Tag Archives: Rejection Letters

Replying to a Rejection: Dos and (mostly) Don’ts

A topic I see a fair amount among authors is whether or not you should reply to a rejection letter. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I’d say the answer is no, but my views on this blog are kind of an evolving thing. Something I said you should never do a couple of years ago, I might now say don’t do very often or don’t do it unless it’s under these very specific circumstances. So let’s revisit replying to a rejection letter and talk about some specific reasons you might think about typing out a reply and whether or not it’s a good idea.

1) To argue with the editor for rejecting your story. Do. Not. Do. This. It’s real bad form, and it’s probably (definitely) going to hurt your chances at future publications with that market. Look, rejections aren’t fun, but they’re part of the gig, and, most importantly, they are not personal. Editors reject stories for lots of reasons that often have nothing to do with the quality of the work, and what doesn’t work for one market may very well be exactly what another market wants. So, suck it up, move on, and submit that story somewhere else.

2) Because you didn’t like or agree with the feedback. If the editor took the time to actually give you constructive feedback, that’s probably because they saw some merit in the work. That’s a good thing. You should submit another story to that market. If you don’t agree with the feedback you received, that’s okay too. There’s no point in attempting to argue with the editor over something like that. It’s an opinion, and, again, it’s not personal. Absorb the feedback (or don’t) and move on.

3) Because the editor was rude. But were they? Really? I conceded that it’s certainly possible an editor might be rude in a rejection, and I’m sure it’s happened, but after receiving hundreds of them, I can’t remember a single one where the editor was anything but professional. Sometimes form rejection letters are short and to the point, and if you’re feeling salty about the no, you might be tempted to read terseness or rudeness into that (I’ve actually seen this happen). Don’t. See reason number one. It’s not personal.

4) They made a mistake. I mean an actual mistake. See reason number one for the “mistake” of not accepting your story. I once received a rejection for someone else’s story. Our pieces had very similar titles, and the editor made a very understandable error. I replied with a polite note explaining the situation, and the editor responded with an apology and then read and replied to my submission within the next couple of days. In a sense, my response to that error worked a lot like a submission status query, and my story was read well ahead of the publisher’s usual schedule.

So, yes, this is the ONE time you should absolutely respond to a rejection letter. I can’t imagine an editor being anything but appreciative, just like the editor in my example was.

5) To thank an editor for providing feedback. The last time I talked about replying to rejection letters, I said you shouldn’t do this. Mostly, because it’s not necessary or expected. That said, my thoughts have evolved slightly on this specific example. Let me explain.

A market I hugely respect published one of my stories a few years ago, and I send them a lot of my work. I generally get personal rejections, and, as is my standard operating procedure, I don’t respond to them. In this one case, though, the editor gave me some thorough and very insightful feedback that vastly improved the story. I was so grateful I wanted to let them know. I sent a quick, “I never do this, but thank you so much for that incredibly useful feedback.” They sent me a nice email about how they rarely take offense at responses to rejections (you know, unless they’re for those first two reasons), and they don’t mind hearing their feedback was helpful.

Despite my example, I don’t think you should do this often (I’ve done it exactly once), but if the market has published you before and you’re somewhat familiar with the editor and they’ve provided you with something really helpful, then, a quick, polite thank you after a rejection is probably not an issue.

Please note, however, some publishers straight-up tell you in their guidelines not to respond to rejections, even if it’s something like I outlined above. In that case, follow the guidelines and do NOT respond to a rejection from that publisher (with the possible, very rare exception of reason #3).

So, to sum up, replying to a rejection letter is almost always a bad idea or simply not necessary, but there are a couple of corner cases where you might consider it.

Can you think of a reason I left off? If so, tell me about it in the comments.

A Week of Writing: 10/8/18 to 10/14/18

Fell of the weekly writing update wagon there for a bit, but I’m back at it. Happy Monday.

Words to Write By

This week it’s another one of my favorite quotes from Stephen King.

