posted
This is a tale of perseverance (not the sold story but the one I'm about to tell) for those who are just starting to submit their work for publication.
Eviction Notice is one of my first stories I sent out to publishers. I sent it out to Snipets four years ago. It has since been shopped to 11 places, went through a few rewrites and a title change. It sat in one slushpile for 476 days, only to receive a standard rejection. It has gotten a close call and two other personal notes from editors. I sent it to Goldenvisions a week before they announced they were contemplating closing.
So when I heard the *ping* of an incoming email on rejection wednesday (WotF thing), the last thing I was expecting was an apology and a query.
quote:...so today I was trying to review emails, subs, etc. and ran across this sub. If it's still available, I'd love to put it online...
If you have that little story you believe in, never give up on it.
posted
Awesome, congrats, and thank you for posting your story about perseverance. Makes me feel a little better about the seven rejections and counting for a story I consider my best work to date.
Posts: 1043 | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
Seriously? I guess I never contemplated how many rejections a good story might get. Do you rework and resubmit or look for new places?
Posts: 33 | Registered: Jan 2012
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quote: Do you rework and resubmit or look for new places?
yes, yes, and yes.
The story I sold is an excellent example of your question. I must have had twenty readers look at it. The general positive response told me it had legs - but complaints of my overuse of puns indicated it was going to be a tough sell.
What helps is when you get feedback from editors with a rejection. Places like Andromeda Inflight Spaceway Magazine and Untied Shoelaces for the Mind help. In fact, I will often submit scripts to publications like these before shipping them off to places like Strange Horizons in hopes they'll give me advice that will help (although acceptance is my ultimate goal).
Posts: 3072 | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Thanks Snapper for the explanation. It never occurred to me that you'd get feedback with a rejection - that helps a lot..and of course, congrats on your sell!
Posts: 33 | Registered: Jan 2012
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Nick, maybe I've been a little spoiled by having both my pubs accepted at the seventh submission. I was beginning to think it was my lucky number.
Posts: 1043 | Registered: Jul 2010
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I'd say my lucky number is 1 with both the stories I've had accepted, but that ignores all the stories I've failed to sell that have a *lot* of rejections.
With feedback and reworking, I think it can often become a trap to do so, but it's a matter of gut instinct. I don't often re-work, even with feedback, but I've done so in the past. With two sales, I can't say that I've figured out when to do so and when not to.
Posts: 712 | Registered: Jun 2008
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posted
I agree Nick. I find the longer the story, the more reworking it needs, and it is a dangerous trap to overwork a piece. My old WoTF HM was worked to death until it grew to almost 17k words, and now that I'm a bit wiser, I've been whittling it down, hoping to get it down to 10k. I think the real problem often arises from an attempt to try to please everyone. With that piece, at least, it kept growing as people kept asking about this or that. Lately, I rework a lot less, especially for stories under 5k. It is nice to be able to write a story and submit it the same week because you feel it is ready.
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