My Thick Skin is Starting to Feel Thin
Nice, but apparently form, rejection from Abyss & Apex:
Thank you for submitting “Elsie And The Wild Boys” to ABYSS & APEX. It was well received here, but after some thought we have decided not to accept it for publication.
I hope you’ll consider us again, and I wish you the best success in placing this story elsewhere.
Onward.
In other publishing news, a magazine that had about a dozen of my poems for over six months just folded. Another never responded for over a year, including to a direct query on the status of my poems. Aside from speculative journals, I’ve received nothing but form rejections for my poetry for about two years now, if anything. A few theses on that:
- This is because I made the choice to submit to more challenging markets, and my work just isn’t up to snuff.
- My work from the MFA program is overedited, soulless, or just plain sucks. Having read slush, I know it’s not exactly the dregs of the slush pile. But maybe it is, and I just don’t see it.
- I don’t network enough.
- People google me and think my blog is too snarky/ridiculous/whatever.
- I’m just a terrible poet.
- Who knows?
Whatever the reason, I’m feeling increasingly reluctant about my realist poetry, and the literary world generally. Even the form rejections from the speculative fiction/poetry side of things are nicer. Does nice matter? Maybe it shouldn’t. But it sure as heck makes me feel more motivated about submitting.
Phoebe
Phoebe is a 20-something writer who lives in New York State with her husband and cat. She is a dork, not a geek or a nerd.
Her debut novel, Starglass, will be released from Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers in Summer 2013.
6 comments
Chin up! Nice forms are better than mean forms, and it takes time for everyone.
I hate the probs you describe w/ queries, etc. One lit'ry writer I spoke with a couple months ago said she only ever sends simultaneous submissions with her work (where guidelines explicitly permit it, of course) — primarily for the reasons you mention here.Your poetry doesn't suck, and it flies in an entirely different part of the cabin than the slush dregs. There are soooooo many reasons why things don't get accepted, and competition for those higher-profile venues is indeed stiff.Good luck!
Thanks John! Just to clarify, I feel pretty good about the nice form from A&A, and have faith that, with persistence, some of my fiction will see the light of day. I do try to remind myself that editors have different reasons for rejecting, often having nothing to do with quality–but it's still frustrating! It's a very invisible feeling, and I start to wonder if I should submit to less competitive markets to get my poetry to see the light of day, but then wonder how much that achieves anyway, when in the end you're reaching such a small readerships.No easy answers. But I'll take your advice and angle that chin firmly upwards!
I've been meaning to email you for weeks–I loved Convocation. We should get together soon and discuss
Other than these recent rejections, hope your new year has been good!
Michele, yes, definitely let's get together (and not just because you read my MS, but . . . squee! I'm excited to talk to you about that!) What's your schedule look like–are you free for lunch any time this week? I have plans with my coworkers on Thursday but am free otherwise.And so sorry I didn't reply to your text on New Years. I was in a tipsy stupor. Hope 20x has been treating you well, too!
Got a chance to hear the editor of A&A speak at the World Fantasy Convention last year, and she said specifically that they have different tiers of form letters, from the "we're just being polite, but what IS this???" to the "we really enjoyed, please send us more." This is definitely one of the better ones.
Phoebe,My 2010 New Years Resolution is to get some rejection letters myself. This is not meant to be a self-scathing goal, but to push myself to SUBMIT. I look up to you and my friend Allison who SEND QUERY LETTERS and SUBMIT your work. It's a combination of lazy (not working hard enough to find good places to submit short stories) and fear (if you don't submit, you can't get rejected- you also can't get published).So I applaud you, Phoebe. Cheers!~Sarah