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

—Stephen King

Show me a writer that doesn’t procrastinate, and, well, I just won’t believe you. 🙂 I think we all do it, and why do we do it? Mr. King hits that particular nail on the head with his quote. Before I actually start writing, all I can think about is what might go wrong, how I won’t be able to write that scene convincingly, make that character believable, revise this chapter into something coherent, even compelling. Of course, when I get over myself, and start, you know, writing, it’s never as bad or as hard as I feared. When I finish for the day, I almost always look back and think, “Now, why did it take me so long to get started?”

The Novel

I’ve been working on and off on the revisions of the novel for the last couple of weeks. Primarily, I’ve been writing new material to fix some of the plot holes and character motivation problems. This week, I’ll paste that new material in to the manuscript and then begin the process of revising the book as a whole. I’m still shooting to finish this round of revisions by the end of the month.

Short Stories

I started a couple new short stories last week. One is a compete rewrite and re-imagining of a piece I wrote nearly fifteen years ago, and the other is a completely new idea for a horror/humor anthology call. Just a couple of short story submissions last week, though I did send a few more the week before.

  • Submissions Sent: 2
  • Rejections: 0
  • Acceptances: 0
  • Publications: 0
  • Shortlist: 0

These two submission give me 102 for the year, and you might have seen my post about hitting my 100-sub goal. At this pace, I should end 2018 with something in the neighborhood of 120 to 130 submissions.

The Blog

Two blog posts last week.

10/8/18: 100 Submissions – An Analysis 

This posts gives you the dirty details on my journey to 100 submissions: all the rejections, acceptances, the works.

10/12/18: My Acceptance Rate by the Numbers

An in-depth look at my acceptance rates broken down by type of market.

Goals

Keep revising the novel and finish the two short stories I started. And, as always, more submissions.

Submission Spotlight

This week, Pseudopod, one of my favorite markets, has opened again to general submissions. They’re part of the Escape Artist group of podcasts that publish awesome audio short stories. Pseudopod is their horror podcast, and, as you can imagine, that’s kind of my jam. I also might be a little biased since they published my story “Night Games.” But only a little. They are a pro-paying market with a great editorial staff, so send them something if you have a story that fits. Submission guidelines below.

Pseudopod Submission Guidelines

That was my week. How was yours?

100 Submissions – An Analysis

Yesterday I sent my 100th submission for the year. I’m thrilled to have achieved this goal well ahead of schedule, and in this post I’ll give you all the crunchy data that got me there. Before I get into the raw numbers, though, here are some things I learned from sending so many submissions in a single calendar year.

  1. You have to write a lot. Yeah, obvious thing is obvious, right? But if you write genre fiction and can’t benefit as much from sim-subs, then you need to write a fair amount of stories if you want to send 100+ submissions. Luckily, I write a lot of flash fiction, so I was able to churn out a good number of new stories.
  2. You get better. It’s a pretty simple formula in this business that the more you write the better you get at it. I think I upped my short story game this year. I still have work to do in that department, but the number of acceptances I’ve received so far tells me I’m doing something right(er).
  3. You get a better handle on the market. Sending so many submissions taught me a few things about some of the publishers I submit to and will help me target my submissions more accurately in the future.
  4. Your rejectomancer level goes up. Sending that many submissions means getting A LOT of rejections. Sure, I’ve received a bunch over the years, but I shattered my yearly rejection record, and my skin is now like elephant hide when it comes to the no’s, we’re gonna pass’s, and not for us’s.

Okay, let’s get to the numbers. Here are the basics.

  • Submissions: 100
  • Rejections: 72
  • Acceptances: 16
  • Withdrawn: 2
  • Pending: 10

This first set of numbers gives you the basic breakdown of my submission activity. I’m happy with both my productivity (a little over 10 submissions per month) and the results. Yes, I’ve received more rejections this year than any other, but I’ve also received a lot more acceptances. I’d call that a good trade-off. I had to pull two stories this year (though it seems like more) because the market went under while my stories were under consideration.

Let’s drill down a bit and look at the actual stories I sent.

