I sent several short stories out 6+ months ago, to various anthologies/magazines. And wouldn’t you know it, none of them are good enough for publication. (Damnit.)
It’s not a complete wash, however. Each and every one of my self addressed and stamped envelopes came back with a handwritten, non-perfunctory, rejection letter, wherein the reader/editor gave me suggestions, and in one case, actually stoked my ego. Also, the manuscripts themselves came back, their margins brimming with notes, suggestions, and other fabulous edits, that I may or may not use.
All in all, a pretty good end to a bad yesterday!
Congratulations! I’ve heard that if they’re flat-out rejecting you, you just get the story back with a form rejection or with nothing at all, so that’s very encouraging.
That’s what I was expecting too. I also found it mortifying to self address and stamp what would be my rejection envelopes. My lovely and encouraging best friend said that not only did they reject me, they thought they had to save my 12 year old feelings.
I say, think of all the terrible submissions they must get every day by housewives writing stories about their cats & kids, lawyers writing stories about heroic lawyers, and the like. If they took the time to write notes on them, they must have been worth something.
When I send in stories, I just get one note on them: “Help me. I’m being held captive by Random House.”
Well, thank you , P@D! And I’m sure you get more than the good ol’ “Help! I’m a slave in a Fortune Cookie Factory!” routine. That never works.