Rejectomancy

Mad Rabbits · Jun 14, 2012

Finally got my R from Stupefying Stories at 85 days.

Mr Bethke wrote me a very nice response:

"After reading and discussing it, and then holding it for further consideration, we've decided it's not right for us at this time. Good luck placing it elsewhere. You write very well and we liked this one a lot, but in the final analysis we receive far more good stories than we have space to publish, and we end up having to split some pretty fine hairs to separate the stories we really like from the stories we love. In the final cut, I'm afraid this one ended up on the out side. Send us another one."

Does that mean it got passed to the final round? That is encouraging. Although I'm not sure where to send it next!

Commiserations on the Rs everyone.

alexshvartsman · Jun 14, 2012

llambertlawson said:
Hey Alex...thanks for the advice. Just checked their guidelines, and they say they usually respond within 30 days but to query after...<drumroll>...60 days. I think I'll do that. Hopefully it didn't get lost, but you never know.

Good luck, and let us know what they say!

I'm at 38 days there myself and getting very twitchy.

J.W. Alden · Jun 15, 2012

Just got a very nice personal from Lightspeed that boosted my spirits and increased my confidence for this new story. Can't wait to send it out again.

And yes, it was the one in which I accidentally left the "Dear Editor Person" part blank. :tongue

Jessica_312 · Jun 15, 2012

Mad Rabbits said:
Finally got my R from Stupefying Stories at 85 days.

Mr Bethke wrote me a very nice response:

"After reading and discussing it, and then holding it for further consideration, we've decided it's not right for us at this time. Good luck placing it elsewhere. You write very well and we liked this one a lot, but in the final analysis we receive far more good stories than we have space to publish, and we end up having to split some pretty fine hairs to separate the stories we really like from the stories we love. In the final cut, I'm afraid this one ended up on the out side. Send us another one."

Does that mean it got passed to the final round? That is encouraging. Although I'm not sure where to send it next!

Commiserations on the Rs everyone.

To me that sounds like the best possible rejection you could receive, I'd be very encouraged! They said some very positive things!

Mad Rabbits · Jun 15, 2012

Jessica_312 said:
To me that sounds like the best possible rejection you could receive, I'd be very encouraged! They said some very positive things!

Yes, next best thing to an acceptance! Suspected I had a decent story and now I know

O'Dandelo · Jun 16, 2012

I was one of the inaugural sacrificial lambs for Nightmare. A 1/2-day R.

phineas12gauge · Jun 16, 2012

Mad Rabbits said:
Finally got my R from Stupefying Stories at 85 days.

Mr Bethke wrote me a very nice response:

"After reading and discussing it, and then holding it for further consideration, we've decided it's not right for us at this time. Good luck placing it elsewhere. You write very well and we liked this one a lot, but in the final analysis we receive far more good stories than we have space to publish, and we end up having to split some pretty fine hairs to separate the stories we really like from the stories we love. In the final cut, I'm afraid this one ended up on the out side. Send us another one."

Does that mean it got passed to the final round? That is encouraging. Although I'm not sure where to send it next!

Commiserations on the Rs everyone.

That's a pretty sweet rejection ... particularly the 'send us another one' part

mhaynes · Jun 16, 2012

O'Dandelo said:
I was one of the inaugural sacrificial lambs for Nightmare. A 1/2-day R.

Congrats on being among the first to submit. All of the stories of mine which might be appropriate are already out on sub, so I get to wait around for my first Nightmare rejection.

Marzioli · Jun 16, 2012

O'Dandelo said:
I was one of the inaugural sacrificial lambs for Nightmare. A 1/2-day R.

OMG, brutal!

gettingby · Jun 16, 2012

32-day FFO rejection just when I was starting to get my hopes up.

Marzioli · Jun 16, 2012

21-day from FFO. 3-day from Clarkesworld.

Sai · Jun 16, 2012

O'Dandelo said:
I was one of the inaugural sacrificial lambs for Nightmare. A 1/2-day R.

Geez, sorry to hear that! I hope you have better luck with the next place you send it too.

