Tag: Rejection Letters

Multi-Sub Publishers: Skip or Submit?

Occasionally, you will run into literary or genre markets that accept multiple submissions, where you can submit two, three, or more stories at the same time. These markets are pretty rare in my experience, much rarer than markets that accept simultaneous submissions. In general, they… Continue Reading “Multi-Sub Publishers: Skip or Submit?”

January 2017 Submission Statement

The first month of the new year has come and gone, and it was a fairly average submission month for me. I always feel like I should send more submission out, you know, because I totally should, but half a dozen ain’t terrible. Let’s… Continue Reading “January 2017 Submission Statement”

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”

2016: A Writing Rearview Review

And that’s a wrap on 2016, some might say mercifully so. As for how 2016 treated me and my writing career, I would rate the year as “not too shabby.” Let us now turn to a whole bunch of stats because they are the… Continue Reading “2016: A Writing Rearview Review”

When Should You Reply to a Rejection Letter?

Should you reply to rejection letters? A good question, and 99.9 % of the time my personal opinion is a resounding NO. The most compelling reason is that many publishers will straight-up tell you not to reply to a rejection in their submission guidelines, and… Continue Reading “When Should You Reply to a Rejection Letter?”

Submission Protocol: The Escape Clause

I recently received a further consideration from a publisher that included what can best be termed an escape clause, and it prompted me to ask the following question. When should you, if ever, pass on a publication that is obviously interested in your story? First,… Continue Reading “Submission Protocol: The Escape Clause”

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”

Submission Protocol: The Waiting Game

If you’re a writer who regularly submits short stories and who also uses submission tracking sites like Duotrope, then the following scenario will likely be very familiar to you. You send your submission to a publisher, noting on Duotrope their average response times for rejections… Continue Reading “Submission Protocol: The Waiting Game”

Tiered Form Rejections: Fact or Fiction?

If you’ve been submitting stories to the many literary and genre magazines, journals, and zines out there, then you’ve no doubt heard that some markets have more than one type of form rejection. Not only do these publishers have more than one, they have… Continue Reading “Tiered Form Rejections: Fact or Fiction?”

Rejection Letter Rundown: The Considered Rejection

Often you have to wait quite a while for a publisher to get back to you about a submission, which is just a reality of being a writer, but when you have good reason to hope your story will be accepted, the waiting can be pretty… Continue Reading “Rejection Letter Rundown: The Considered Rejection”