  • Unique Stories: 33
  • Reprints: 3
  • Flash: 24
  • Shorts: 9
  • New for 2018: 18

I’ve sent 33 unique stories this year so far, nearly three-quarters of them flash fiction. Eighteen of the stories I wrote this year, though many of the older stories were heavily revised. Finally, I sent a few reprints, but they made up a very small percentage of my total submissions.

Now let’s look at the markets I submitted to:

  • Unique Markets: 45
  • Pro Markets: 27
  • Semi-Pro Markets: 15
  • Token/Free Markets: 3

I’ve submitted to a total of 45 markets in 2018. I’ve counted markets like The Arcanist or The Molotov Cocktail as one market, even though their regular submissions and contest submissions are listed separately in Duotrope and The Submission Grinder. As you can see, most of submissions when to pro and semi-pro markets, and that’s a trend I expect to continue from here on out.

Finally, this blog is called Rejectomancy, so let’s take a closer look at all my rejections for the year.

  • Rejections: 72
  • Form: 48
  • Upper-Tier: 16
  • Personal: 8

Lots of form rejections, which is no surprise, honestly, since I submitted primarily to professional markets. Some of those form rejections might be upper-tier rejections, but where I wasn’t certain I counted them as basic form rejections. The personal rejections this year were all from pro markets, and most of them provided me with very useful feedback.

That’s the skinny on my first 100 submissions for 2018. Of course, there’s still nearly three months left in the year, so I might end 2018 with something like 130 submissions. Here are some stretch goals I’d like to hit before 2019:

  • 20 acceptances – I think I’ve got a reasonable chance at this. I’ve only had one month without an acceptance so far, and 20 acceptances would be a great way to end the year.
  • 100 rejections – Yeah, I know, kind of a dubious goal, but, hey, great for branding, right? 🙂 I should hit this mark if my acceptance/rejection percentage remains where it is and I hit 130 submissions or so.

Submission Statement: September 2018

Another month of submissions, rejections, and acceptances in the books. Here’s how September shook out.

September 2018 Report Card

  • Submissions Sent: 10
  • Rejections: 6
  • Acceptances: 2
  • Publications: 1

I’m happy with ten submissions for the month, and two acceptances is pretty solid too. Only one publication this month, but I’ve got a bunch slated for October. As for total submissions, I finished September with 96, just four away from my goal of 100.

Rejections

Six rejections for September.

  • Standard Form Rejections: 5
  • Upper-Tier Form Rejections: 1
  • Personal Rejections: 0

Mostly standard form rejections from pro markets this month, though I think one might be an upper tier (more on that below).

Spotlight Rejection

The spotlight rejection for September comes from a pro market I’ve never submitted to before (though I certainly will again).

Dear Aeryn,

Thank you for submitting [story title] to [publisher] for consideration. Unfortunately, we’re going to pass on this one. It just didn’t work for us.

We look forward to reading further submissions from you.

Best,

This might be an upper-tier rejection, but it could just be their standard form too. Some markets include verbiage like the second sentence in all their rejections. Since I don’t have any other rejections from this publisher to compare it to, it’s hard to say.

Acceptances

Two acceptances this month. That continues my streak of eight straight months with at least one acceptance. So far, only January has skunked me. The two acceptances in September bring my yearly total to sixteen.

Here’s one of the acceptances I received in September. This one is for a story that had received a bunch of close-but-no-cigars. It took second place in a flash fiction contest, and I’m very pleased it has finally found a home.

Hi Aeryn,

We’re happy to announce that your story [story title] is the Second Place winner of our [contest name]

We’ll be publishing your story on October 19.

There’s more to this acceptance, but it’s just the usual payment and rights stuff. This one should be available to read soon.

Publication

One publication in September, which you can read below.

“What Kind of Hero?”

Published by Ellipsis Zine

And that was my September. Tell me about yours.

A Week of Writing: 9/17/18 to 9/23/18

Welcome to my Monday and another week of writing.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote is from Truman Capote.

