Comments on: Rejection Letter Stories #4: Editors make mistakes too…(of course!)

By: small press fair reading 27th – Pesbo

small press fair reading 27th – Pesbo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:10:42 +0000

[...] Gordon who writes and publishes in [...]

By: alex

alex — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:29:23 +0000

Yes! I love this post! I’ve had this conversation so, so many times with writers who also submit short stories to (mostly Canadian) journals. I think it’s important also to point out the financial/business side of this: a journal will publish a writer who will give them “name recognition” (a term I acquired while working at a book festival, haha) in hopes of greater sales and/or recognition. I’ve had several stories published after rejections, revisions, etc, and I don’t want to throw down a macho platitude like “roll with the punches,” but it can be worthwhile to embrace the arbitrary nature of things. Then again, I do understand why people write those “moron” letters — anything done in isolation for a long enough period will drive anyone crazy; I’ve spoken to a lot of people who *hate* journals and *hate* the selection process and now think it’s just an expression of frustration, disillusionment and the self-isolation that writing can easily bring.

By: Kerry Clare

Kerry Clare — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:20:54 +0000

I love the idea of TNQ being a “rag”. Can you imagine how wonderful magazines in general would have to be for this to be the case?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:08:36 +0000

The fact is, a lot of great work gets turned down, because there’s only so much we can accept.
I have to wonder about the people who write those “morons” letters. We had one of those, in which the fellow referred to TNQ as a “rag.” So why did he bother sending a submission? It shouldn’t need saying, but writing insulting letters should be #1 on the “things not to do while trying to get published” list. Sometimes when our editors (at least on the poetry side) don’t feel that something is a good fit for TNQ, they can suggest a mag that they think will be a better fit. Writing childish, unprofessional letters every time you get a rejection isn’t going to do anything but get you blacklisted all over the place.

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:18:07 +0000

I quite agree. We do the best we can in this job, and we select the stories we believe will appeal to our readers, regardless of the author’s credentials. Rejection letters are difficult to write because we don’t just use a form letter. Some authors take rejection personally (one wrote back and called us a bunch of “morons”) while others thank us for our honest appraisal of their work. Some sell the same story to another magazine. We do the best we can.