posted
I have a question about resubmitting stories to markets that have previously rejected them...
Ok, I know that basically the answer is "No, don't do it." but what if you rewrote a story such that you only retain about 20% of what you had in the original version and most of it is completely different?
Ok, let's just spell it out. I've rewritten a story that starts out like to the old version, but ends in a completely different way with even a different theme. I kept the first page and deleted and changed everything after that. Any thoughts? Should I just give it up?
I suppose as some piont there has to be room to submit a story to a market that is based off of or is in some way similiar to something you've submitted before, even if it's just in a coincidental way. I've also thought of combining a couple stories that have failed into something new and (hopefully) more creative. At what point is a story different enough that an editor would not be annoyed and blackball anything I sent?
posted
Do you have any idea how much of the story they read before? If they previously only read the first page and rejected it, it's not likely to matter to them how much you have changed the rest!!
posted
Susan has a good point. $0.02 = find new markets if you can't change the opening.
I'm glad you brought this up since I just got my very first rejection letter (yeah!). The story I'd sent off is one of several that have been going through major re-writes and I was curious about the rules.
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Actually, in this case I am certain that they all read the entire story since they all commented on the ending in their rejection letters. I am working on changing the opening a little bit too, though. I thought maybe by changing the setting and even the name of the main character it might make enough of a change that it'll work. There is only one element that remains the same any longer, an important element but not, I think, the reason for the rejection.
Posts: 3567 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I don't see a problem with it. Just tell them in the submission letter that you previously submitted something similar, but this new version is hardly recognizable and you hope they'll enjoy it.
Posts: 79 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Ditto ambongan. Be sure you let them know in the cover letter that you substantially changed the story drastically, taking their suggestions into consideration.
Keeley: Congratulations!!! Yes, congrats on a rejection. Why? Because it means you wrote, edited, revised and SUBMITTED!! That's a lot further than some people get, and more than I've done so far. *sheepish grin*
But I remember my promise, that I will submit no less than 6 shorts this year.
posted
Everything that I've read says that you shouldn't resubmit it unless they asked you too. You could write and ask (with a SASE) before sending it in. Otherwise if the first page is the same, chances are they'll read it and think "Oh, I've read this," and pass on it--worse, they might be annoyed.
I know how you feel, but I still suspect that you'll probably be better off submitting to a different market.
If what they said about the story before was positive at all (or if there was any kind of encouragement to send them something else), I might go along with you telling them that you had extensively written the story, but they might still not bother to read it. Since they didn't ask you to rewrite and resubmit, it also might annoy them.
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There is one other place I've got in mind, but at this point I've sent it to three places, all of which said it was "well written but..." and one added that they didn't like the moral of the story in the end.
I'm wary of sending it to pro markets because it just doesn't have that kind of feel. I've sent it to as many of the sort of "in-between" markets as I'm familiar with, the ones that pay fairly well but aren't quite pro and have pretty good reputations. At this point, if the one market I haven't tried doesn't want it then I'm left with lowering standards. (Honestly, if these markets didn't want it I don't see it going pro.)
In any case, I've played with it some and the opening paragraphs aren't the same, the location isn't the same, the theme isn't the same, and the resolution isn't the same. In fact, only one thing is the same (and some of you have read the first version of this os it might sound familiar): a man was turned into a cat one hundred years ago. The reason why has changed, as well as the way he gets to be a human again. It's almost turned into a new story inspired by the old story, rather than a rewrite, which I guess is the reason I started this topic. Still, there is one more market I'm going to try (once I get the bugs worked out) and after that I have to chose whether to lower my standards or hope these semi-pro markets have passed over a real winner that the pro markets might be willing to take (but like I said, I'm not feeling that confident with it...) or just bury it. I hate burying stories, it feels like such a waste.
Like I said, I do basically agree with you in princial, but it's like I said, there's a point that a story almost isn't the original story anymore...
quote:In fact, only one thing is the same (and some of you have read the first version of this os it might sound familiar): a man was turned into a cat one hundred years ago. The reason why has changed, as well as the way he gets to be a human again.
Okay, that sounds like a second story with the same idea, not a rewrite of an old story.
I don't think you'd need to say anything if you sent this to the same market. At worst, the editor is going to think something along the lines of "she sure likes that particular idea."
Consider, if someone did an anthology about people turning into cats through history, there'd be bound to be other stories out there like yours. But if that's all that is similar, no one would accuse anyone of copying you, right?
If someone else had written this story, would you think they'd stolen your first story from you? Maybe that's the best way to decide if it's different enough. (Anyone can steal an idea.)
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Hey Christine, have you tried showing it to someone who read the first one without telling them it's a rewrite? They could give you a fair idea of whether its sufficiently different (which it sounds like it is) to be considered a different story. I'd be happy to read it, but I'm tainted now that I know.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
If you're really worried about it, why not hold it for say six to twelve months, then polish it one more time and re-submit. It sounds like a significant enough re-write that it shouldn't make a difference, with only 20% of the original story intact. A waiting period would give you time to think about it again and not make it appear to an Editor that all you do is sit around thinking about cats. In the meantime, maybe you could submit something entirely different to them, before resubmiting the cat story later.
By the way, have you changed the title of the story?
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