This morning, I came home from a bracing, bushland walk through the local butterfly reserve to find a rejection in my inbox – my third this year.
It was a very nice rejection though – they’d obviously read my story, gave the reasons why it didn’t suit their magazine, and said I should feel free to submit again. I always want to thank editors who take the time to personally respond, but that, of course, is verboten.
Besides, three rejections puts me well on the road to realizing my goal of getting 100 rejections in 2010, which is, I’ll admit, a blatant rip off of one of Christopher Green’s New Year resolutions. I’m also inspired by Catherine J Gardner’s 2009 statistics - and yes, I was checking them both out because they also have stories in ‘The Tangled Bank’.
Last year, I reaped a paltry 45 rejections and scored 7 acceptances. Catherine achieved 3 times that number of rejections and made 21 sales.
I see a pattern emerging. I also detect a butterfly theme...
It was a very nice rejection though – they’d obviously read my story, gave the reasons why it didn’t suit their magazine, and said I should feel free to submit again. I always want to thank editors who take the time to personally respond, but that, of course, is verboten.
Besides, three rejections puts me well on the road to realizing my goal of getting 100 rejections in 2010, which is, I’ll admit, a blatant rip off of one of Christopher Green’s New Year resolutions. I’m also inspired by Catherine J Gardner’s 2009 statistics - and yes, I was checking them both out because they also have stories in ‘The Tangled Bank’.
Last year, I reaped a paltry 45 rejections and scored 7 acceptances. Catherine achieved 3 times that number of rejections and made 21 sales.
I see a pattern emerging. I also detect a butterfly theme...
5 comments:
Hi, Gitte
Cindy told me about your blog and I've been browsing tonight. It's very interesting.
I'm adding it to my Google Reader list.
I love your Heinlein quote.
I write, but not every day.
I hardly ever finish things.
What I occasionally finish I rarely send out because I don't have faith in it.
Hmm...also a pattern here.
Hi, parlance (Catherine) again. Did you realise you have an extra 't' in your blog address? Because of that, Cindy's link to you doesn't work.
Hi parlance,
Thanks for dropping by, and for the info about the blog address.
As for the pattern ... sometimes it takes a long time, believe me I know, but if you nudge your habits a bit every now and then, they can change.
And have faith in your work - or do workshops and find out what might need to be fixed. Writing is all about constantly fixing stuff.
You inspired me, so I put a short story in a competition today. The deadline was 4pm 5th Feb and I fronted up at the desk at 7 minutes to 4.
Thanks for the inspiration.
I'm determined to acquire some rejection letters or at least some "thank you for your entry" letters.
The Lord Mayor's comp last year didn't acknowledge entries, didn't give a date for judging, didn't have a short list.
Maybe next year it will be better. It was the first one.
Good on you!! And good luck with your rejection collection and the competition.
Post a Comment