand one cricket has stopped. R from FFO. *sigh* It truly feels like I am never going to get an acceptance.

[pangalactic]

Since I started doing W1S1 (whenever that was...must be at least 12 months ago now) I've had 7 acceptances and 46 rejections from 20 stories. (I'm not counting stories that I wrote prior to starting W1S1 and I'm also not counting Twitter fiction). I'm pretty happy with that success rate, though I should say that none of these have been paying sales unfortunately.

Still sitting on a bucketload of crickets here.

[Adam Israel]

I'm not technically doing the W1S1 challenge. Last year was busy; I only managed to write five short stories and a piece of flash fiction but I sold three of the shorts and the other three pieces are managing more personal rejections than form.

I scrubbed my story list yesterday and realized I have twenty stories in need of revision. That said, I had a pretty good year with subs, partially because I've kept up with you guys and my Clarion classmates, keeping myself accountable and tracking stats.

Looks like I've sent out 46 subs in the last 12 months with a 6.67% acceptance rate. All paying, but no pro. Nothing to sneeze at, but I'm still falling short of my goal of joining SFWA. I'm getting close, though. I can feel it in my bones. I just need to get to revising and submit some qualifying markets.

[Aggy B.]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

Lillie,

You may not realize this, but at 5% you have a *very* high acceptance ratio compared to many short fiction authors.

Huh. That's interesting. Mine's 58 Rejections and 17 Acceptances over the past 12 months for 37 stories. Of course, 12 of those acceptances were for Twitter stories. I still have a hard time taking those seriously. :P I assumed my stats were low. But maybe not.

[Izz]

Originally Posted by JenWriter

Aaaaand one cricket has stopped. R from FFO. *sigh* It truly feels like I am never going to get an acceptance.

It gets like that sometimes. I haven't sold a story yet this year, but have had plenty of Rs.

What i force myself to do is to write the next story. That, and continually looking at how we can improve our story-telling, is pretty much all we can do.

Keep at it! I'm sure that next sale is just around the corner

[O'Dandelo]

Rejection from Shimmer for a story that had been "sent up to the full board" a few days ago. But it's by far the best rejection of the 12 I've received. Some very nice things were said. It seemed one aspect of the story made them pass on it, but everything else was very flattering.

Disappointing. I thought I was close to my first sale. But I'll try them again soon. And I still have my West Pigeon Press second-rounder.

[fihr]

Better luck next time, O'Dandelo. Maybe the fact it got as far as it did, and the encouraging words, mean that its got a good chance of finding a home somewhere else.

[Sai]

I've had nothing but crickets for two weeks, until tonight when I received a rejection from Pseudopod. They usually do personal rejections, which I appreciate (they said my story was evocative, but that they were looking for more intense horror).

[Marzioli]

Got an R from Lightspeed for a particular work that just used up the last available, viable pro-market. Now on to the semi-pros!

[faerydancer]

Commiserations, everybody.

Marzoli, I just got a rejection from Lightspeed, too. I've never received a personal R or even a higher tier R from them. Ever. I'm beginning to develop a complex.

[alexshvartsman]

Got my Lightspeed R tonight as well. As per Duotrope, they didn't seem to send out any Rs in the last 2 days, so they probably accumulated at the desk of whoever sends them out and we got them all at once.

Don't feel bad, Brenda. I never get a higher-tier form from them OR Clarkesworld yet. A milestone to work toward


And Aggy, I'm not sure what the Twitter subs/ratios are... but if you look at the acceptance statistics from paying short fiction markets, the acceptance ratio is well below 5%.

[Marzioli]

Yeah, seriously. Those guys are built to churn out rejections. If only they did some sort of coded response like F&SF so you at least know where on the scale you fell.

[Polenth]

I'm still waiting on Lightspeed, so it's true rejectomancy time! I didn't think to check their new sub system right after submitting, so I'm not sure if I'm waiting in the queue or someone's looked at it.

[Aggy B.]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

And Aggy, I'm not sure what the Twitter subs/ratios are... but if you look at the acceptance statistics from paying short fiction markets, the acceptance ratio is well below 5%.

Yes. Twitter fic has a much higher acceptance rate. (Though I think I've only had one Twit story that was accepted by the first place I sent it. Most have been rejected at least once.)

When I look at just my short fiction stats the ratio changes from being about 1 in 3 to about 1 in 7. (Acceptance to rejection, obviously.) I had thought that must be about average, but maybe not. /derail

I'm all crickets this morning. Apex story is sitting at 41 days. One at DSF and C&C sitting close to the first round rejection period. :P

Aggy, good at rejecting her own work

[ohthatmomagain]

I have a 43 day at EDF..... I'd like it back if they don't want it lol

[Aggy B.]

Originally Posted by ohthatmomagain

I have a 43 day at EDF..... I'd like it back if they don't want it lol

You can expect to wait another 20 days or so before you get a response. Mine got kicked at the slush level after 65 days.

[goldmund]

Aggie, what markets do you recommend for twit fic?
Apart from Nanoism I don't know any.

[ohthatmomagain]

onefortyfiction is a good one for twit fic. Non-paying. I don't know any paying besides nanoism (been rejected there many a time lol)

[ohthatmomagain]

Originally Posted by Aggy B.

You can expect to wait another 20 days or so before you get a response. Mine got kicked at the slush level after 65 days.

So that means I'll stop checking daily for another 3 weeks then lol. I think that will help my disappointment from that story. It's just a little 131 word one, and I don't have high hopes for it... but stranger things have happened lol

[Taylor V]

Just got a rejection from redstone...

Taylor,

Thank you for submitting "Make It Rain" to Redstone Science Fiction. We have decided to pass on your story.

We will reopen for submissions on May 1, 2012, and I hope to hear from you again then.

Best Regards,

pc

Paul Clemmons
Editor
Redstone Science Fiction

Is the bolded part just part of their form, or is it actually a good sign?