The Agony
... of defeat.
I got the rejection from The New Yorker today. And it was a form rejection too, in the worst possible form. So in retrospect, they're not all that late in responding, though later than I would have imagined. Jen, I hope you have better luck with you submission, which they've had for longer than mine...
Now I need to find another market for this particular story. And something about this particular story really makes me feel like I want to get paid for it (always the problem). I'm sure after it's gone through a few more markets, I might change my mind.
Hope everyone else is having better luck! It's funny, it's not like I entertain THAT much of a notion that that magazine would publish me, but there's always that glimmer of hope that accompanies any submission. (And when it comes to The New Yorker, that glimmer is closely accompanied by greed, since they actually pay good money.)
Write on, everybody!
LLB
I got the rejection from The New Yorker today. And it was a form rejection too, in the worst possible form. So in retrospect, they're not all that late in responding, though later than I would have imagined. Jen, I hope you have better luck with you submission, which they've had for longer than mine...
Now I need to find another market for this particular story. And something about this particular story really makes me feel like I want to get paid for it (always the problem). I'm sure after it's gone through a few more markets, I might change my mind.
Hope everyone else is having better luck! It's funny, it's not like I entertain THAT much of a notion that that magazine would publish me, but there's always that glimmer of hope that accompanies any submission. (And when it comes to The New Yorker, that glimmer is closely accompanied by greed, since they actually pay good money.)
Write on, everybody!
LLB
posted by LadyLitBlitzin at 6:48 PM
6 Comments:
Bummer...If you think it deserves recognition and money, then it must be good. And I agree that one feels particularly hollow inside when one has put one's heart into one's "message in a bottle" and gets back an impersonal rejection form. Better luck next time.
Sorry about the New Yorker. Nothing wrong in taking a shot at the high-end paying markets first. You never know why a story is rejected; a lot depends on what low level screener gets it and what tastes they have.
Keep sending, and good luck!
I view submitting to the New Yorker like buying a Powerball ticket; you gotta play to win, even though chances are you won't. I'd like to see a breakdown of agented vs. unagented acceptances; I wonder whether any of their published stories have been unsolicited.
Just to cheer you up: I ran across this biography of the artist Todd McFarlane, and I thought it was interesting that he was rejected about 700 hundred times...before he became a big hit. ;)
http://www.lambiek.net/mcfarlane_todd.htm
Hey everybody! Thanks for the well wishes! Hebdomeros, that's true, there's no telling what the subjective tastes are of any editor for a magazine, and truly, that's probably one of the most frustrating things about the biz, you know?
Jen, yeah, the Powerball ticket/hit by lightning idea is so true. Yep, I try -- you're right, you've gotta play to win. But I would love to find out what the breakdown is of agented/unsolicited pieces. I'll bet it's a really frightful statistic.
And Gatochy, thanks for that! 700 does sound daunting (ha), but I've got to practice what I preach indeed... I do know that most writers and artists have to have a thick skin and just keep on going despite the rejections. Like how J.K. Rowling was rejected a bunch of times... that's a great thought, how the editors who rejected Harry Potter must have felt when it hit the big time.
Been looking at mega lotto blogs.
Found yours. Hope it wporks well for you.
Post a Comment
<< Home