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Jim Thomsen's avatar

Great message, especially at this time of year. My story is that the last time a short story of mine was rejected, I was the editor who rejected it. I was in the final stages of editing THE KILLING RAIN anthology this time last year, and I had written a long, sorry, overly interior tale that, once I stepped back from it for a bit, I realized was not up to par with the other stories I had accepted. I tried my best to salvage it with a massive rewrite that … made me like it even less. So I pulled the plug on it. And it was the right call. But it hurts.

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M.E. Proctor's avatar

I used to work in advertising. In a direct mail campaign, if you get a 5% response rate, it's a smashing success! I keep that in mind when I look at the rejection vs acceptance ratio. It keeps my head straight. And yes, it's a game, throw stuff against the wall, see what sticks. I placed a story recently (will be published next year) that was rejected by 2 great pubs for radically different reasons, yes they gave me a reason! One said it was too violent—there's children abuse in there, not described, not graphic, but it's at the root of the story. The other mag said it was too warm-hearted, too sweet. I thought, OK, no need to revise, just need to find people who'll get what I'm trying to do. Didn't change a word... a great pub took it. C'est la vie!

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Zak's Campfire Jam's avatar

Diamond Dust is a tense one! O could feel the cold seeping in while reading it, in more ways than one. Nice art with it, too.

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Victor De Anda's avatar

Thanks for reading, Zak!

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Jason Allison | A Second Act's avatar

Oh my god you’re Spider Man.

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Victor De Anda's avatar

Is my Spidey sense tingling?

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