Handwritten notes are good, right?

It's very good. Absolutely.

Keep trying.

I would submit something else to the same magazine, mention that note in your cover letter, and submit this story somewhere else right away.

Best of luck to you.

Well dang, sure. But it beats Oh crap, and it's a hell of a lot better than Aww poop !

If you gotta get rejected, a handwritten, personal one is the way to go ! Hang in there, and definitely submit to them again

A very dandy way of looking at it. I would've taken it as a double whammy, that they truly found it bad enough to make me special and give me a handwritten rejection.

But I also doubt my reader's would not have found it engaging. Keep going for it.

...I'm not making this better, am I?

Ah well. Do not despair; you'll find another, MORE prestigious journal that you can submit to.

With all regards,
Tara

Heck, I don't care if the editor/agent writes in sandscrit or cryptographs, as long as they're inlined to make the effort, I'm appreciative.

Yo, says I.

Tri

There are certainly worse ways to be rejected. It's been my experience that nice rejections usually proceed nicer acceptances.

johnzakour said:

It's been my experience that nice rejections usually proceed nicer acceptances.

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Usually is not synonymous with always. In my experience they can as easily precede an unbroken stream of form-rejections.

caw

Hang in there, girl. I think any personalized reply is a good sign!

A young lady recently had a story in one of the literary magazines about how she interned, for minimum wage, for one of the "prestigious" publishers. Her job was to go through the slush pile and send out nice handwritten notes. I have many handwritten rejections, and that is all they are: rejections.

One of the most negative handwritten rejections was the most constructive. She had circled a sentence in the query letter with red pen and wrote in the margin: "You have a run on sentence. You couldn't possible write a novel."

That note taught me not to cram too much in a one-page query.

There's something vaguely perverse in taking comfort that though you got rejected, at least it came in a somewhat personalized form.

Writers...sometimes I think we should just hang a "Kick Me" sign around our necks and get it over with.

What about my rejection? (Never got past the query stage). I'm not sure if it's a form letter or more personal. It says:

Thank you for you sumission to Prestigious Agency. While Prestigious Agent reviewed your letter about [title of manuscript] with interest, I regret to inform you that she will not pursue representation at this time. Prestigious Agent is taking on very few new clients right now and therefore is forced to be highly selective, especially where new authors are concerned. While your work sounds clever, I'm afraid it's simply not right for Prestigious Agent's list at this moment. Signed, assistant to Prestigious Agent.

The letter is not centered on the letterhead page, giving it the appearance that the assistant whipped out a letter at the agent's suggestion. I've recieved rejections that looked more "form" than this example.

What say ye...personal or form?

jonereb said:

What say ye...personal or form?

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It's a personalized form. Don't believe anything in it.

I found that when I started writing, the pubs that rejected me with a personal note are the same pubs that publish me today.

Don't listen to the naysayers here, CaroGirl. For the most part, it's a positive sign.

Looking back to my freelance cartooning days I do believe I eventually sold to every pub that gave me a personal rejection, except the New Yorker.

Though Saturday Evening Post took about 15 hand written rejections; before I finally got a cartoon in there. I was going to give up on the next batch. You can only take, "Pulled this one out but it didn't make the final cut" so often.

It also took me forever to get a cartoon in the National Enquirer (hey at the time they paid nearly what the New Yorker did.)

Interestingly once these pubs took the first, the second and third and so on became much easier. It's almost like you have to pay a certain amount of "dues".

So I would say yes, hand written rejections are a good sign.

John, do form letters with a short hand written reply at the bottom count? One agent hand wrote "some nice things here but not quite right for us."

jonereb said:

John, do form letters with a short hand written reply at the bottom count? One agent hand wrote "some nice things here but not quite right for us."

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Yeah, I count those.

Wow! NICE rejection.

They thought it was engaging?

And they are holding the door open for you to submit more (feel free to submit...)?

Dude. I'd be dancing.

Don't you read Miss Snark? You should.