Rejection 14: "Under the Hood of Winter"

It's been a while since I posted a rejection, sadly not because I haven't been rejected, but because the majority of rejections sent out are generic and not personalized to the author.  That makes for boring reading for you, and for me if I'm being honest.

However, I recently received a rejection for a story I was positive would make it, and after not hearing back from the editor when I was expecting to I allowed myself to get my hopes up that it may actually make it.  Then I got the following email;

Dear Alex, 

Thank you for sending "Under the Hood of Winter" for consideration in the M*** H***  anthology. I appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, the piece did not make the final cut. 

Again, I do thank you for submitting to E***, and I hope to read more from you for future anthologies! 

Sincerely, 
M*** B***
E*** P*** 

So it was a generic format rejection, that's fine, I've dealt with it before its just a part of being an author.  But below that form rejection, the editor added the following little bit;

*** Hi Alex, Hood was a tough choice to decline and I thought you'd like to know that it made it all of the way to the last step! I'll be reading Liquid Marble and Old Habits in the coming weeks and get back to you. Thanks! M***

There it is, that personal touch that makes rejections not only more bearable, but also informative.  he let me know that not only that he actually did like the story, but that it had a shot at actually being published in the antho.  I currently have the two other stories with him, that he mentioned, and it makes me a little more confident that they'll find homes with his company. So here's to the next, and remember to keep reading.

Rejection 13: "Skullkickers"

The below rejection is for a writing contest for a comic.  I'm an avid comic reader spending way too much money and time on them, but I hope to one day write comics as well as the prose being published now.  With that said, I had never read this particular comic, "Skullkickers", prior to hearing about the contest.  I knew enough about it to come up with a pitch and entry, but decided to read some of the previous issues to see what I was actually submitting for.  Turned out my submission was right in line with what the comic was doing, at least in my opinion, and I had come up with several other ideas for submissions (the contest was open for multiple submissions, I sent in 6 essentially making this six rejections in one).



I wanted to get in contact with you about your Skullkickers Tavern Tales Contest Entry. Although it didn't win, I wanted to let you know that I appreciate you taking the time to enter the contest.

With over 250 writing pitches for short stories, it was excruciatingly difficult picking a winner. With so much competition, way more than we expected, it was tough to choose.

Thanks so much for submitting your story idea. I wish you good luck with your own creative projects.

Thanks also for your enthusiasm for Skullkickers. That kind of fan support means a lot to creator-owned comic titles like ours.

All the best,
Jim




I find this interesting because while it seems like a personalized rejection just for me, I know that can't be the case.  There's no greeting whatsoever, it actually had started with my submission email, and he even states he received over 250 submissions, I could never image a working comic author to reply to 250 different submissions.  Additionally, he didn't even mention all the other submissions I sent in, if he were speaking to me, he shouldn't have been using the singular.  All in all, I'm not that big of a fan of what I read of the comic, but I'll definitely be picking up the issue the contest was for; I've got to see how much better my story would have been.

Rejection 12: The Statue Garden

It's been a while since I've posted a rejection letter, and I don't want to mislead anyone. Despite my recent string of successes, I still get rejections letters.  Below you'll find a recent rejection I received for a story I know is good.

Hello Alex,
Thank you so much for the submission, and I apologise for the delay in my response.
While I liked your story very much and enjoyed reading it; I do feel that it isn't really a suitable fit for this anthology.
If you have a story that you think would be a better fit, please feel free to send it along.
I am looking for stories to do with planting either ideas or horticulture and watching the ideas or produce flourish into your worst nightmare.
Thanks
L

What I find interesting about this one is that I thought it may be rejected for a completely different reason.  In the story the main character as an adult recollects a nightmare she had at the age of 5.  In the dream her adult self is raped by a creature/man.  I was worried that although it was only a dream, and I made it clear it was her future adult body, the editor/publisher would have an issue with a 5 year old having a nightmare of being raped.  As you can tell from my next post, I was wrong.

Rejection 11: Remember Me

The following is a rejection I received recently.  Aside from the typical lack of details, this rejection bothers me because I really thought the story is what the editor was looking for, but clearly not.

Dear Alex Azar,


Thank you for sending us "Remember Me". We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, the piece is not for us.

Thanks again. Best of luck with this.

Sincerely,

S**** M*K*****
PHP

Notice the plug and play rejection.  I understand these editors have many stories to cycle through, but a little personalization would be appreciated.  In any case, look forward to reading this story on the blog in the coming days.

Rejection 10: Breaking From The Pack

Dear Alex,


Thank you for your submission and I apologize for the delay in my response. After careful consideration, I have decided to pass on "Breaking from the Pack." I liked the concept behind the story, but I had trouble connecting with your protagonist, the detective.

