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Apr. 12, 2006 Many great and famous and best selling writers have often said that they could plaster walls with their rejection slips and some have literally done just that. I've only been submitting work for publication for three years and have collected my share. There are several levels of rejection. There's the form rejection card that states, "due to the number of submissions, we do not have time to personally respond." This always makes me wonder, if they read it or partially read it and found a flimsy excuse to file it in the waste basket in order to lighten their workload. However, I understand the reasoning behind form rejections. Many big time agents and editors really are too busy to comment. The next level of rejection annoys me. It's the rejection form card with generalized reasons why my story may not have been picked. The list usually includes poor grammar, unoriginal, not right for the magazine, not the proper length, etc. I'd much prefer the form card that said nothing rather than be lumped in with criticisms that don't apply to me. A few weeks ago I received such a card from Cemetery Dance Magazine, and I found it irksome. They only accept about 1% of story submissions, so I can understand why mine was rejected, but to lump it with the above criticisms is uncalled for. Please, ditch this kind of letter and start using a plain form card rejection. The third level of rejection is when some editor quickly writes some stupid unimportant comment, frequently revealing that they didn't really read or understand the story. I got this from an underling (not Gordon Van Elder) at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He wrote, "it didn't hold my interest." When I write a story, I usually have a theme in mind that is deeply important to me. Then to have it dismissed with such a careless comment only makes me think that that editor is an idiot. Above this are the helpful rejections. I once submitted a story to the science fiction editor of New Genre Magazine and confessed in the cover letter in a jokingly self-disparaging way how I was a nobody who'd never been published. The editor informed me that a cover letter should be strictly business and he even gave me a sample business letter. The editor of Weird Tales also gave me some helpful advice. While he wrote that my story was perfectly publishable, they were overstocked and didn't need it. But he suggested I have mercy on editor's eyes and use a bigger font which I have ever since. Some times an editor's helpful advice in maybe not so good. It took Twilight Times Publications ten months to give me an answer on a manuscript she agreed to look at. By that time, I had given up and decided to dismantle it and sell parts of it as short stories. When she finally responded, she gave me a list of some alternative publishers, and one was an expensive vanity press that demanded the rights to the author's next three books. Hooo bad advice! Although I don't like rejection, the highest level are the ones that compliment the work. Glimmer Train turned down a submission of mine once but said, "it was a good read." That makes rejection a little easier to take. My rejection article has a happy ending. I just sold my first short story to Nocturnal Ooze Magazine for one-half cent per word. It's a bimonthly online magazine on a free site with no pop up advertising. This is the link. www.nocturnalooze.com I'm proud that they even kind of featured it, placing it under a special heading and next to a flashing skull. The story is entitled, "Fred Fornier: The Professional Reviver," and it's about a guy who has the worst job on earth. If you have the time, check out the site, and tell me what you think of my story. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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