Rejectomancy

Lillie

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I sent it back out and it's second in the queue already (lightspeed live up to their name).

Anyone want to bet on whether it will be back again before or after I finish writing this?
 
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Sagana

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*hugs* for Suzanne and Aggy and the crickets. What's #wordmongering? I'm blahish too. Bleh, bleh, bleh.

More *hugs* for Lillie. Oh well, is only one and it's back out again. The good stuff will come! Write it and they will come. At least we're all in the same boat. (If mine sinks, ya'll are going down with me *g*)
 

Sai

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I was wondering if anyone else ever has this problem, or if I'm just going insane: When you're looking at your submissions on Duotrope, do you ever see 'Pending Rejection' instead of 'Pending Response' next to a story? It gives me a jolt, but then I blink and rub my eyes and it's gone back to normal. I know it's just my imagination, but there's always a split-second where I think How do they know? How does Duotrope know?
 

Aggy B.

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*hugs* for Suzanne and Aggy and the crickets. What's #wordmongering? I'm blahish too. Bleh, bleh, bleh.

More *hugs* for Lillie. Oh well, is only one and it's back out again. The good stuff will come! Write it and they will come. At least we're all in the same boat. (If mine sinks, ya'll are going down with me *g*)

#wordmongering is sort of like a Twitter word war. One tweets "#wordmongering in two/five/ten/whatever minutes" and then when that point arrives (top of the hour, bottom of the hour, quarter past, etc) one writes for 20-30 minutes. Then tweets again the resultant number of words.

or you can just do it on your own. (I tweet sometimes before hand, then do several sessions with brief breaks.) Twenty minutes is a good chunk for me. Long enough to get something accomplished, not so long that I feel overwhelmed when I realize I'm writing tripe.

/derail

Crickets this morning. But ChiZine seems to be sending out R's today. Maybe later I'll have something to report. :)
 

shelleyo

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Oh gosh, I have an email staring at me from the inbox. It's a reply to the submission I've mentioned in this forum, the one that I know is really going to get to me if it's a rejection.

I've had such an incredibly crappy couple of days, with one thing after another going wrong, that though it came a short while ago, I haven't been able to make myself open it.

I never pin feelings like this on rejection--it's counterproductive and a waste of energy since, statistically speaking, that's what I should be expecting almost all the time. But this one, wow, it's going to hurt. That coupled with the last couple of days has the potential to really derail me. This one, I knew it was going to hurt and set me back period, but why did the mail come today. Gah!

Do you think it's crazy to wait a day or two until my overall mood is at least better? :p

Shelley
 
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Sai

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The not knowing would drive me crazy, so I'd check it quick, like ripping off a band aid. But that's just me.
 

zanzjan

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Do you think it's crazy to wait a day or two until my overall mood is at least better? :p

No. Do what you gotta do to keep yourself sane. A day or two isn't going to make a difference, either way, unless you'll make yourself nuts by *not* opening it too. Then I'd suggest getting some chocolate, making yourself a nice hot cup of tea, settling yourself in a comfy spot (preferably with cat in lap), and then reading it. Uh, but don't be holding the cup of tea, because you don't want to spill it on yourself (or the cat) when you leap up shouting because it's good news after all (-:

-Suzanne
 

shelleyo

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Thanks, guys!

I decided that I would spend the next couple of days convincing myself it was a rejection to make opening it easier. And then I realized that's the same thing as having a rejection and feeling crappy, isn't it?

So I opened it, and thought I'd at least have a good cry before I had to pick my daughter up from school, and maybe we'd do something fun this evening to distract me.

Details here:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6161448#post6161448

:)D)

Shelley
 

zanzjan

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[Doing the happy dance for Shelley] Dancity dancity dance! (-:

-Suzanne
 

MattJ

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Nice!

I remember hearing about this story. I've had one story like that, that really hit me hard, but it didn't involve a 50 foot ZOMBIE APE! :)

So I opened it, and thought I'd at least have a good cry before I had to pick my daughter up from school, and maybe we'd do something fun this evening to distract me.
 

shelleyo

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Thanks, guys! *dances rings with zanzjan around those rejection deities*

Nice!

I remember hearing about this story. I've had one story like that, that really hit me hard, but it didn't involve a 50 foot ZOMBIE APE! :)

Hey, zombie apes are people, too.

Er--

Shelley
 

Aggy B.

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Still crickets for me. Passing the time by finishing up my nihilistic sci-fi western. If I can get it done by Saturday evening I'll have my W1 done for the week.

Aggy, a little relieved the internet has been flaky today, thus thwarting her constant email-box checking
 

shelleyo

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Still crickets for me. Passing the time by finishing up my nihilistic sci-fi western. If I can get it done by Saturday evening I'll have my W1 done for the week.

Aggy, a little relieved the internet has been flaky today, thus thwarting her constant email-box checking

Weird westerns seem to be really in right now. I hope it's easy to find it a home!

Shelley
 

Lillie

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It came in and went back out.
 

shelleyo

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Sorry, Lillie. Maybe this one!

This lengthy article is aimed at those submiting to literary magazines, but the information in it applies anywhere. It deals with rejection and how to take it, so it seems right for this thread.

What Editors Want

Shelley
 

Lillie

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:) Probably not this one either to be honest.

But if I don't try I'll never know.

Interesting article. Thanks!
 

Sagana

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Anyone want to have our own little mini-workshop where we choose a magazine/market, read it and try to figure out what made those stories work for that magazine/what the stories that get published have in common?

I read them, and look for one that publishes something I like. But the nuances are escaping me, I believe. I end up with 'they want good stories' :) There has to be more to it than that. And analyzing the stories would be good for my writing, I think. Similar to what Izz is doing.
 

Sai

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Anyone want to have our own little mini-workshop where we choose a magazine/market, read it and try to figure out what made those stories work for that magazine/what the stories that get published have in common?

I read them, and look for one that publishes something I like. But the nuances are escaping me, I believe. I end up with 'they want good stories' :) There has to be more to it than that. And analyzing the stories would be good for my writing, I think. Similar to what Izz is doing.

I have one paid fiction publishing credit, and I'm pretty sure the reason my story was accepted was because I had read literally hundreds of issues of that magazine before I even thought about applying and knew exactly what they were looking for. So yeah, I'd be totally down for this.
 

soapdish

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:e2thud:still. crickets.



Lillie, Sagana I might be up for that as well. Depends on how much of a time commitment it would need, though.
 
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Lillie

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:) It's not my idea, it's Sagna's.

But I think it's a great idea and I'd be up for it too.