Rejection Blues

[Craig Wallwork]

Dear Craig,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read Stilled Longing. Alas, I will have to pass on this one as it's not quite right for me. I appreciate your interest in Weird Tales and hope that you will keep me in mind for future submissions.

Yours Weirdly,

Ann VanderMeer, Editor-in-Chief

Booooo. Oh well.

[ozmosis7]

Sorry to hear that, Craig. That's a great market there.

[Craig Wallwork]

Yeah. i think Nik has been published by them. Very cool press.

[Nik Houser]

Yeah, they're pretty cool. Took me a heckuva while to get in there. Even the story that got accepted she held onto for more than a year before finally giving it the green light.

In other news, got rejected from Make Magazine. Cool looking lit mag. At least they let me KNOW I didn't make it in this time. Last time I didn't even get an email.

[ozmosis7]

Rejection, but thanks for the links MLD.

[mlouisdixon]

Rejection, but thanks for the links MLD.

Sorry about that. I don't ever give that level of response. It feels a bit weird and presumptive. Still, I feel we're a bit more in this writing thing together than the average submitter. I hope the links are helpful. They tend to focus on novel length works but the core still applies to short stories.

MLD

[ozmosis7]

I feel we're a bit more in this writing thing together than the average submitter.

I appreciate that. Thanks.

[mercuryval]

Rejections are just part of a writer's life. We all just have to keep on keeping on. Looking at my duotrope.com submission tracker, I've had 33 rejections since 2008 (when I started taking writing seriously) and only 7 acceptances. I've received everything from a useless form rejection to the strangest rejection--a sci-fi story in which each character was associated with a color. My protagonist was associated with the color purple, and the editor couldn't fathom why I'd chosen purple for the protagonist. It was such a sticking point that it taught me how subjective writing is. I've learned to take rejections lightly--once in a while I'll get a constructive line or two, but usually I just move on to the next market. Good luck to everyone getting your work placed!

[Randy D. Rubin]

Hey guys,
I'm now truly amazed at how thick-skinned we have to be in this writing for publication business. I've sent out so many stories thanks to the wonder of Duotrope and the forum and every capillary site therein. Cee Dub, Ozmo, Richard, Craig, after the week of Rejections I've received I have to wonder if maybe I'm on the wrong track. I feel like that scrawny kid in grade school that everyone would pound on just to be cool and keep the bullies in business. He would rub his bruised arm each time a kid would slug him and he would smile like you knew he was on the precipice of tears but he would still smile and maybe giggle and say, "That didn't hurt." AND YOU KNOW DAMN GOOD AND WELL IT HURT LIKE HELL! I feel like that kid today. 7 out of 9 rejections so far, 2 pending. What the fuck!? It's like they ask for a left-handed red cashmere glove with silk lined fingers in the index and ring finger only, cut away thumb, only covering the first two inches of the wrist, with double elastic stitching, so I find a glove pattern, find cashmere, dye it red, purchase chinese silk spinning spiders, craft the piece to exacting specifications cut out the thumb hole, remeasure the wrist elastic for good measure, and finally submit it....

Then I get a rejection letter thanking me and then saying they loved my crimson toe-sock... but its just not the shade of red they had in mind. Is this what you accomplished authors have gone through? Do I keep pluggin' away at it? Is this the NORM?
Help Me Cee Dub! Help Me Richard! OZMO, MLOUIS, Craig, NIK? Do I need to buy a separate bookshelf for rejections? Should I start MY OWN thread Randy's Collection and start taking pictures to send you guys?

[mlouisdixon]

Hey guys,
Should I start MY OWN thread Randy's Collection and start taking pictures to send you guys?

No need for a new thread. Just post the pictures, thanks.
MLD

[Craig Wallwork]

Randy - seriously, if I could take your hand and walk you to the Rejection Thread over at Write Club, and you could see how many rejections Richard and I get compared to acceptances, your score wouldn't be so depressing. Honestly, there are times I think I can't write a damn word and I should throw my laptop in the river like a bag of cats and see it drown, screaming and whimpering. Then there are days I think I'll just write for myself and fuck everyone else. Then days come along when I'm on top of the world because in my inbox, there is one person who believes in me, one person who actually likes what I write. Then that one person becomes two people, then three, and after a while you start to understand the bigger picture: there are soooooooooo many writers out there. It's a numbers game, luck, and talent. Sometimes they all come together and it works, but any of those three fail, and you feel like shit.

I wrote something about this a while back on my blog. Maybe I'm wrong, but this was how I felt at the time:

Recently there was a discussion started by Roxane Gay over at PANK magazine’s blog that involved the Rejection of a Rejection. This method, which I assume isn’t a regular practice, involved a writer rejecting PANK’s rejection of their story based on the fact the writer believed they were wrong in their decision and actually didn’t know what they wanted from a story. From the editor’s perspective, it provoked within them a need to discuss why certain stories are not accepted, most of which included many factors: quantity of submissions, personal tastes etc. A very long entry/rant was made on the website’s blog and many writers/readers jumped in to provide support, play Devil’s Advocate, or disagree entirely.

