99-day form rejection from One Story.
Rejection, rejection, rejection...
- Thread starter Naomasa298
- Start date
Got a couple more. We're up to 110 now.
A long 185-day form rejection from Short Fiction, a 9-day, somewhat long personal rejection from Beneath Ceaseless Skies (they are good with providing feedback!), and a disappointing message from Quills & Tales advising that they are shutting down for the foreseeable future. It's always sad to see a new magazine fold very early on.
"I want to sincerely thank you for submitting your work to Quills & Tales. It’s been a privilege to read and share in the creativity you’ve brought to the magazine.
Unfortunately, I need to let you know that Quills & Tales will be going on pause for the time being. This means we won’t be able to move forward with your submission. The decision comes down to a mix of personal and financial reasons, and while it wasn’t easy to make, it’s the best step for now.
I deeply appreciate the trust you placed in me by sharing your writing. I plan to return to this project in the future."
A long 185-day form rejection from Short Fiction, a 9-day, somewhat long personal rejection from Beneath Ceaseless Skies (they are good with providing feedback!), and a disappointing message from Quills & Tales advising that they are shutting down for the foreseeable future. It's always sad to see a new magazine fold very early on.
"I want to sincerely thank you for submitting your work to Quills & Tales. It’s been a privilege to read and share in the creativity you’ve brought to the magazine.
Unfortunately, I need to let you know that Quills & Tales will be going on pause for the time being. This means we won’t be able to move forward with your submission. The decision comes down to a mix of personal and financial reasons, and while it wasn’t easy to make, it’s the best step for now.
I deeply appreciate the trust you placed in me by sharing your writing. I plan to return to this project in the future."
I’d withdrawn my submission to Quills & Tales but received the same email, and it’s sad indeed. They’d looked like a promising new market.
3-day form rejection from Asimov's.
I got a 332-day agent rejection for Sex Robot today that made me chuckle. Little bit too late there, agent. Also got a 20-day form letter from 3LBE, and a very odd rejection from a new magazine, Toad Shade. This was for a themed issue.
"We have reviewed the submissions we received for issue 4 of Toad Shade Zine, but based on the numbers of submissions for stories and art, we have made the tough decision not to move forward with this issue."
Does that count as a rejection? On the fence for that, but I made the time to submit, so let's say it is. 115 for the year now.
"We have reviewed the submissions we received for issue 4 of Toad Shade Zine, but based on the numbers of submissions for stories and art, we have made the tough decision not to move forward with this issue."
Does that count as a rejection? On the fence for that, but I made the time to submit, so let's say it is. 115 for the year now.
Hmm, do multi-subs count as one or the number of stories submitted?
Iron Faerie took all five of the drabbles I submitted for the seventh volume of their Hawthorn & Ash anthology series, a small but immensely satisfying achievement. Guess I’ll deal with the contract tomorrow.
Otherwise, I’ve got a 367-day submission to Calliope Interactive that I think it’s about time to write off as a dead letter. The only reason I haven’t withdrawn it already is it’s so niche I don’t have anywhere else to send the story.
Iron Faerie took all five of the drabbles I submitted for the seventh volume of their Hawthorn & Ash anthology series, a small but immensely satisfying achievement. Guess I’ll deal with the contract tomorrow.
Otherwise, I’ve got a 367-day submission to Calliope Interactive that I think it’s about time to write off as a dead letter. The only reason I haven’t withdrawn it already is it’s so niche I don’t have anywhere else to send the story.
8 months waiting on AHMM and still no rejection letter despite 2 email enquiries.
Just remember - don't be discouraged. As you can see from this thread, rejections - dozens of them - are perfectly normal. Don't take them personally. Stories can be rejected for all sorts of reasons - I had one rejection because my title misled the editor into not reading it. Sometimes it can just be because they want a different balance for an issue. Keep at it. And if you get a first time acceptance - celebrate with cake and beer.
I rank responses like this:
0. No response
1. Form Rejection
2. Personal Rejection (rejection with comments from the editor or slush readers)
3. Rejection with rewrite request
4. Acceptance
Their median response time is 350 days on Duotrope, 335 days on Grinder, so you've got a while to wait yet.
Lurking on this post for a while actually helped me build up the resolve to finally submit something.
That’s a good idea! I’ll start a log of where and what I’ve submitted.
Out of interest, may I ask where you submitted to?
Somewhere that is somewhat prestigious and pays well. I figured I'd start with what's at the top of my list and work down from there...
17 day shortlist from Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores for my rewritten submission. Looking promising.
You can check how far they are up to with submissions on their submissions page, from memory. 14 days is probably neutral, I wouldn't start reading anything into it yet.
I've submitted to them twice, and they are usually quite quick. Rejections in 9 days and 6 days. But yes, too early to be reading into things.
EDIT - oh yeah, also, they are cool because they will give you a personalized rejection.
EDIT EDIT - *if they reject your story
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