This came on Tuesday.

It’s short, to the point, and they were fast about it.

I’m really close to burning “Jenny Kissed Me” and spreading her ashes in my backyard.

Rejection Letter #31 – The Massachusetts Review

Dear Writer:

Though your work has been declined by our editors, we thank you for allowing us to consider it.

Sincerely,

The Editors of The Massachusetts Review

Monday.  Rejection.  Bleh.

At least I didn’t have to wait very long for it.  I always like it when people are quick to tell you what they’ve decided, even if it’s bad news.  I’m sad, though, that another opportunity for “Jenny of Lebanon” has fallen through the cracks.

Rejection Letter #30 – Colorado Review

Dear Gabrielle Olexa,

Thank you for sending us “Jenny of Lebanon.” We’re sorry we can’t use it, but we appreciate having the opportunity to consider it.

Sincerely,
The Editors
Colorado Review

I almost have the same amount of rejection letters as I am old.  Just two to go.  Nearly three.

I received this one two days ago.  Honestly, it didn’t bother me.  I had given up on it a long, long time ago.  I submitted “Jenny Kissed Me” to The Lifted Brow on December 1oth, 2012.  I had queried, too, in June or July, I can’t remember, but this was the first I had heard from them.  I’m not entirely sure what took them so long.  From what I can tell, I don’t think they were reading any submissions for the last several months, and thus were rejecting no one, including little ole’ me, until just recently.   I’m just glad that they let me know, even if it did take close to a year.  And they were polite and apologized for that.  If I ever write another story that I think they’ll like, I’ll give them another go.

Onward and upward, as they say . . .

Rejection Letter #29 – The Lifted Brow

Dear Gabrielle,

Sincerest apologies for the delayed response.

Thank you very much for your fiction submission to The Lifted Brow. It means a lot to us that you think of the Brow as somewhere you’d like to see your work published.

Unfortunately we’re not able to use your work in the magazine in this instance.

Reading the magazine is the best way to figure out what kind of fiction we like to publish, so if you’re not a subscriber, maybe have a think about becoming one.

Thanks again for taking the time to submit.

It’s a good thing I’m pregnant or else by now I would have turned to the bottle.

Okay, that is somewhat of an exaggeration.  I don’t think I could ever get that depressed, at least not over rejection letters for stories that I wrote in my free time.  If my stories were my only means of survival, then yes, I could very well see myself caressing a bottle of whatever I had handy to help soothe the sting of rejection.  Going through this experience, though, I totally understand why the writers of old had a vice to quell the demons of failure/rejection, whether it was alcohol or drugs or some combination of the two.  I’m hoping that I never, ever reach that point.  Please, someone, slap me upside the head if I even get close.

So today’s rejection letter is my first personal rejection letter.  The one rejection from Carve Magazine was kind of like a personal rejection letter, but this one goes into far more detail.  They had a lot of nice things to say about “Jenny Kissed Me” and I understand the issues they had with it to some extent, why the ultimately said, “Thank you, but no thank you.”  I am going to try and take their criticism, along with what the editors from Carve had to say, and make this story better.  I’m not sure if it means I have to make the story a little longer or if I have to flesh out some of the scenes to make it “stronger”.   I guess I’ll figure it out in time.  I just need to sit down with her, maybe take her to a workshop, and pull her corset strings a little tighter.  The only thing I know for sure is that one day, some day, I will find a home for “Jenny Kissed Me”.  It will happen.  I just have to keep trying.

Rejection letters are mini-battles.  Getting published is winning the war.

Oh, the things we say to make ourselves feel better.

Rejection Letter #28 – Fabula Argenta Magazine/Silver Pen

Dear Gabrielle Olexa,

Thank you for sending us “Jenny Kissed Me”. We appreciated the chance to read it. Unfortunately, the piece is not for us.

I found this to be one of the better “relationship” stories that we’ve received (and we do receive a number of those). The premise is interesting, the writing is good, we liked the well-drawn characters, it’s laced with bits of humor, and the piece has a somewhat memorable quality to it. So, it wasn’t an immediate rejection. In the end, though, we didn’t consider it strong enough overall for our magazine.

Our main issue was that the ending was too abrupt and didn’t lead the reader anywhere or to any conclusion as to what might happen next. We also would have like to know more about Jack. We don’t find out until later in the piece that he too is taking classes. He must have a job somewhere. We know more about Jenny than we do about Jack, whose story this is. Also, let us know sooner who the main character is. From the opening, it could be a male or female.

Anyway, thanks for the read. Best of luck with this.

Sincerely,
Rick Taubold
Fabula Argentea Magazine

Last night, I cried.  I cried like a two year old whose favorite toy had been eaten by the family dog.  My Braves lost.  And I’m not speaking figuratively, either.  I literally cried.  That story about there being no crying in baseball is a lie.  True fans cry.  I do at least.  People think I’m crazy, but I don’t care.  It’s one of the few things in life I really enjoy.  Baseball makes me happy, except for when it makes me sad.

So, when I woke up this morning, my eyes still puffy, I was especially sad to see that I had another rejection letter waiting for me.

And then I saw that it was raining outside and that it was cold.  Then end of baseball really does mean winter is upon us.

I read the letter several times.  It was more or less a standard form rejection letter, but since I asked for some comments, they were kind enough to give me some.  I’m still deciding on how to take them and make my story better.  I debated about sharing them here, but I figured I’ve already posted my other failures in such great detail, that it would just seem silly if I removed them.   I like full disclosure.

