Category: Rejection Letters
The Standard Form Rejection Revisited
One of the first posts on this blog was about the standard form rejection. In the intervening years, my thoughts have changed some, and I find I have more to say about what they mean or might mean. First, as a refresher, what is… Continue Reading “The Standard Form Rejection Revisited”
The Oft-Rejected Story: A Rejectomantic* Analysis
*Adj. 1. rejectomantic – relating to or associated with the dubious practice of rejectomancy; “a desperate rejectomantic analysis” My current record-holder for most rejections is a story called “Paper Cut,” which was published after a whopping 16 no-thank-yous, though it’s picked up another as… Continue Reading “The Oft-Rejected Story: A Rejectomantic* Analysis”
8 Rejection Records & Other Dubious Achievements
I originally published a post titled 6 Rejection Records & Other Dubious Achievements back in June of 2016, and wouldn’t you know it, I’ve broken just about every one of those records in the last year and change. I thought I’d revisit these records,… Continue Reading “8 Rejection Records & Other Dubious Achievements”
Rejection Letter Rundown: The Good Story Rejection
If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you’ve certainly heard me say that a rejection does not (necessarily) mean you wrote a bad story. In fact, it can mean you wrote a good story that was rejected for a bunch of… Continue Reading “Rejection Letter Rundown: The Good Story Rejection”
The Rejection Scorecard
As some of you may know, my professional career with the written word (such as it is) started in the tabletop gaming industry, where I worked as an editor, a game designer, and a writer. With over a decade working in that environment, it… Continue Reading “The Rejection Scorecard”
Submission Rotation – May 2017
Right now, until I put the finishing touches on a few works in progress, I have five short stories in my submission rotation. Most of these stories have been around the block a few times with varying levels of success. Of course, none of… Continue Reading “Submission Rotation – May 2017”
Swings & Misses: The Submission Slump
If you were to look at my acceptance ratio at Duotrope a few months ago, you’d have seen a number of around 20%, meaning, very roughly, that for every ten submission I sent, two would be accepted. In baseball terms, that’s a batting average… Continue Reading “Swings & Misses: The Submission Slump”
Rejections: The Bad Beats
A question I’m often asked with regards to my blog is: Do rejections still bother you? The answer is largely no, they don’t. Form rejections, especially, barely register anymore, and at this point, they are little more than a notification to send the story somewhere… Continue Reading “Rejections: The Bad Beats”
4 Reasons for the Same-Day Rejection
Here’s the scenario. You fire off a short story submission, fully prepared to wait the two weeks or one month or however long it takes for them to read your story and make a decision. You check your email a couple hours later and BAM! They’ve… Continue Reading “4 Reasons for the Same-Day Rejection”
Rejections and the Revision Decision
How many rejections do I let a story accumulate before I revise it? That’s a question I get asked a lot these days (maybe because I plaster my rejections all over the internet). It’s a good question, and my answer usually is something like,… Continue Reading “Rejections and the Revision Decision”
Effectively Wild – A Baseball Horror Story
Night Walk & Other Dark Paths
Acts of War: Flashpoint
Acts of War: Aftershock
Acts of War: Stormbreak
Aeryn Rudel's Rejectomancy 