Rejection Oddities

A while back, I sent a short story out to a magazine, and today, I got it back. It was a story I don’t really have a plan for. It’s not my usual, anyway. So, I wind up sending it out. And… Did I leave a box checked? I don’t remember signing up for a newsletter, but there it is. And, of course, it’s a newsletter sent from the same people I was expecting to hear back from, so… Oh. That’s not a rejection. Or an acceptance. What is that?

Well, the answer is a more-than-weekly newsletter with a return address that makes me expect a real response every time.

I got several of them before I decided I didn’t care if unsubscribing hurt my chances. Time to get off the roller coaster. I just don’t have the extra energy. (Maybe if they had been labeled as a newsletter? I don’t know.

And I did think about withdrawing the piece. Probably would have, if I’d had a clear plan for where to send it next.

The rejection was a relief. Just a relief. There was no oh, damn mixed in with it.

I just didn’t feel good about the magazine, anymore. I felt spammed.

I’m thinking about what to do with the story next.

2 Comments

  1. Lita

    Reply

    That is weird. And unsettling somehow. In Cat’s Flash Fiction/ Short Story challenge, I pretty sure I saw a list of places where we might submit our work (not for UK writers like me) but certainly for US writers. Check it out – you might find a likely match for your short story. Good luck, Karen! 🙂

    • Reply

      I’ll look at hers again. I’m using the Submission Grinder,( thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ ,) to find markets, right now. I know at least some of them are in the UK, because I have a story out at a UK magazine I found there. I’m not trying to push you into anything, but are you exclusively focusing the UK market? I know there are a lot of American magazines that will take international submissions.

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