I Received my First Rejection Today

Dom Perkins

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Received my first rejection this morning. It is a little disheartening, I suppose, but a necessary obstacle for anyone's writing career. Let me clarify: it was a short story rejection, not a novel or anything of that stature.

I knew from the beginning, however, that it was a long shot. But it's hard to find a respectable magazine that publishes horror, so I ended up submitting to the first one I found. . . which doesn't even publish a lot of horror, primarily "speculative fiction." I think I was hasty in submitting, because my story had reached its perfection (or at least as perfect and shiny as I could get it) and it had a good pay rate. In retrospect, I should have waited until I found a more suitable magazine to submit to. I actually really wanted to submit to Apex Magazine,because I think they would have really liked it, but they had shut down for good a month prior.

Does anyone know of any respectable magazine that publishes a lot of horror? Specifically, horror which emphasizes on tone, setting, and atmosphere.

To be honest, I waited so long for a response that the rejection seemed almost. . . underwhelming, I suppose. I had braced myself for rejection, but still had hopes that they would accept it. The only consolation to this is that I can try again. I still have the first publishing rights, so maybe I'll find a better opportunity in the future.

Best of luck to everyone else out there trying to submit short stories or poetry. Let me hear your thoughts and/or advice if any.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Congratulations! The first one sucks, but it gets easier to send and receive with each one. This one means you really did it! You really put yourself out there and let someone else read your work. Excellent job. Also, check the Submission Grinder for places to sub to. You can tell it what genre you want and it'll pop back all the places that say they're taking it.
 

Drachen Jager

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If you haven't already stumbled across it, the Grinder is an awesome tool for writers subbing short stories. A pretty complete list of publications and it lets you keep track of which stories are subbed where, plus lots of data on likely response times, which pubs accept what genres, etc. etc. Basically it's Query Tracker for shorts.

Oh, and also you should do yourself a favour and read Strange Horizons list of Horror Stories they see way too often. It's just their opinions of course, but it'll give you an idea of what editors are not looking for. They also have one for SF/F if anyone's interested.

Good luck with it!
 
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Chris P

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Sorry that happened, but as mentioned above it happens to all of us. I dontw knkw anyone who got accepted on the first try. I'm sure someone has, but it's a rarity.

I remember being disappointed but not surprised by my first rejection. It was a mixture of "What? How is this not exactly what they are looking for?!?" and "Welcome to the game and how it's played." That story never did get picked up after probably ten attempts, and now it's dated and destined for the scrap folder. I had one story get a great response, the editor asked for certain revisions, then turned it down in the end. That story got snapped up immediately at the next place I tried.

I try to look at rejections as a barometer. Am I understanding the journal's scope and tastes? Am I able to provide what they're looking for? Am I putting too much or too little stock in my ideas? What are people reading these days? Am I reading (and therefore writing) the stuff that gets sold?
 

shadowsminder

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Congratulations on to your first story rejection! I wish I could remember which was my first story rejected. I think it was about gnomes? That was back in the tine of SASE.

Protect your submissions logs better than some of us have. Paper and Excel turned out not to be foolproof.

Most of my story submissions are now logged into The Grinder by Diabolical Plots (which is also a magazine that opens to submissions mid-year). Another popular option for writers is Duotrope, which unlike The Grinder, isn't entirely free. There's more data on certain markets on Duotrope, however.

A Horror market you might try is The Dark. I also recommend following Flame Tree Publishing.

http://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/fall/autumn-2019-submissions-announcement

Good luck to us all!
 

CalRazor

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I try to look at rejections as a barometer. Am I understanding the journal's scope and tastes? Am I able to provide what they're looking for? Am I putting too much or too little stock in my ideas? What are people reading these days? Am I reading (and therefore writing) the stuff that gets sold?

Yeah, reading the journal you're submitting to is hugely important. Also staying current.

To the OP, you could always give The Dark Magazine a shot.
 

Dom Perkins

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Thanks for the kind words and helpful advice, everyone. I think I'll give The Dark and Diabolical Plots a shot next. Sounds like interesting magazines. I'll also look into The Grinder.

Oh, and also you should do yourself a favour and read Strange Horizons list of Horror Stories they see way too often. It's just their opinions of course, but it'll give you an idea of what editors are not looking for.

I actually submitted to Strange Horizons, and read their list. Nothing on their list seemed to describe my story -- except that it wasn't "speculative." It just wasn't the right story for their magazine, which I understand. I'm still very grateful for the opportunity.

Like I said, the biggest consolation to being rejected is that I can try again. . . and again, and again, and again. Which I will.
 
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Paul Lamb

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Duotrope's Digest lists 41 magazines that accept horror stories with a literary bent. (Take out the "literary" quality and it provides 134 hits.) Duotrope charges an annual fee, so that may not work for you, but the number of hits certainly suggests that there is a vast market for your kind of work. Keep at it!

Yep, a thick skin is required for this endeavor of ours!
 

leomatthewadams

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Rejection can be tough, but it’s good to see that it makes you even more determined to do better the next time that you try to submit something. I still haven’t taken the leap to try and get something published, but it’s a goal of mine for the future. Thanks for sharing your story, and good luck to you in the future, as well!