A rejection that made me laugh

Manuel Royal · Mar 2, 2010

Woke up to a polite rejection e-mail. They said my story had gone through the first round of their selection process, but didn't make the cut on further review.

Here's what made me laugh:

One editor had an extreme reaction, finding the premise "so gross that I could barely scan, let alone read".

That makes me feel oddly proud. At least I had an effect!

They also said it needed something more to win the reader's suspension of disbelief. That's a fair cop, and I've often made the same criticism of other stories. I'll work on it.

Paul · Mar 2, 2010

Fair play to you. Now that's how you takes rejection - by laughing.

Manuel Royal · Mar 2, 2010

I've been getting more personal rejections; when I started it was all form rejections. That makes me feel I'm getting closer, since they're interested enough to take a little time. And I can tell my skills are improving. Well, you can't win if you don't play.

kaitie · Mar 2, 2010

Now I'm curious as to what the premise of this story was...

Manuel Royal · Mar 2, 2010

Nothing that outre. It was about a family wake at which people ingest cremains (baked into brownies) and experience visions of their ancestors' lives. Fairly light-hearted in tone, really. (Every family has something that seems normal to them but odd to others.)

kaitie · Mar 2, 2010

Ah, that is interesting. Granted, I first read that as "incest" rather than "ingest," but that's probably because I was expecting something really awful. Kinda icky, but that does make it even more amusing.

Cybernaught · Mar 2, 2010

Manuel Royal said:
I've been getting more personal rejections; when I started it was all form rejections. That makes me feel I'm getting closer, since they're interested enough to take a little time. And I can tell my skills are improving. Well, you can't win if you don't play.

That's the spirit. Think about it. These markets have stacks and stacks of manuscripts. They barely have the time to read through all of them, let alone personally respond to the writer. A personal note means that your manuscript has merit, and they are encouraging you to either send them something else, or keep plugging away at other markets with it. Maybe some editors just want to be nice, but I don't see why they'd go out of their way to comment to a writer whom they've never heard of, you know?

Like you, I started out with myriad form rejections. Then I noticed that most rejections from that point were scribbled with a few comments like, "The writing is good, but.." Or, "I liked this idea, but..." And, "I'd like you to send me something else." It's validation, to me, that someone other than my mother sees promise in my writing, someone who is in the business. And that's a great feeling.

Good luck with this one. I hope I can read a published version of it soon. Let us know.

stormie · Mar 2, 2010

Manuel Royal said:
Nothing that outre. It was about a family wake at which people ingest cremains (baked into brownies) and experience visions of their ancestors' lives. Fairly light-hearted in tone, really. (Every family has something that seems normal to them but odd to others.)

I love it! Sounds like something I'd write.
There are many places that would publish that type of story. Look them up on either ralan.com or duotrope.com Both great resources.

Manuel Royal · Mar 2, 2010

stormie said:
I love it! Sounds like something I'd write.
There are many places that would publish that type of story. Look them up on either ralan.com or duotrope.com Both great resources.

Thanks! I use duotrope regularly both to keep a log of submissions and to check out markets. I picked out another possible fit (that also qualifies for sfwa membership) and will submit to them today. (After a little revision.)

ETA: Done.

Chris P · Mar 2, 2010

Manuel Royal said:
Nothing that outre. It was about a family wake at which people ingest cremains (baked into brownies) and experience visions of their ancestors' lives. Fairly light-hearted in tone, really. (Every family has something that seems normal to them but odd to others.)

Haha! Sounds delightfully Vonnegutian. (Vonn-a-gu-shan? Vonn-a-gutt-i-an?)

Austere · Mar 5, 2010

Nice one. I wish I could write something with that effect on people. And I mean that sincerely.

Manuel Royal · Mar 5, 2010

You never know what'll gross somebody out. The story didn't bother my girlfriend at all, yet she can't stand to see our cat pull on his toes.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 5, 2010

Manuel Royal said:
Nothing that outre. It was about a family wake at which people ingest cremains (baked into brownies) and experience visions of their ancestors' lives. Fairly light-hearted in tone, really. (Every family has something that seems normal to them but odd to others.)

That sounds like a story I'd love to read.

Ken · Mar 5, 2010

... whenever comments are personalized, rather than generic, that's a plus.
So don't put this story out to pasture just yet ;-)

Sage · Mar 5, 2010

I laughed at a form rejection the other day. Nowhere in it did the agent actually say she was rejecting me. The rejection apologized for being a "form reply" and told me some reasons why she rejects people in general, but never actually got around to telling me I was one of those people. It amused me.

Manuel Royal · Mar 5, 2010

Sage said:
I laughed at a form rejection the other day. Nowhere in it did the agent actually say she was rejecting me. The rejection apologized for being a "form reply" and told me some reasons why she rejects people in general, but never actually got around to telling me I was one of those people. It amused me.

Amusement is probably a healthy reaction. That's a whole level of rejection I haven't reached yet. All I've done is submit stories to magazines.

Jack Newcastle · Mar 17, 2010

I like the rejection I got that read 'This is nothing we're interested in'. Nothing we're interested in. They might as well have said 'Mr. Newcastle, we've reviewed your material and we just want to let you know we had to have guys in Hazmat suits come in after your letter arrived. The building had to be cleared, your letter properly disposed of, and the entire place completely fumigated.' I'm surprised they haven't sent me a bill for process.

Form rejections from queries don't bother me. A rejection after a request for a partial? That bothers me.

Regards,

Jack

Maryn · Mar 17, 2010

My all-time favorite rejection was for a novel that opened with a teenager being raped. Not graphically or anything, but it was clear what was going on. The personalized rejection letter said it was engaging and well written, but they weren't doing anything with teens as major characters, but perhaps it would make a good early-reader book, and did I want to send it to their juvenile division?

Yeah, that's what kids need to read more of.

Maryn, sure they didn't really read it

stormie · Mar 18, 2010

Maryn, I can just hear it now: "Mommy? What's this word. R-a-p-e."

Julie Worth · Mar 18, 2010

Manuel Royal said:
Nothing that outre. It was about a family wake at which people ingest cremains (baked into brownies) and experience visions of their ancestors' lives.

It's interesting that cannibalism is no longer cannibalism if its blackened enough.

Julie Worth · Mar 18, 2010

Jack Newcastle said:
I like the rejection I got that read 'This is nothing we're interested in'.

You can avoid that response by enclosing a pinch of white powder.

A rejection that made me laugh

Manuel Royal

Paul

Manuel Royal

kaitie

With great power comes

Manuel Royal

kaitie

With great power comes

Cybernaught

Decker

stormie

storm central

Manuel Royal

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

Austere

Manuel Royal

Jamesaritchie

Ken

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

Manuel Royal

Jack Newcastle

Certified Malcontent

Maryn

At Sea

stormie

storm central

Julie Worth

What? I have a title?

Julie Worth

What? I have a title?