Real-Time Rejection: The Third Rejection of “Story X”
The hits just keep on coming! “Story X” has received its third rejection letter, and here it is:
Thanks for submitting “Story X,” but I’m going to pass on it. It didn’t quite work for me, I’m afraid. Best of luck to you placing this one elsewhere, and thanks again for sending it my way.
Like the two rejections before it, this is a standard common form rejection with all the usual trimmings. Polite? Check. An unambiguous “no.” Check. General niceties? Check.
This is the last submission to the quick-turnaround publishers. Next were heading into the deep, dark wilds of simultaneous submissions. What’s a simultaneous submission? Well, it’s really a topic for another blog post, but in short, a simultaneous submission is when you send the same story to multiple publishers at the same time. Some publishers allow it; others don’t. Pro-tip: Don’t send simultaneous submission to publishers that don’t go in for that kind of thing. It can put you in a very bad position.
“Story X” will be sent to three publishers, all of whom accept simultaneous submissions. (Yes, I checked.) The turnaround times for these three markets are in the 30- to 60-day range, which is pretty typical for most genre magazines. That said, many publishers are quicker than their stated turn times with rejections. Acceptances usually take longer, as these stories are often under consideration for some time before the decision is made to publish.
So, three shots fired. Let’s see if any of them find the mark.
Previous Real-Time Rejection Posts
Intro: Real-Time Rejection: The Journey of “Story X”
Part 1: Real-Time Rejection: The First Rejection of “Story X”
Part 2: Real-Time Rejection: The Second Rejection of “Story X”
3 Comments on “Real-Time Rejection: The Third Rejection of “Story X””
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Aeryn Rudel's Rejectomancy 
So brave of you to post about this!
I’ve received that exact-same-worded rejection (more than once) so I bet I can guess who it’s from 😉
Onward and better luck next sub!
I have no doubt you could guess who it’s from. I’ve got this letter a couple of times as well. They always rip that Band-Aid off quick, and I appreciate that. 😉