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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Thanks for reading, Zak!
Oh my god you’re Spider Man.
Is my Spidey sense tingling?