From the writer’s perspective, where I’m best placed, I can empathise with any writer who gets a rejection. And for many years, I felt that every email that arrived in my inbox that began with the words, “Dear Craig. Thanks for allowing (insert name of journal) to read (insert title of story), but unfortunately, we’re going to pass...” was a personal insult to me and my work. But, when you’ve been submitting for the number of years I have, you begin to realise that rejection doesn’t mean the story is bad. I know, it’s a bit of a revelation, but it’s true. I’m not saying this is the case for all stories. I’m sure, like those that audition for these celebrity hosted talented shows on TV who are tone deaf but think they can sing like Aretha Franklin, but sound more like the urethra of Aretha Franklin while she took a piss, there are writers out there that shouldn’t be allowed near a word processer. But by in large, a story being rejected shouldn’t reflect on style or the writer’s talent.

This will be one of the hardest things to get into your head as a writer, and I think those that take rejections too personally, or dwell on the impact of the rejection too much, it can end a career before it has time to blossom. There is no suitable analogy for a rejection that I can think of. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that before you submit a story to any journal/magazine ask yourself this: Would you serve steak to a vegetarian?

By submitting a dark and subversive noir story to a magazine that publishes Fantasy, you shouldn't be surprised when the a rejection arrives a month or two later. If you submit your absurdist steampunk vampire chicken zombie story to somewhere like, GlimmerTrain, then yes, chances are it would really fit with them (knowing my luck the next edition of Glimmertrain will feature a story titled: Foul Fangs). And if we stick with the steak analogy for a moment, even if you find a place that likes meat, everyone has their own particular preference on how they want it cooked. Not everyone likes it rare, but instead prefer well done. Some will settle for a little blood, when others hate the sight of blood. In short, get to know your market, and who you’re pitching too. Read their stories. Look at the author list. Does anyone cook a steak like you? And please, don’t feel if your story has been rejected that you’re a lousy cook. Might be the editor is full and couldn’t force down another mouthful, or perhaps the seasoning was too much. Or, it might just be you served up the wrong dish to the wrong person.

Don't lose hope. There is someone out there waiting for your story. Find them, Randy.

[Craig Wallwork]

Randy - case in point. Just received this:

Dear Craig Wallwork,

Thank you for sending "Railway Architecture." I appreciated the opportunity to read your work, but decided not to select it for the journal.

Thanks for submitting to Storyglossia.

Steven J. McDermott
Editor & Publisher
Storyglossia

[RichardThomas]

@RANDY - it's like a sales job, where you know that it's just numbers - if you have to knock on 20 doors for 1 sale, then you gotta keep knocking - if the average acceptance rate of a magazine or journal is say 5%, then you not only have to keep submitting, but you need to BEAT OUT the other 19 stories - every editor is different, and it's getting the right person on the right day - i've had stories rejected 10, 20, 30 times and then they land at a great place - my current novel has been pass on by 50+ agents and 6 small presses, but i still believe in it, you have to

here are my stats from Duotrope for this year to give you an idea:

Pending responses for last 12 months: 26
Submissions sent last 12 months: 182
Submissions sent this month: 30
Acceptance ratio for the past 12 months: 10.13 %

2011

Submissions accepted: 13
Submissions rejected: 57
Submissions withdrawn: 32
Submissions pending: 26

You have to do your research, and send out the work. I just started shopping a new story, for example. It's called "Flowers for Jessica" a bit of dark magical realism. Did I send it to three places? NO, I sent it out to TWENTY-FOUR PLACES. Five rejections so far, and it's only been out 12 days.

Keep at it.

[Randy D. Rubin]

Thank you gentlemen... I needed that. Most sincerely, Randy

[RichardThomas]

i've gotten lots of rejections that were like "really enjoyed this, great setting, wonderful characters, unique idea" and then they pass - it's all about right place right time, here's my current list of markets that i'm targeting via Duotrope, maybe you can find some new places in there - and i'm also including two links, in case you haven't seen them, one on Simultaneous Submissions and one of my Target Markets:

Simultaneous Submissions: http://whatdoesnotkillme.com/2009/08/31/simultaneous/
My Targets: (not all are horror, obviously) http://whatdoesnotkillme.com/2009/07...s-submissions/

