Today I got my first rejection letter for “Jenny Kissed Me”, a short story I wrote a billion years ago and just recently threw into the shark infested waters of the publishing world.  I completely expected to get a rejection letter, probably a dozen (or two hundred) before someone accepted her out of pity, but it still stung.  Not as much as the piping hot butternut squash that burned the top of my mouth earlier, but I’ll probably eat an extra large bowl of ice cream later to make myself feel better.

Who rejected me?  Echo Ink Review did, and this is what they had to say:

Rejection Letter #1 – Echo Ink Review

Dear Gabrielle Olexa,

Thank you for your interest in Echo Ink Review.

We cannot at this time use “Jenny Kissed Me,” but we appreciate the opportunity to read your work.

If you have additional, similarly toned work, please send it our way. Best of luck, and thank you again for your interest in Echo Ink Review.

Regards,

The Editors,
Echo Ink Review

I like that they 1) took the time to write out the name of my story and 2) that they included the bit about sending them similarly toned work.  At least they didn’t say, “You suck, get a life!”

Oh, well.  I was bound to get one eventually.  Here’s to hoping that one of the other 13 places I sent Jenny to will like her more.

I used to walk past this billboard when transferring to line 10 in Shanghai.  It always made me laugh.  I mean, look at it.