Rejection, rejection, rejection...

[DoctoreX]

Well in my opinion no-one can beat Mark Twain in this regard, after reading a particullary bad manuscript:
"Agassiz does recommend authors to eat fish, because the phosphorus in it makes brains. But I cannot help you to a decision about the amount you need to eat. Perhaps a couple of whales would be enough.

 

[Cuneiform]

I sometimes wish they would say that. I saw one guy submit to Clarkesworld, and the piece he submitted wouldn't have even made it onto their toilet paper, it was that bad. I doubt it would have made it into anything. I tried to explain that to him, and how far he was off and what he needed to improve, but he wasn't having any of it - he said he'd had a "professional editor" look at it and they'd improved it a lot. It's like - yeah, no. If this is the improved version, then it was utter garbage in the first place.

It's nice to have confidence, hopes and dreams and all that, but there are limits to how far that can bend reality.

I was somewhat thinking the same thing. I think electronic submissions have by and large ended all of that. You're lucky to get a personal response, and so they won't waste their time with a negative one. Nowadays your signal of success is publication, obviously, but also personal rejections. If you are getting none of those after dozens of submissions, you need to improve.
But...we should always be trying to improve anyway

 

[Naomasa298]

You're lucky to get a personal response, and so they won't waste their time with a negative one.

Oh, I got a personal, snarky 1-day rejection once. Then another editor at the same mag shortlisted my very next submission.

 

[Sandor]

I've currently got one story on 3 simultaneous submissions, so I'll either end up with two withdrawals, or more likely, three rejections.

This may not be appropriate for the thread, and if so it might make a good separate thread, but how do people handle "single submission" vs. "simultaneous submission"? I've tried varying it, starting submitting to a bunch of magazines with one piece and taking other pieces and emailing them to pickier non-simultaneous magazine. I don't know what works better though. Ultimately its about the quality of the work but still.

 

[Sandor]

Oh, I got a personal, snarky 1-day rejection once. Then another editor at the same mag shortlisted my very next submission.

We need someone repping Jack Vance. If it's not me it'll be you.

 

[Naomasa298]

We need someone repping Jack Vance. If it's not me it'll be you.

Some of my Vance is in the workshop.

 

[Naomasa298]

This may not be appropriate for the thread, and if so it might make a good separate thread, but how do people handle "single submission" vs. "simultaneous submission"? I've tried varying it, starting submitting to a bunch of magazines with one piece and taking other pieces and emailing them to pickier non-simultaneous magazine. I don't know what works better though. Ultimately its about the quality of the work but still.

I try to have multiple stories in submission at the same time. Most genre mags don't accept simultaneous subs, so it's good to have multiple stories in circulation. If others would prefer, we can ask the mods to split these posts off.

 

[Set2Stun]

I sometimes wish they would say that. I saw one guy submit to Clarkesworld, and the piece he submitted wouldn't have even made it onto their toilet paper, it was that bad. I doubt it would have made it into anything. I tried to explain that to him, and how far he was off and what he needed to improve, but he wasn't having any of it - he said he'd had a "professional editor" look at it and they'd improved it a lot. It's like - yeah, no. If this is the improved version, then it was utter garbage in the first place.

It's nice to have confidence, hopes and dreams and all that, but there are limits to how far that can bend reality.

Wonder if this is a product of self-esteem culture. Sometimes people do need a slap back to reality. To "know thyself" is so, so important. Hope they figure it out and work on their craft more.

 

[Set2Stun]

This may not be appropriate for the thread, and if so it might make a good separate thread, but how do people handle "single submission" vs. "simultaneous submission"? I've tried varying it, starting submitting to a bunch of magazines with one piece and taking other pieces and emailing them to pickier non-simultaneous magazine. I don't know what works better though. Ultimately its about the quality of the work but still.

With the extremely low odds of receiving acceptances, I don't really pay any mind to the whole, "No simultaneous submissions!" thing. You, the publisher, are going to ask me to wait around for 2 months to get your form rejection letter before I can submit it to other markets? Please. My experience so far is that most magazines encourage simultaneous submissions, and just ask that if you are accepted elsewhere to let them know right away.

I'll use my own statistics for an example. Out of ~300 submissions, I have about a 2% acceptance rate. And I consider that a great success. I have had two acceptances where I needed to send withdrawal emails to 5-7 magazines, and I think only two of the dozen or so were "no simultaneous submissions" places. I didn't give a reason for withdrawing and I doubt anyone cared. One of them still sent me a form rejection a few weeks later

 

[Homer Potvin]

With the extremely low odds of receiving acceptances, I don't really pay any mind to the whole, "No simultaneous submissions!" thing. You, the publisher, are going to ask me to wait around for 2 months to get your form rejection letter before I can submit it to other markets? Please. My experience so far is that most magazines encourage simultaneous submissions, and just ask that if you are accepted elsewhere to let them know right away.

