More often than not, when I submit to genre mags I get positive rejections, i.e. a note that’s specific to my story (most commonly “nicely written but not what we’re looking for”) or parts that the editor felt weren’t up to snuff. I’m from the school of thought that personal rejections are nice, but they’re still rejections. And it shows that I’m usually not getting bounced by the slusher dealing out form rejections.

Yet my experience with literary magazines has been just that. Overwhelmingly, I’m getting form rejections with nothing on them and it’s been a bit discouraging. I know that what I’m submitting isn’t amateurishly bad and I guess I wouldn’t mind a little note from time to time letting me know that they could distinguish my submission from the convicts writing in crayon. Granted, the stories that I’m sending them are kind of weird. Not genre enough to really be genre, but with enough general weirdness to not be mainstream either. So maybe as they read they’re just like “WTF?” No way of telling, really, and in the end it doesn’t really matter.

But all that’s changing! Two, count ‘em, two notes written on my most rejection rejections. One read “Thanks, try us again.” The other read “Sorry” with a signature.

Clearly, the breakthrough I’ve been waiting for.

Current Mood: Underwhelmed |