And Mazoli and gettingby, sorry to hear about your FFO Rs. I have a story with them and the flood of rejections is making me pretty nervous.

Eliza C · Jun 16, 2012

Condolences for the recent rejections. I'm sure I'll be joining you here again soon.

mhaynes · Jun 16, 2012

30 days from New Myths

defcon6000 · Jun 16, 2012

mhaynes said:
30 days from New Myths

Same here, 31 days.

sarahthegrey · Jun 16, 2012

7-day R from DSF. Feeling discouraged today. Blah.

Mad Rabbits · Jun 16, 2012

phineas12gauge said:
That's a pretty sweet rejection ... particularly the 'send us another one' part

Thanks phineas. Yeah, I don't feel like I have anything else lying around that is quite right for them, but I have some ideas for new pieces. Time to put butt in chair!

Eliza C · Jun 17, 2012

Woke up to a very disappointing rejection from Bloodstones anthology in Aus. It's one of my two favorite stories circulating and the submission call sounded like the story would fit like a glove. Guess not.

WordCount · Jun 17, 2012

This is what I get for subbing to long term markets...

Even after a vacation, still crickets. *Chirp, chirp, chirp.

Sai · Jun 17, 2012

Eliza C said:
Woke up to a very disappointing rejection from Bloodstones anthology in Aus. It's one of my two favorite stories circulating and the submission call sounded like the story would fit like a glove. Guess not.

I'm waiting to hear from them too. Rejections suck, but getting rejected from an anthology that seems like a perfect fit has an extra sting to it.

30-day rejection from Gumshoe Review. It was a nice personal rejection explaining why it got the boot. The story I sent them is kind of a sci-fi mystery, so I think I'm going to mail it off to F&SF next.

Working Title · Jun 17, 2012

Marzioli said:
3-day from Clarkesworld.

I'm with you in the 3-day Clarkesworld bucket.

sarahthegrey said:
7-day R from DSF. Feeling discouraged today. Blah.

A good night's sleep seems to help with the rejection blues. You'll get there! Keep submitting!

defcon6000 · Jun 17, 2012

14-day form R from SH. They seem to be slowing down; I saw a 30-day R on duo--yikes!

I'm thinking Clarkesworld then perhaps Fantasy-faction contest, although I dislike how they'll accept six stories, but only pay for three of them.

alexshvartsman · Jun 17, 2012

69 days to the "We liked this one a lot, but in the final analysis we receive far more good stories than we have space to publish and have to make some tough choices between the stories we really like and the stories we absolutely love." form from Stupefying.

This story is suspense, not SF/F. I don't know what to do with it next because I don't read suspense markets and don't normally write the stuff. This one just.. happened.

alexshvartsman · Jun 17, 2012

And here comes a 117-day form R from Kaleidotrope.

Looks like I'm getting a bunch of dead crickets for Father's Day.

Eliza C · Jun 17, 2012

Sai said:
I'm waiting to hear from them too. Rejections suck, but getting rejected from an anthology that seems like a perfect fit has an extra sting to it.

Yeah. I usually bounce pretty good but I'm still a bit surprised by that one today. Not even a personal note. Oh well, the price to pay for feeling more confident than usual.

Sorry to everyone in the most recent slew of rejections. Some of those longer waits are rough.

Rejectomancy

Mad Rabbits

alexshvartsman

J.W. Alden

The King Who Bore the Sword

Jessica_312

Mad Rabbits

O'Dandelo

phineas12gauge

mhaynes

practical experience, FTW

Marzioli

Could be worse!

gettingby

Marzioli

Could be worse!

Sai

Book lover/Spy

Eliza C

We’ll see what happens from here…

mhaynes

practical experience, FTW

defcon6000

sarahthegrey

Mad Rabbits

Eliza C

We’ll see what happens from here…

WordCount

You don't have coffee? Go away.

Sai

Book lover/Spy

Working Title

The Indomitable Snowman

defcon6000

alexshvartsman

alexshvartsman

Eliza C

We’ll see what happens from here…