I'll use my own statistics for an example. Out of ~300 submissions, I have about a 2% acceptance rate. And I consider that a great success. I have had two acceptances where I needed to send withdrawal emails to 5-7 magazines, and I think only two of the dozen or so were "no simultaneous submissions" places. I didn't give a reason for withdrawing and I doubt anyone cared. One of them still sent me a form rejection a few weeks later

Yeah, I'm with you. The few agents and editors I've talked to personally over the years all say flood the market.

 

[Set2Stun]

Yeah 100%. There's no telling which editor will love your story, for whatever reason. After 13 rejections from "lesser" publications, fucking Nature Magazine accepted my story, the best writing payday I've ever had.

 

[Naomasa298]

Yeah 100%. There's no telling which editor will love your story, for whatever reason. After 13 rejections from "lesser" publications, fucking Nature Magazine accepted my story, the best writing payday I've ever had.

Hah, yeah. I had originally submitted my story to a $0.01/word venue (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly), then withdrew it after 82 days to submit it to a $0.08/word venue instead. Also previously sent it to a couple of token payment places before I decided it was better than that.

 

[Set2Stun]

Got a few more, which will happen when you send out plenty of subs.

An unusual indie pub rejection from a submission made in freakin January, 9-day form from Horrific Scribes, 10-day from Inner Worlds, and a 73-day from Bog Matter.

We're up to 127 rejections for the year. I should be able to hit 150 at this rate.

 

[DoctoreX]

I am still waiting for rejection from BCS before I can join you with another one (30 days by now). So I will join you once I receive it.

And regarding the book manuscript:

I received an email from a Czech publishing house saying that my book manuscript has passed the first round of reading and has been moved forward, so we’ll see. But I expect to hear back from them sometime towards the end of the year - still it might be rejected.

 

[DoctoreX]

So - today, after 30 days finally rejection from BCS. But I got a small note directly from Scott which is nice.

 

[Naomasa298]

So - today, after 30 days finally rejection from BCS. But I got a small note directly from Scott which is nice.

I'd say that's pretty good - BCS almost always sends personal rejections, but you made it past the slush reader.

 

[Set2Stun]

Got a quick agent rejection this week, along with a form rejection from an indie press I'd queried back in June.

Up to 129 rejections for the year.

 

[Cuneiform]

With the extremely low odds of receiving acceptances, I don't really pay any mind to the whole, "No simultaneous submissions!" thing. You, the publisher, are going to ask me to wait around for 2 months to get your form rejection letter before I can submit it to other markets? Please. My experience so far is that most magazines encourage simultaneous submissions, and just ask that if you are accepted elsewhere to let them know right away.

I'll use my own statistics for an example. Out of ~300 submissions, I have about a 2% acceptance rate. And I consider that a great success. I have had two acceptances where I needed to send withdrawal emails to 5-7 magazines, and I think only two of the dozen or so were "no simultaneous submissions" places. I didn't give a reason for withdrawing and I doubt anyone cared. One of them still sent me a form rejection a few weeks later

I've been thinking about starting to do this as well for all the reasons you site. I had a few questions for you if you don't mind answering:

Do you mostly submit to speculative fiction?
How many submissions do you usually send out for a particular story?
How many rejections does it typically take for one story to get published?
Last...when do you decide to shelve a story you've been sending out?

 

[Set2Stun]

I've been thinking about starting to do this as well for all the reasons you site. I had a few questions for you if you don't mind answering:

Do you mostly submit to speculative fiction?
How many submissions do you usually send out for a particular story?
How many rejections does it typically take for one story to get published?
Last...when do you decide to shelve a story you've been sending out?

Sure thing.
Yes, I mostly submit sci-fi and spec-fic, though I've been doing some more horror recently.
How many submissions depends on the story and the market. It can vary quite a bit.
My top three publications were rejected 12, 10, and 10 times before being accepted. The most I received before an acceptance was 30.
If I really believe in a story, I will submit it to every magazine that might take it. Right now there's a story I really like that has been rejected 24 times (shortlisted once). Really hoping it will find a home. I don't typically shelve a story after X number of submissions. More commonly I'll realize that I've outgrown a story. I'm a better writer than I was when I wrote this or that story 1-3 years ago and it just doesn't stand up to the stories I am producing now.

 

[Cuneiform]

Sure thing.
Yes, I mostly submit sci-fi and spec-fic, though I've been doing some more horror recently.
How many submissions depends on the story and the market. It can vary quite a bit.
My top three publications were rejected 12, 10, and 10 times before being accepted. The most I received before an acceptance was 30.
If I really believe in a story, I will submit it to every magazine that might take it. Right now there's a story I really like that has been rejected 24 times (shortlisted once). Really hoping it will find a home. I don't typically shelve a story after X number of submissions. More commonly I'll realize that I've outgrown a story. I'm a better writer than I was when I wrote this or that story 1-3 years ago and it just doesn't stand up to the stories I am producing now.

Thanks for the response. I use submission grinder, and I know there is Duotrope. But still--how are you finding all those sci-fi mags to submit to?! After about ten to twelve rejections, I'm struggling to find places.