Sincerely,
J****

What I find interesting about this rejection is that Breaking from the Pack is a first person story and I find it very hard to have "trouble connecting" with the main character, especially since I feel this particular story has many personal moments for the detective/  He discusses his dead wife and daughter, and how their deaths affected his outlook on the Christmas season.  Regardless, of the editor's reasons for rejecting the story, I feel that this particular publishing company, just does not like my writing.  I've submitted many things to them, some of which have later been accepted for publication, so I'll continue to hold the stance that this particular publisher just doesn't like me.  On a brighter note, this particular story should see the ink of page very soon! More to come...

Rejection #9: Kicking @$$ so you don't have to

Here's a rejection letter I received over the weekend that I found particularly funny.  Typically rejections don't say much in terms of a reason, but this editor gave specific details and numbers.

Hello Alex,



Thanks for submitting to Local Heroes. Unfortunately I am going to pass on "Kicking @$$ So You Don't Have T" as it not quite what I'm looking for. Also, 74 utterances of the word 'shit' and at least 7 utterances of the word 'fag' and its varitions was also not an endearing quality.


Thanks again for makng the effor and taking the time to submit to LH.


-BLR

Now in my defense, the story was written when I was in high school, and in my re-edit before submitting it, I cut out a lot of cursing, including over 42 utterances of the 'f-bomb'.  I find it somewhat telling that he calls me on the use of the word 'fag' but had no problem of me saying/writing a four letter Hispanic racial slur. 

I'm joking about this being a tell, but I do actually agree with him.  Had I written this story now, the language would have been toned down, and the dialogue done with much more maturity.  I still like the premise, and will most likely rework the piece and resubmit if time permits.

Rejection 8: Little Changes (again)

There's something about rejection letters that don't bother to say my name or mention the name of the story I sent that really pisses me off.  I've said it before, I'm okay with rejections, but have the common decency to show that you know who you're even emailing.  The unprofessionalism of this rejection letter, gives me pause when considering to submit with them again.


Thank you for your recent submission to WEP's Once Bitten, Never Die. Unfortunately, we have decided to pass on your story. This is not reflective of the quality of your writing, we just didn't feel it was a good fit for this anthology.

 We hope you will continue to submit your work to WEP, and wish you the best of luck in all of your writing endeavors.


Sincerely,


JAW, WEP\
 
You wouldn't know it from reading that but this is for the story Little Changes, and as you may recall, I acknowledge this isn't my best writing, but I believed it fit nicely with what the anthology was asking for. Seemingly unable to find a home for this story, I'll be posting it up on the blog shortly, judge for yourselves.

Rejection #7: Full Circle

Hi Alex,

Thanks again for your submission. Unfortunately we are unable to use the story in Damnation and Dames.

Regards,
L** and A*****


This rejection is for the same story that was in rejection #6, however they weren't as encouraging as the last.  I understand that editors have to read hundreds of stories for these anthologies, but I'd appreciate a little something to show that they actually read it, or better yet why they were "unable to use the story". Although this story's been rejected twice now, I have hopes for this year, stay tuned for exciting news for me and azarrising.blogspot.com

Rejection #6: Full Circle

I felt it only fitting that following my post of announcing that I will be published that I post another rejection letter. I wish I had a rejection for the story that was accepted as a show that persistence pays off, but it was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to.

So instead I present a different story rejected.  Like most of the rejection letters I've received they were encouraging in their dismissal, so it's not a complete shut out.

Dear Author,

Thank you for your submission to Fallen: An Anthology of Demonic Horror. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly what we were looking for at this time, so we are going to have to take a pass on it. This is in no way a rejection of your story based on quality; it simply means that our anthology is moving in another direction.

Best of luck,

** *****

N***** F****** P********

Like I said, they weren't completely dismissal of the story, but having reread it I wonder if this wasn't a generic rejection they send to all authors.  If you notice, they don't mention my name, nor the name of the story that was submitted.  They do say the name of the anthology, but it is much easier to copy and paste the book name, than the author and story title.  But I will give them the benefit of the doubt because one of my good friends is being published within the anthology, so it's safe to assume they know what they're talking about..

Next time I'll get them, have a good one

Rejection #5: Little Changes

Hi Alex,

Thank you for sending us your story, but unfortunately it isn't right for this anthology. Best of luck with it elsewhere.