“Good writing is rewriting.”

—Truman Capote

I’ve seen similar quotes from a number of writers, but Capote’s is probably the most succinct. Every published story or novel has likely gone through a number of revisions where the author has rewritten, revised, and reworked the plot, the characters, the prose, you name it. That’s where I’m at now, laboriously addressing all the problems in the first draft of my novel Late Risers, trying to turn writing into a good writing. My guess is I’ll turn writing into okay writing this round, and then maybe get to something approaching good in the next pass.

The Novel

Last week the second round of revisions started in earnest. The main goal was to write at least one of the new chapters that’ll go at the beginning of the book. I accomplished that (and a few other things), and this week I’ll write the second new chapter and probably a bit more. These new chapters address a couple of sizable issues my critique partners pointed out in their notes, namely in setting up the rules of my world and better establishing an important relationship between my protagonist and another character. I’m pretty happy with the first new chapter, and now that I’ve really taken stock of what needs to be fixed in the rest of the novel, it’s not too bad, very doable, in fact.

Short Stories

I got back on track with short story submissions last week. I also started a new short story I quite like and knocked out a couple of thousand words on it. I hope to finish that one this week.

  • Submissions Sent: 4
  • Rejections: 3
  • Acceptances: 0
  • Publications: 0
  • Shortlist: 0

The four submissions I sent last week put me at 93 for the year. Getting really close to that 100 mark.

The Blog

Two blog posts last week.

9/18/18: A Week of Writing: 9/10/18 to 9/16/18

The usual weekly writing update.

9/21/18: The Long View II: Genre Markets for Novelettes & Novellas

In this post I took another look at genre markets for works over 7,500 words in length.

Goals

This week I want to finish all the new chapters for the novel, and then start the actual revisions and rewriting on the existing text. I’d also like to finish the short story I started last week and get that to my critique partners.

Submission Spotlight

This week I’d like to call your attention to a market I’ve been meaning to submit to forever and finally got around to doing it last week. They’re a well-regarded publisher with one of the coolest names in the biz, especially if you’re a big dinosaur nerd like me. The market is GigaNotoSaurus, and they accept fantasy and science fiction stories from 5,000 to 25,000 words. That’s a nice spread, and they’re one the few paying markets that’ll take novelettes and novellas. You can check out GigaNotoSaurus‘ submission guidelines below.

GigaNotoSaurus Submission Guidelines

That was my week. How was yours?

A Week of Writing: 9/10/18 to 9/16/18

A day late and a dollar short, as they say, but here’s my writing week that was.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote is from Jack London.

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

– Jack London

I really dig this quote. What it says to me is I can’t sit idle until I feel like writing. I have to get on with it. I have to hit my word count or work on those revisions, even when writing is the last thing I want to do. This is especially true when I have a deadline, and editors are waiting on an outline, or a draft, or revisions. This is not to say I always hit my word count or that I write every single day of my life, but I do it enough to finish the draft in a reasonable amount of time, hit the deadline, and keep the ol’ assembly line moving.

Note, this “write no matter what” attitude doesn’t work for everyone, and I’m not selling it as the one true way, but it does works for me.

The Novel

I’ve started the second round of revisions on Late Risers. Last week that consisted of reading through all the notes from my critique partners, creating a plan of attack, and addressing some minor issues throughout the novel as a way to reacquaint myself with the story. This week I’ll write some new chapters in the beginning of the book that better establish the rules of my world and a few important character relationships. I’ll also trim roughly the same amount of words from the exiting first act, which dragged on a bit.

Short Stories

Since my focus was primarily on the novel (and some out-of-town guests), I didn’t do much of anything with short stories. In fact, I didn’t do squat.

  • Submissions Sent: 0
  • Rejections: 0
  • Acceptances: 1
  • Publications: 1
  • Shortlist: 0

I did get an acceptance last week (my 15th of the year) and one of my earlier acceptances was published. So, you know, not a terrible week on the ol’ submission front.

The Blog

I also lagged behind on blogging, and I only managed a single blog post.

