Rejectomancy

Eliza C

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Been a while since I popped onto this forum. Took a bit of a writing hiatus to deal with life stuff.

But...could use some commiseration and camaraderie now that I'm back. :)

18-day form R from DSF. Forgot that submitting feels exactly like struggling to fit in with the cool kids in high school. Bleh.

Commiseration and camaraderie coming your way -- we have that aplenty over here :)
 

Marzioli

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Semi-personal from Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF! Granted, the only personal bit was that he called out the genre, but still. Also, this is the first time I've ever gotten a response from Mr. Gelder, so I'm assuming it actually made it through slush.
 

Eliza C

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Semi-personal from Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF! Granted, the only personal bit was that he called out the genre, but still. Also, this is the first time I've ever gotten a response from Mr. Gelder, so I'm assuming it actually made it through slush.

Awesome! (for a rejection, that is). The best I've ever done is a personal from the assistant editor. I'm guessing that a response from GVG is not common, and was passed up from the AE.
 

Marzioli

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Awesome! (for a rejection, that is). The best I've ever done is a personal from the assistant editor. I'm guessing that a response from GVG is not common, and was passed up from the AE.
Neat! I hope so. I have a stash of letters from Mr. Mazur and, while I appreciate his patience and time, it's a good change of pace.
 

Eliza C

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56-day form R from Shock T. for a flash piece I was hopeful for. Rats.
 

Brynn

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Aww. Commiserations for sure, Sarah! And to you as well, ElizaC. It always stings when you get your hopes up.

And good for you, Marzioli. And commiserations, also, of course. ;)
 

Marzioli

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Thanks Brynn!

Got my Shock Totem rejection too, a 52-day form. And now that they're closed I got a few months to plan my next attempt.
 
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Raspberry

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Oh dear. I am inching closer... I have an agent, who found a publisher, the editor wanted it, the editor-in-chief wanted it, but then they found the little pea in their lentil soup.
I live in the USA. The publisher does not, and that's a problem. But hey! You knew about this before, we even phoned with each other. They made me fly to their location! Just to tell me that they are afraid I would not be available for readings.
I think this rejection should win the lemon prize. Really!
 

V1c

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wow raspberry, you get the whole entire lemon tree. At least you got a mini vaca out of it! (I hope that was fun)
 

Marzioli

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They made me fly to their location! Just to tell me that they are afraid I would not be available for readings.
I think this rejection should win the lemon prize. Really!
Won't be around for readings? They just don't have an imagination because Skype would solve that right quickly. Very sorry to hear about your news, but remember that a rejection is when they don't want it!
 
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Marzioli

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Another rejection, this time from Shimmer at 23 days. The good part is that they said my writing was strong and engaging, but ultimately the voice wasn't in line with the Shimmer vision. Eh. Can't complain about that. I think ...
 
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Eliza C

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Oh dear. I am inching closer... I have an agent, who found a publisher, the editor wanted it, the editor-in-chief wanted it, but then they found the little pea in their lentil soup.
I live in the USA. The publisher does not, and that's a problem. But hey! You knew about this before, we even phoned with each other. They made me fly to their location! Just to tell me that they are afraid I would not be available for readings.
I think this rejection should win the lemon prize. Really!

Wow. If I had posted this I think I would have had to use the :Shrug: emoticon or the :cry: or the :rant:
Since we don't have a lemon award emoticon, I'll just have to send you this one... :Hug2:
 

Marzioli

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23-day from Clockwork Phoenix. I got one out at 30 days that seems to have passed the slush, but because I've been having problems with my email I'm wondering if he even got it, or if I just never got the response. Both would be sad, but I wonder if I shouldn't query since the deadline is coming up ...
 

sarahthegrey

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I got one out at 30 days that seems to have passed the slush...but I wonder if I shouldn't query since the deadline is coming up ...

I'm in the same boat. Querying gives me the jitters (I could jinx it! EEEP!), but based on his blog posts, he does seem query-friendly.
 

Eliza C

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21-day R from Shimmer. At least the R was a personal from the associate editor with "a lot to like here" and I could tell the story had been read all the way through. In the end, though, still an R.
 

Marzioli

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I'm in the same boat. Querying gives me the jitters (I could jinx it! EEEP!), but based on his blog posts, he does seem query-friendly.
Yeah, he seems like a very friendly guy. It's just that he's so busy tearing through the slush (so that people don't have to wait) I'd feel terrible wasting his time one way or the other.
 

J.W. Alden

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Another for the CWP bonfire, a 22-day personal. He said the style of the piece suits the kind of stories he buys, but ultimately didn't hook him.

This particular story is giving me fits. It's a strange one. Everyone seem to like something about it, as it's racking up personals, but I'm swiftly running out of markets for it.
 

kd1984

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November was my slowest ever month for R's. I got only 8, with 2 A's. I thought things would go wild after thanksgiving but nope.

I would KILL for 2 As. Then again, I only subbed out three stories in Nov. Still waiting to hear on two and one of those was passed up to final round. So hmmmm.... Things aren't as depressing as they seem. And HEY!! Look at you rocking those acceptances!!:)