*****


This rejection letter was so short it felt very impersonal and cold.  And while she doesn't outright say it, it makes me feel like she hated this story. I can admit it's not my best writing (I was rushed on the deadline after my previous attempt went far beyond the word limit), but I feel it deserves a little more tact.  She doesn't bother saying whether she liked it or not, just that it wasn't right for the anthology, but can't spare the few key strokes to explain why it didn't fit.  I'm typically not a very bitter person, but I'd expect a little more professional courtesy from a publisher/editor. 


I've decided while writing this, that I will post the story here next week, to see what you think.

Rejection #4

This rejection was a little surprising.  I was pretty positive that it was exactly what the editors were looking for but alas I was wrong.  I think part of the buildup for me was that I hadn't received the rejection when they had announced all rejections were sent.  In my mind I believed that meant it was accepted, I just hadn't been notified yet so I inquired, and...

Alex Azar,

Thank you for querying. We did read your story, not sure why the response
didn’t reach you. It pasted below, and sorry for the delay:
Thank you for your giving us the opportunity to read Hypothermia. Sadly,
we regret to inform you that we are declining acceptance at this time.
This was an interesting story, but it just didn’t make the final cut for
Seasons in the Abyss. Thank you again for sharing your work with us and we
wish you the best of luck placing this story in another market.
We do our best to reply in a timely manner so please report our response
time at Duotrope’s Digest http://www.duotrope.com.
Sincerely,
****** ***** & the ***** ***** Staff


I find it odd that even though I hadn't received the response when I was supposed to, they would ask me to 'report their response time.'  This was the same publisher that had rejected No Lights in my Rejection Letter #2, and I'll admit they rejected that pretty quick (I still think it's because they knew I lied haha)


I want to tell you more about this story, Hypothermia, but it is actually the story for 'h' in my Alphabet Project so I'll save it for then.

Rejection #3

Dear Mr. Azar:

Thank you for your interest in publication with Drollerie Press. Unfortunately, LIQUID MARBLE is not quite right for us at this time. We wish you every success in finding a home for it. That said, I really enjoyed certain aspects of your voice and hope you will submit to us again.

Sincerely,

***** ******

Senior Editor,

Vice President of Communications

Liquid Marble is the first story I wrote for a series of paranormal detective stories about a character I have. I'm very happy with the development of the series, and plan on putting together anywhere between 12-15 stories about this one character into a single book. This series has been my focus for the past bit, and while I'm disappointed that it was rejected, but am glad of the encouraging words. I currently have another of the detective stories submitted to the same publisher, lets hope that it doesn't join this list of rejections.

Rejection Letter #2

The first letter I posted was the first rejection I received, but moving forward, I'll be posting them in no particular order. Frankly, I can't recall what order they came in.


Alex Azar,

Thank you for your giving us the opportunity to read No Lights. Sadly, we regret to inform you that we are declining acceptance at this time. The idea was very interesting and we could see the inspiration from the Slaves on Dope song, but overall we felt the story itself wasn’t quite the right fit for Rock is Dead. Thank you again and we wish you the best of luck placing this story in another market. We do our best to reply in a timely manner so please report our response time at Duotrope’s Digest http://www.duotrope.com.
****** & ******


This story was doomed to be rejected for this particular anthology from the moment I submitted it.  The anthology was calling for dark/horror stories that were inspired by music.  And while I still feel the story fits the theme of the anthology, it was not inspired by any song in particular.  I had to google random themes from the story and find a song that could fit.  I found a song called Kafka Bug by Slaves on Dope, a song I never heard of before, and not really the type of song I like, but again it fit.  I don't know if the editors were able to tell that I put that together last minute, or if they actually felt that the story wasn't quite right.


In any case, I still like the story and currently have it out for a different submission.  If it doesn't make it, I'll post it here.

First Rejection Letter

This rejection is by far the one that stands out most in my mind, and not just because it was the first rejection letter I received. It reads as follows;

Dear Mr. Azar,

Thank you for sending us an inquiry letter. While we admire your dedication to the craft, we must pass at this time. We wish you the best in your future endeavors and encourage you to submit again as you continue to refine your work.

Due to the heavy volume of submissions we receive, please wait at least six months before resubmitting, and as per our new guidelines, please direct all future submissions to the Writer-Recruiter.

Best,

************

Writer-Recruiter

The reason this letter stands out so much to me is because they never mention what piece of work I sent them an inquiry letter for, and there was no return address on the envelope. The zip code is even cut off in the postage so all I can tell is that it was sent from somewhere in New York.

Too curious about it to pass it up, I googled the name of the 'writer-recruiter' and the only definitive match I was able to find was a guy on Yahoo Answers asking who she was. He states he received a letter exactly as the one I did.

It's a mystery that has yet to be solved, and perhaps I will submit something to them again, but I won't even know it.