Thursday, March 3, 2011

The rejection of the week

Well, more of the semester, I suppose. =)

I dropped by my room today in middle of the day when I should have been in one of my lectures, having judiciously determined that a little food and rest were more beneficial to my health than sixty minutes in a lecture about the American Government. (You've all done something like that at least once, right??)

And you see I was punished for this, because when I checked my mailbox, sitting coyly in the middle was the SASE I'd sent along with three poems to a magazine at the end of last year. I tore it open as I waited for the elevator, but I guess I sort of knew what was inside; I hadn't received an email from them or anything, and really it's been so long that I'd almost thought that my submission must have gotten lost in the mail.

But no, it was your standard rejection letter: "However, at this time, we are unable to publish your work."

And while it hurts, of course it does, it's not my first and it will not be my last. It was also my first poetry submission - I'd only started writing it last fall - so I'll be taking this one in stride.


Ironically, when I arrived at work after that (you see I'm not only thoughtful of my physical needs, I'm also diligent when I need to be!), I was told by my editor that I would have to send a similar "Really do love the work, but not for us right now" letter - to someone I'd met, no less.


So today was a two-sided coin, to say the least. I reacted mostly by baking - and wouldn't you know it, I made the best sesame rolls I've ever made so far. If anyone wants to talk to me, I'll be over there humming "That's What Makes the World Go Round" from Disney's Sword in the Stone.



14 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear it! It's never fun to have that letter in the post. And not fun to be delivering the letter either!!! Sounds like you need chocolate!

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  2. I hate wen they send you a rejection long after you've forgotten about. I always think in the long run no response is better than a form rejection. Then after a while I can forget about it without all the angst.

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  3. Congratulations, jys. It means you're working as a professional writer and getting your stuff out there. Ain't I the annoying little Pollyanna?

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  4. Sorry to hear about the rejection. Keep going - you'll get there!

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  5. Hi Pensheep

    I had a rejection from Asimovs yesterday. Sending it off to Andromeda Spaceways inflight magazine tomorrow! I'm still waiting to hear from firstwriter.com about my poem. Rejections are never pleasant, but when you get an acceptance on a story that had previously been rejected you realise that it wasn't your story / poem all along! Milo (at Wri1Sub1) mentioned he has an acceptance after 33 rejections!

    Now then, you are invited to a "dinner party" for Crusader Group 14 over at my blog.

    Writes of Passage

    Come and join in!

    Dom

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  6. I remember a rejection I got from an agent who is represents a novel series that is really, really similar to the work I'm producing. So, when the letter said, "Your book is not to our taste" or something like that, I knew they didn't even read my submission.

    You need one hell of a thick skin for this business.

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  7. To and fro, stop and go, that's what makes the world go round...

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  8. Rejections stink, but you can't get accepted if you don't try! Don't give up!

    Also I gave you a Stylish Blogger Award. XD

    http://sullyscribbles.blogspot.com/2011/03/fifteen-blogs-im-passing-award-onto.html

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  9. I got a 'rejection' too, this week. I didn't win a writing contest and got my SASE with my MS in it. I didn't feel bad. It was only the beginning and I know I should be ready for it. Keep writing! :)

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  10. There's a lovely blog award waiting to cheer you up, jys.

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  11. Even though it's no consolation at the time, the best authors have all had plenty of rejection letters in their time, so you're in with good company. Keep up the enthusiasm :-)

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  12. Thanks for the comments, everyone!! I truly appreciate each and every one of them. Whatever vestiges of "darn it" that may have been left in me have disappeared completely. =) Happy writing!

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  13. I'm passing the Stylish Blogger Award your way. You can check out the details here.

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  14. Ugh, those form rejections...I guess you really do have to get a good batch before the success starts coming, right? Great video :)

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

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