Monday, August 23, 2010

My 1st Form Rejection...

...on a small scale. I finally heard back from the other piece of flash fiction I submitted way back in April.  Here is what I received:

Thank you for your submission to Flash Fiction Online. Unfortunately, I'm going to pass on "Online."

Tastes vary by market, of course. We wish you the best in placing this story.

Regards,
Sabrina West
Associate Editor
Flash Fiction Online
This is what I read:
I hated it. You suck, but someone else with lesser taste might look at it.
And then I clicked delete and felt better. I hope they're all this easy. I know they won't be. Online was a little exercise, not years of thought and hard work.  The characters never dominated my time, so I'm not surprised they didn't pull anyone else in.

In more exciting news, I was interviewed over at Critique This WIP. Head over and check it out!

11 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Hateful when that happens. :(

    Don't take publisher rejections personal to you, they are commonplace - often as not the submission never read! The latter appalling.

    A personal commment from an editor implies they've at least read it. ;)

    best
    F
    Rejections are par for the course, the bane of a writer's life.

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  2. If it makes you feel any better, I and a number of others have submitted to and been rejected by this market. They're one of the toughest to crack apparently, and their tastes somewhat idiosyncratic.

    That said, please, please, please NEVER tell yourself that an editor thinks "you suck" when she rejects a piece. It's hard, but as much as possible, you need to not over-identify with your work. Yes, you made it, but at the end of the day it's a product, not your whole self. The editor rejected this one piece, not your overall ability to produce work. Ok? She has no power over that. Only YOU do.

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  3. It's a great interview. The last few form rejections I've received I didn't even know they were form one until reading about other people's online. Here I think "Oh, how nice of them to say to please submit other stories and how the one I sbmitted just wasn't for them."But oh well.

    Take the moment and then move on is a good way to deal with rejection. The interview was great and I enjoy hearing about your stories.

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  4. Thanks Francine! I didn't take it personal after that first moment, but I'm human so for a moment it was very personal. :) Now, I'm glad I've had my first official rejection over with. I fully expect hundreds more when I send out my query for SENDEK. Those will hurt more simply because of the time I've put into that novel.

    Thanks Laurel! I'm glad it was only a passing thought. I reread the piece, and I still like it--enough that I'm going to try a few other markets for it. Personally, I think it is my favorite flash piece, so I want to try and get paid for it, but I realize that even if it is a current favorite, it may never go anywhere. It all comes back to the reason we write. Money, or for our own enjoyment. Luckily, I'm still in it for my enjoyment.

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  5. Thanks Dawn! I think I feel official today. An interview and a rejection. Yep, I feel official. :D

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  6. "I hated it. You suck, but someone else with lesser taste might look at it."

    LOL Charity! You should submit THAT as your flash fiction, and they'll take it because it's awesome!

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  7. Alex is right. There's nothing there that says they hated it. I'm sorry to hear about the rejection. There are plenty of other places to send it. Good luck!

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  8. It's amazing how we reading into simple words. I like how you handled it though. :)

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  9. KarenG, maybe I will!

    Alex, I know it doesn't say that, but that's what I thought at first. Now, I'm good and back to what they actually wrote. I took it as a challenge though and started another flash fiction piece with them specifically in mind. The draft is done. Time to polish. I like a good challenge. ;)

    RosieC, thanks! I'm looking for a few more places to submit it to. I want to find some that will help me qualify for SFWA. That's the rub in the whole thing.

    Holly, so true. I think I've been preparing myself for rejection all summer and it helped. Feel the emotions, pick yourself up and move on.

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  10. Congratulations, you've just joined a very special club.

    Jai

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