So close...
A disappointing rejection this morning. Well, an encouraging one in some senses--the story nearly made it in, and the email response included some of the back and forth of the editors/slush readers or whatever they were. The first of those was full of incredibly high praise. S/he absolutely loved it and compared it (in one aspect at least) very favorably with some big name novel writers. Which is interesting, as it's a flash piece... The second was more ambivalent, though s/he appreciated it, and the third seemed to actively dislike it.
So...it's thrilling to see those kind words about it, and the editor too said that he's sure it will be published soon somewhere. This is the second time with this market that I've had a near miss where one or more readers seemed strongly in favor, but that wasn't enough to get it in. So where's the market that has that type of reader as the decision-maker instead of just part of a committee? (Well, for all I know the one who liked the earlier story was the one who disliked this...or maybe they have different readers all the time.) And two (out of three so far) subs to this market making it that far is a pretty good sign that I should keep trying to break in to it.
This is a story I definitely believe in, so I'm going to keep trying with other top-tier markets for now (this was the first market I'd sent it to). At 800 words, it would be surprising if got anything more than "thanks, but not for our publication" from many of the places that would otherwise be my first choice. But it'll be going back out as soon as I decide where...
A disappointing rejection this morning. Well, an encouraging one in some senses--the story nearly made it in, and the email response included some of the back and forth of the editors/slush readers or whatever they were. The first of those was full of incredibly high praise. S/he absolutely loved it and compared it (in one aspect at least) very favorably with some big name novel writers. Which is interesting, as it's a flash piece... The second was more ambivalent, though s/he appreciated it, and the third seemed to actively dislike it.
So...it's thrilling to see those kind words about it, and the editor too said that he's sure it will be published soon somewhere. This is the second time with this market that I've had a near miss where one or more readers seemed strongly in favor, but that wasn't enough to get it in. So where's the market that has that type of reader as the decision-maker instead of just part of a committee? (Well, for all I know the one who liked the earlier story was the one who disliked this...or maybe they have different readers all the time.) And two (out of three so far) subs to this market making it that far is a pretty good sign that I should keep trying to break in to it.
This is a story I definitely believe in, so I'm going to keep trying with other top-tier markets for now (this was the first market I'd sent it to). At 800 words, it would be surprising if got anything more than "thanks, but not for our publication" from many of the places that would otherwise be my first choice. But it'll be going back out as soon as I decide where...
Comments
I see the advantages for publications that use the committee approach to story selection, but it is certainly frustrating for the writer when, if it were up to just that one person, they totally would have bought your story.
Here's hoping the story finds a good home soon!