Rejection Letter #27 – Carve Magazine

Gabrielle,

Thank you for sending us “Jenny Kissed Me” to Carve magazine. We regret to inform you it was not chosen for publication in an upcoming issue. Editorial decisions are often subjective, so we hope you’ll continue writing and submitting. When your story finds a home, we’d like to know so we can send you congratulations.

We’d like you to know that overall, your story was well-received by our reading committee, and they have some comments and notes on your story. We hope you find them helpful as you continue to revise or resubmit your piece elsewhere.

–COMMENTS–
**some strong moments, but prose isn’t entirely assured.
**author handled male POV well.
**not compelling. Story feels underdeveloped/missing depth.

Warm regards,

Editor and Staff

I submitted to slew of others in the last week, and I need to print out “Jenny of Lebanon” so I can send her to two other places that don’t accept manuscripts electronically.

Here’s to hoping that one day I’ll get to title a post Acceptance Letter # 1.  Until then, I’ll keep trying.  Gotta write more, too, but I’ve got so much on my plate right now.  Life.  There is never a dull moment.  Those who tell you differently are lying.

One day I am going to print out all of my rejections, bind them together, and turn it into my own coffee table book of depression.  I’ll need to buy a table first, though.

I waited for this rejection for a while.  I submitted “Jenny Kissed Me” to Gulf Coast February 26th, 2013, a few days shy of their deadline.  Apparently, they were unable to read mine before they stopped reading for the summer, and they weren’t able to get back to it until after September 1st, 2013, when their submission process reopened.  A long time, yeah, but at least I know, and I can now move on with my life.

I still have five potential acceptances waiting in the wind, four, if you ignore the magazine that looks to be on permanent hiatus, or even three, if you discount the one that never even acknowledged my submission in the first place and never responded to my query.  One of the five is for “Jenny of Lebanon”.  The magazine I sent her to has rejected other works after mine was submitted, so maybe, just maybe, I have a chance.  I won’t hold my breath or anything because I’d probably die, but my fingers are crossed SUPER hard.  She’s been “in-progress” with them for over two months now.

The others are all for “Jenny Kissed Me”.  Two magazines are “in-progress”, but I know that only means that someone has been assigned to read her, not that they have and are trying to decide my fate.  Fingers are still crossed, though, because you never really know until they tell you one way or the other for sure.

I do wonder if when the magazines get my submission, if they Google my name and find this website and see how many rejections I have accumulated.   Perhaps posting all of my rejections was not the best decision in the world, but oh well.  I wanted to show others that rejection is a part of life and that it sucks but that there is always hope out there somewhere.  That hope dwindles with each rejection, but it never fully goes away.  Who knows, maybe one day a magazine will see all five hundred of my rejections and take pity on me.  I’d be okay with that.

Rejection Letter #26 – Gulf Coast

Dear Writer:

Thank you for your recent submission to Gulf Coast. We appreciate your patience while we read your work. However, we’re sorry to inform you that your work was not the right fit for us at this time.

Thank you again for submitting, and good luck with all your writing endeavors.

Sincerely,
The Gulf Coast Editors

Ah, the sweet smell of rejection, how I’ve missed you.

Clearly, I’m kidding.

At least I didn’t have to wait six months to get this one.  Just a mere 8 days.  For that, Subtropics, I thank you.

Rejection Letter #25 – Subtropics

Dear Gabrielle Olexa,

Thank you for sending us “Jenny of Lebanon.” This piece isn’t going to work for SUBTROPICS but we appreciate your thinking of us and wish you the best in finding the right home for it.

Sincerely,

The Editors

In other news, I finished another story, and I will soon start submitting it to magazines.  I’m also submitting a short piece to a Halloween contest.  I’ll come back and tell you how that goes.

Got this last night right before I turned off my bed side light.  Meh.

Rejection Letter #24 – Glimmer Train

Dear Gabrielle,

Thank you for submitting “Jenny Kissed Me”. While we won’t be publishing this piece, we appreciated the opportunity to read your work! Because we read so many stories, it is not possible for us to give specific feedback, but, if you’re a relative beginner, you may find something of interest here: Editors’ Input.

Glimmer Train Press Reference#: 408135

I received the following rejection letter right before midnight on June 12th.  It made me sad.  All rejection letters make me sad, but every time someone says thanks but not thanks to “Jenny of Lebanon”, another piece of my soul dies.  Of the six places I originally sent her to, there is only one remaining.  If they say no, I will have very few possibilities left.

Rejection Letter #23 – Big Fiction

Dear Gabrielle Olexa,

Thank you for letting us take a look at your work for Big Fiction. We regret that although we enjoyed reading “Jenny of Lebanon,” ultimately it was not a right fit for us.

Writing is hard work – we know, we’re writers too – and we appreciate the quality and diversity of submissions we receive from writers like you. Thank you again for sharing your work with us. We hope it finds a home soon.

Sincerely,

Heather Jacobs, Editor

Woo hoo! Almost a quarter of the way to 100!  This one actually came a few days ago, but I’ve been lazy and didn’t feel like posting about another one of my failures.  I particularly hate it when a rejection letter doesn’t come with my name.  But I suppose they didn’t sign with their names either, so maybe we are even.

Rejection #22 – Ninth Letter

Dear Writer:

Thanks for submitting your work to Ninth Letter. We’re sorry this submission wasn’t right for us. We appreciate your interest in our magazine, and wish you the best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors
Ninth Letter