Help me drown my sorrows!

[Rosie Cotton]

Just got a letter back from a Writer's magazine...REJECTED! :bawling::bawling::bawling:

Of course, the good news, I got a personalized letter back from the editor, and she said that she liked my writing and that it was certainly acceptable, the story just didn't fit any of their current themes for any issues.

Still, I'm disappointed.

On to the next publisher! Hope to have the manuscript sent out to a different publisher by Saturday. I'll just have to keep plugging away.

[MissJaneEyre19]

:( i'm sorry. that's a good sign, though, that you got that letter from the editor! keep working hard, i'm sure you'll get published soon. keep your chin up! :D

[RobinHood3000]

Look at the bright side--a non-form letter suggests that you have potential (that, or the editor was bored).

Well, did you feel the piece fit the magazine's themes?

[holdencaulfield]

never mind pal!i am sure if the editor didnt like your work it would get published.modern literature is absurd.modern publishing is absurder.what was your work about anyway?

[Rosie Cotton]

It is about a bully girl in a the 1800s. I thought it fit their magazine description, but she said that they were looking for springy/summery stories right now, and there's nothing seasonal about this one.

[toddhill]

I just bought a book by Jane Yolen called Take joy. I read this yesterday and thought it might encourage you:

“...the real secret of reading rejection letters. You must truly, deeply, viscerally believe that the editor is rejecting the book, not rejecting you...Rejection in publishing is not personal. It’s just business. The editor (misguided, stupid, thick, venal, unlettered, in the throes of personal problems, a company stooge–pick your favorite paranoiac reason) has said no to the story, not to you. It’s just business...Of course, at the moment you receive a rejection letter it feels personal...But trust me–it is just business.

So take a hot shower. Shout at the dog. Tear the letter (as I did recently) into tiny bits at the post office. Then take a deep breath–and laugh at yourself. After all, nobody has died. All that has happened is that a story, a poem, an essay, a book has been turned down. By one editor.

Remember, I had 113 rejection letters before my first poem was taken. Madeleine L’Engle’s Newberry Medal-winning novel A Wrinkle in Time was turned down by the first twenty-nine publishers who read it. Dr. Seuss’s To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was rejected by even more.

Publishing is not an exact science, but it is a matter of taste, of timing, of luck. And you will forget the hurt of all those rejection letters when the first acceptance letter arrives.”

So, your moment will come and this will be forgotten. I wish you the best. Todd

[Rosie Cotton]

Yes, I'm trying to remember that the editor has nothing against me. She doesn't even know me except by my writing. So, to the next editor. But that doesn't stop disappointment. I luckily had read a lot on publishing, and realized that this is the first publisher, and I shouldn't have my heart set on the publisher just throwing back her head and saying, "I MUST PUBLISH THIS!"

Editors usually include a reason at least, and it's very comforting to know that her reasons weren't against my writing, merely that it didn't fit with any of their current themes. Even though rejection letters are usually not very personal, it's a myth that they're mass-produced. Rejection letters will almost always have a reason that the work has been rejected, though the letters are particularly personal all the same.

[rachel]

Rosie,
did you know that the writers of the Chicken Soup series which sells millions of millions of copies were rejected by so many editors they all but gave up. And look at them now.That is one person's opinion. So what? Keep on and you will succeed. I feel sure of it.
Hullo Todd and how are you , still scaling the wall of your penthouse?

[amanda_isabel]

rosie,
don't worry about your work being rejected. that's part of a writer's life... but hey, there's more than one publisher in the world. keep trying girl!

[rachel]

hullo sweet Amanda. I think about you often, hope you are fine and bless you with every good thing, both of you I bless, no all of you on this thread.

[amanda_isabel]

a sweet hello to you too, my dear rachel. i think about you often as well and have added you and everyone else in this forum to those i constantly pray for.