On the Board: First Rejection of 2016
And we’re off! The first rejection of 2016 has come in, setting, I think, the proper tone for the coming Rejectomancy year. Here it is.
Hi Aeryn,
I had a chance to read the story. The conceit is interesting, however it’s not really suited for XXX. Thank you for the submission and best of luck in future writing
What we have here is a short and sweet personal rejection. This is a new market, and this was the first submission I’ve sent them. I thought my story was in the ballpark for the type of fiction they’re publishing—gritty, pulpy adventure stories—but it looks I was not as close as I thought. That’s the tough thing about new markets, if you’re submitting for their first issue, as I was here, there are no published stories to compare for subject matter, theme, etc. I’ll definitely submit here again, but I’ll likely wait until they put out that first issue so I can get a better handle on the types of stories they want.
How is your writing new year going? Rejections? Acceptances? Tell me about it in the comments.
10 Comments on “On the Board: First Rejection of 2016”
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Aeryn Rudel's Rejectomancy 
Conceit, eh? I haven’t heard the word used in the context before.
I just put a story in at a new market. Almost half of their rejections are personal, so I am hoping for that, at least.
I have three in for 43 days at a place that says they typically respond before 45. They just rejected a couple that they’ve had less time than mine. *fingers crossed* I need to get more in my queue, though.
Good luck with Flash Phenom, btw. I wrote a first draft, and I think the concept is really suited to something much longer, so I didn’t bother polishing it up for the contest.
Yeah, I have a tendency to obsessively check Duotrope for response statistics when my submitted stories are getting close to the publisher’s stated response date. In my experience, though, those dates are ballpark figures in the broadest sense.
Thanks, and good luck to you too. I’ve got a couple submission in for Flash Phenom. One of them might even be decent. 😉
And BAM!
Greetings Michelle,
Thank you for allowing us to consider “XXX” for publication in YYY. We understand just how subjective—even apparently irrational—the whole editorial process can be. Submitting your work to us was itself an act of generosity.
Unfortunately, your submission didn’t meet our needs at this time.
Do keep in mind that in addition to the inherent subjectivity of our reading (we’re happy to see work that doesn’t fit here get snapped up by editors elsewhere!), we received over 1100 submissions for the Winter Season of concīs…and we can accept only 40 pieces from numbers we anticipate will be even higher this time around.
We hope you’ll keep an eye on what we publish in the future and not be dissuaded from trying again if you feel you have something suitable.
I’m sure it will be better than decent. Plus, they really seem to enjoy your style over at Molotov 🙂
One rejection (a reprint submitted to an anthology of reprints); one acceptance (an original story for an open-call anthology); and one invitation to write a new story for an anthology. Oh, and I’ve already written and submitted five new short stories since the beginning of the year.
Just silence.
I’d really love to get my hands on anything personal, even if it is a rejection 😉
Wow. I say things and I don’t think them through.
Yeah, careful what you wish for. 😉
“The conceit is interesting” is a winning phrase. Why can’t they just say “This story wasn’t for us” or something like that?
Anyway, I got my first rejection Jan. 4, but had sent that story last year. This post right here got me off my butt today and I sent in my latest piece to three different mags (all accept Sims Subs), so thanks for posting!
It doesn’t bother me. Just a nicety before the “not for us.”
Congrats on getting those submission out.