9/10/18: A Week of Writing: 9/3/18 to 9/9/18

The usual weekly writing update.

Goals

Same as last week, the major goal is work on the revisions for Late Risers. Secondary to that goal is submit more short stories and get back on track with the blog.

Story Spotlight

This week’s story spotlight is “What Kind of Hero?” published last week by EllipsisZine. You can check it out by clicking the link or picture below.

“What Kind of Hero?”

That was my week. How was yours?

A Week of Writing: 9/3/18 to 9/9/18

It’s Monday, and I’m back on track with weekly, writerly updates.

Words to Write By

Today’s quotes comes from one of my favorite fantasy authors, Robin Hobb.

The challenge is always to find the good place to end the book. The rule I follow with myself is that every book should end where the next book would logically begin. I know that some readers wish that literally all of the threads would be neatly tied off and snipped, but life just doesn’t work that way.

– Robin Hobb

I wholeheartedly agree with Robin Hobb here. To me, there’s something really artificial about an ending that ties everything up neatly, and it always leaves me unsatisfied. Like she says, life doesn’t work that way. I think life is largely a collection of loose threads we spend, well, a lifetime trying to resolve. Although fiction doesn’t have to reflect how the real world works, this is an area where I try to cleave as close to reality as I can. The ending of Late Risers is messy, the resolution of some plot points uncertain, and I’m fine with that. Some of this has to do with my hope there will be a another book, but, even if there is only this one, I think Late Risers works as a standalone novel. (I really just hope it works as a novel, period.)

The Novel

My critique partners have finished my novel Late Risers, and I have their notes. The good news is a lot of the problems are ones I suspected were there, and my critique partners are in agreement on the major issues. That makes my job a lot easier, since we’re all basically on the same page with what is wrong with the book. The other good news is they liked the draft, the story, the concept, and the writing. Yes, there’s work to do on all of those elements, but after getting the notes, I think the first draft went about as well as I could have hoped.

This week I’m going to dive in and start my second round of revisions. I’ll still focus on fixing big-picture problems first, then worry about tightening the prose after that.

Short Stories

Not a whole lot to report on this front. I did get one story back that has had a number of near misses, and I promptly sent it out again. I tinkered with some old stories, and even unearthed an ancient short story from a backup hard drive that has a great concept with some, uh, archaic writing. That’ll be my next short story project. I currently have nine submissions pending with various publishers.

A very slow week for submissions.

  • Submissions Sent: 1
  • Rejections: 2
  • Acceptances: 0
  • Publications: 0
  • Shortlist: 0

I have 89 submissions for the year, and I’m still on a very comfortable pace to hit my goal of 100.

The Blog

Here are the blog posts from the last couple of weeks.

8/27/18: A Week of Writing: 8/20/18 to 8/26/18

The usual weekly writing update.

8/31/18: Submission Protocol: Summary Execution

Another entry in the submission protocol series. In this one I discuss summarizing your short story when a publisher asks for a synopsis.

9/4/18: Submission Statement: July & August 2018

I missed the July submission statement, so this is two months of my submission endeavors.

9/7/18: Iron Kingdoms Fiction – Peace of Mind

Another Iron Kingdoms story originally published in the pages of No Quarter magazine.

Goals

One major goal for the week: start the second round of revisions on Late Risers. Everything else will take a backseat until that’s finished.

Submission Spotlight

This week I’d like to point you at a brand new pro-paying (.06/word) speculative fiction market called Constellary Tales. Here’s what they’re looking for:

We love SF stories that carry characters from their beginning to their end. That take the reader along on the journey of discovery (or loss, or redemption, or whatever). And of course, they have to be speculative. The name “Constellary” betrays our love for science fiction, but we’re fans of fantasy too.

Note, they’re closed to submissions from September 11th through September 30th–no doubt to sort through the tons of submissions they’ve already received–but they will reopen to submissions on October 1st. Guidelines in the link below.

Constellary Tales Guidelines

 

That was my week. How was yours?