Good rejection, nice rejection

This morning I got one of those personal rejections that are almost as good as an acceptance. It was from a highly regarded, beautifully presented speculative fiction magazine that I would love to get into.

The story was rejected because it was 2400 words over the recommended 5k submission (and no, I can’t bang it down any further – believe me, I’ve tried), and even though they do take longer stories, mine wasn’t quite exceptional enough to bump 2-3 other stories to make room for it. Fair enough. I usually don’t push my luck with editors, but publications that will look at stories over 4-5 k are few and far between, so I thought I’d risk their ire and give it a go.

I’m glad I did submit it, because now I know that someone else in the world thinks the story is good (it's been rejected before because of the language style, but since the language style is an integral part of the plot...) and that gives me the confidence to send it out over and over and over and over again until someone finally buckles and publishes it. I shall ruthlessly persist in my quest to inflict this tale upon humanity.

Nice comments that will keep me 'eart warm for days to come: "I liked the energy of this piece as well as the imaginative content," and "I was impressed by the writing here and would love to see another submission."

Of course, grrrr, I’ll dig something else up to send them. I’m a dog with a bone now.