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.

As I wait for more rejection letters, I figured I’d write about a restaurant I recently visited in Matthews, the town I moved to a little over a week ago.

So, I started craving cheap seafood.  For some reason, cheap seafood makes me happy.  I’d rather go to a place like Captain’s Galley than say, Red Lobster or something like it.  I know, I’m weird.  What can I say?  I suppose restaurants like Captain’s Galley just make me feel like I get more for my money and the food tastes just as good in my opinion.  Plus, I’m not into “fancy” restaurants.  I’m too much of a tomboy for fine china and real silver.

Phil and I got there around 8 P.M. We were both starved and Phil was parched from working under the house all day.  We were seated quickly and given menus.  As we perused our options, a waitress brought out a bowl of hush puppies(with butter).  We told her we needed a minute.  It didn’t take us very long to figure out what we wanted.  Phil immediately knew he wanted one of those huge fried platters.  Me, I like fried, but it always makes me feel sick afterwards, so I went with broiled jumbo shrimp.  As we waited for the waitress to return, I noticed that a lot of the other tables had pitchers of sweet tea sitting on them.  This made me happy.  I love sweet tea and I hate waiting to have my glass refilled.  I drink more than eat sometimes.

The waitress came back, we placed our order, and in a short minute, she brought our pitcher of tea and requested dipping sauces.  I LOVE honey mustard, specifically Duke’s honey mustard.  I gobbled down several of the hush puppies.  I thought they could have been a pinch sweeter, but they were still good.  I had to make sure to pace myself, or else I wouldn’t be able to eat my shrimp, salad or baked potato.

The salad was good, and had darker greens in it with large tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.  We had to wait a little on our food, but not too long.  Phil must have already had three glasses of tea by this point.  This is a lot for Phil because he barely ever drinks one glass of anything when he eats.

Our food was tasty and very filling.  Phil actually said he enjoyed the food more so than Harbor Inn, another cheap seafood place I like to frequent.  There was dessert on the menu, but we had no room for it.  Plus, I had a strawberry pie waiting in the refrigerator at home.

With a nice tip, our total was about $40.  It was more than I was expecting for “cheap” seafood for two, but Phil had left overs and our bellies were more than full.

Will I go back, yes.  Perhaps on a Sunday when they have their all-you-can-eat crab legs for $27.99.

On an arbitrary scale of five stars, I’d give this place three.

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

So, I get home from running some errands and just a few minutes after I walk in the door, my phone goes “ding, you’ve got mail”.  Not really, but you know what I mean.  Like always, I clicked on my inbox and held my breath, but there was nothing breath holding worthy.  Just rejection letters.  One for “Jenny Kissed Me” and one for “Jenny of Lebanon”.  Both were very standard and offered me no hope.  There’s always tomorrow, right?

For anyone keeping count, that is  number seventeen for “Jenny Kissed Me” and number four for “Jenny of Lebanon”.

Just as soon as we are moved and settled in our new home, I’m printing out all my rejections and plastering them on the wall.  Not sure what good that will do, but it’s my plan.

Rejection #20 – Boston Review

Dear Gabrielle Olexa,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to review “Jenny Kissed Me.” However, we find that it is not right for Boston Review at this time. Please know that while our small staff carefully reads every submission, the high volume of submissions means, regrettably, that we cannot provide a thorough, individualized response to each submitter.

We wish you success in placing your work elsewhere. Thank you for thinking of Boston Review.

Sincerely,

Boston Review editors

Rejection #21 – AGNI

Dear Gabrielle Olexa:

Thank you for sending “Jenny of Lebanon.” Your work received careful consideration here.

We’ve decided this manuscript isn’t right for us, but we wish you luck placing it elsewhere.

Kind regards,

The Editors

I don’t think I actually believed that The Missouri Review would  publish “Jenny of Lebanon”, but I had hoped, in some crevice of my damaged heart, that they would have written something more meaningful to me when they rejected me.  But alas, they didn’t.  Hope, it really is an awful thing.  And standard rejections forms are equally as horrible.  I have two other places considering her still, but I won’t be hearing back from them anytime soon.  And my hopes aren’t very high for them either.  They are prestigious literary magazines, and I’m just a random nobody who can string words together.  Outside of them, I’m not sure where “JoL”  will end up.  Like I’ve said before, her length is keeping me from sending her to other places.  I’m not sure if I should sit on her until I can find a place, or just self-publish and be done with it.  If you happen to know of a magazine that accepts 14,500 word manuscript, please leave the info in the comment section.  Thanks.

Rejection #19 – The Missouri Review

Thank you for giving us the chance to consider “Jenny of Lebanon” for publication in The Missouri Review.  Though it does not fit our current needs, we appreciate your interest in our magazine and your commitment to quality writing.