FAVORITE MARKETS: (updated 07.25.11)
3 AM Magazine (accepted)
751 Magazine
AGNI
Alaska Quarterly Review
Albedo ONe
alice blue
Analog
anderbo.com
Annalemma
Another Chicago Magazine
Apex Magazine
Apodis Publishing
Aqueous Books
Arcane Magazine
Artifice Magazine
Atlantic Monthly, The
Atticus Review
Aurealis
Avery Anthology
Barrelhouse
Bat City Review
Battered Suitcase, The
Beat to a Pulp
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Berkley Fiction Review
Big Lucks
Birkensnake
Black Clock
Black Death Books
Black Heart Magazine
Black Lawrence Press
Black Rainbows Press
Black Static
Black Warrior Review
Blackbird
Bleak House Books
Blink-Ink (twice)
Blue Earth Review
BOMB Magazine
Boulevard
Bourbon Penn
BULL SPEC
Caketrain
Camera Obscura
Cannoli Pie (accepted)
Canteen
Capilano Review, The
Cavalier Literary Couture
Cemetery Dance (accepted)
Cherry Bleeds (accepted) (dead)
Chicago Review
Chimeraworld
Chiron Review
ChiZine (Chiaroscuro) (contest win + 2nd story)
ChiZine Publications
Cimarron Review
Clarkesworld Magazine
Collagist, The
Colorado Review
Colored Chalk (multiple acceptances)
Comet Press
Conjunctions
Contrary
Copper Nickel
Crazyhorse
Cream City Review
Crimefactory (accepted)
Crimewave
Criminal Element
Dark Discoveries
Dark Horizons
Dark Sky Magazine
decomP
Descant (Canada)
DIAGRAM
Dimensions Books
Dirty Noir (accepted)
Dogmatika (accepted)
DOGZPLOT
Drollerie Press
Dzanc Books
Electric Literature
Electric Velocipede
Eleven Eleven
elimae
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Emerson Review, The
Emprise Review (accepted)
Etchings
Existere – Journal of Arts and Literature
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Fantasy Magazine
Featherproof Books
Fence
Fiction International
Fifth Wednesday Journal
Flambard Press
Flying Pen Press
Freight Stories
FRiGG
Fringe
Frogmore Papers
Fugue
Fugue State Press
Full of Crow Quarterly Fiction
Gargoyle (accepted)
Going Down Swinging (AU)
Gold Dust (accepted)
Granta
Grave Tales
Graywolf Press
Grist: The Journal for Writers
GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator
Hayden’s Ferry Review
Hobart
Horror Zine, The
Hotel St. George Press
Ideomancer
Ig Publishing
Ilura Press
Indiana Review
Interfictions
Interzone
Jabberwocky
Juked
Kenyon Review
Keyhole Magazine
kill author
KNOCK
Lake Effect
L’Allure des Mots
Leodegraunce (accepted)
Lightspeed
Literary Fever
LITRO: Stories Transport You
MacAdam/Cage Publishing
MAKE: A Chicago Literary Magazine
Manic D Press
Maverick Magazine (closed)
McSweeney’s Books
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
McSweeney’s Quarterly
Meanjin
Medallion Press
Memorious
Metazen (accepted)
Midnight Echo
Midwestern Gothic
Missouri Review
Monkeybicycle
Moon Milk Review
Morrigan Books
Mundania Press
Murky Depths (accepted)
Natural Bridge
Neon
Nefarious Muse (twice)
Nerve.com
New England Review
New Genre
New Horizons
New Ohio Review (NOR)
New Orleans Review
New York Tyrant
New Yorker, The
Night Shade Books
Night Train
Ninth Letter
Not One of Us
NO COLONY
NOÖ Journal
Noon Annual
Normal School, The
Not One of Us
Notes from the Underground
Offense Mechanisms
Omnidawn
On Spec
One Buck Horror
One Story
Opium Magazine (accepted)
Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show
Otherworld Publications (novel accepted)
Out of the Gutter Magazine
Outsider Writers Collective (accepted)
PANK (accepted)
Paris Review
Pear Noir! (accepted)
Pedestal Magazine
Permanent Press Publishing Company, The
Permuted Press
Phoebe
Pill Hill Press
Plots With Guns (excerpt)
Ploughshares
Poisoned Pen Press
Post Road Magazine
Prime Books
Pseudopod
Quick Fiction
Raleigh Review
Rambler, The
Red Hen Press
Redivider
Revolution House
River Styx
Rotten Leaves (accepted)
Salamander
Salt Hill
Sententia
Severed Press
ShadowCast Audio Anthology
Shadows & Tall Trees
Sheepshead Review
Shimmer
Shock Totem
Short, Fast and Deadly
Shotgun Honey (accepted)
Shroud Magazine
Shroud Publishing
Sideshow Fables (co-editor)
Sleepingfish
Slice Magazine
Smokelong Quarterly
Snowbooks
Snubnose Press (accepted)
Soho Press
Southeast Review, The
Southern Review, The
Spinetingler (excerpt)
Steampunk Tales
StepAway Magazine (accepted)
Storyglossia
Strange Horizons
Stymie Magazine
subTerrain Magazine
Subtropics
Summerset Review, The
Tarpaulin Sky Literary Journal
Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction
Thieves Jargon
Third Coast
Threepenny Review
Thunderdome: The Writer’s Collection (accepted)
Tin House
Titular
Tor.com
Torque Press
Troubadour 21 (accepted)
Twelve Stories
Twist of Noir, A
Vain Magazine (accepted, excerpt)
Vestal Review
Virginia Quarterly Review
Weave Magazine
Weird Tales
Whitewash Dreamz
Wild Child Publishing
Willow Springs
Withersin Magazine (excerpt)
Zoetrope: All-Story
Zone 3
Zouch
Zumaya Publications