When is the time right?

It's a polite way of saying they didn't like it.

Or...perhaps that it doesn't fit with the editorial vision for the particular issue. Lots of reasons. Maybe it means it's close but not quite polished enough for their needs.

The fact that they're encouraging your to submit again in the future is a good sign. Keep at it.

It's probably a form rejection, I'm afraid.

tylermarab1987 said:

I know a rejection is a rejection. But even personal ones are frustrating.

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The ones you've quoted don't sound personal. They sound like form rejections. Which means nothing more and nothing less than "no" to that particular story--and it's not something you should read any further meaning into.

Generally, by reading a whole heap of stuff they've published. If you read twenty or thirty issues of a magazine, you can get a pretty good feel for the kind of story the editor likes.

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Seconding this! Pony up the money for a few issues and read them. It might simply be that your tone and/or narrative style isn't like the ones they publish.

Think of it this way: Cosmopolitan and Ladies Home Journal both feature articles on home improvement, self improvement, fashion and food. But they aren't the same articles. Nowhere close...

Some magazines publish their editorial calendars so you can get notion of what they may want to include in their future issues.

tylermarab1987 said:

How can one know the "editoral vision," as you put it, of a publisher? .

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You read the magazine. Not just a sample story, not just one issue, but at least a dozen issues. If you can't figure out the editorial vision of an editor by doing this, you'll have a hard time making many sales.

These are really just form rejections. Nice form rejections, but still form. They just mean no.

tylermarab1987 said:

We're sorry to say that we don't feel this piece is right for us at this time. However, please feel free to submit other work in the future.

I've been getting rejections like this for months now. So when is the right time? I've gotten other rejections that said they liked the story, but it wasn't right for their magazine. Please read our site and submit again!!!

So I understand rejecting a piece that's not right for the market, but what does "not right for us at this time," mean?

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Don't despair!
You never know whether they like your story or not.
Chuck Palahniuk's "Invisible Monsters" was rejected by a several publishers for being "too disturbing." In other words, they just didn't like it. But after the success of his legendary novel "Fight club" they suddently changed their mind. And now this book is one of the most popular Palahniuk's novels.

So keep trying and never give up!

I've never submitted to this magazine, so I'm not sure, but it may be a tiered rejection. One Story does this. There's a website that lists rejections (I think it's called wikireject), so you can have an idea what's a form or not.

"The absence of yes over time equals no." Eli Gold, The Good Wive