I have two questions.

1) Does it matter who "signs" the rejection slip?

2) What do various rejection letters actually...mean?

Here's my little story...

I sent my first submission(s) to numerous markets two weeks ago (all sim-sub agreeable), and am beginning to get the rejections back (expected, but disappointing as well...). I've received two so far, both signed by the "Editor." In the case of one, there are 3 associate editors, the Editor (my rejector), and the Editor-In-Chief. Does that mean that my story actually made it through the slush-monkey and got read by somebody who truly makes decisions? If so, I guess that puts a happier spin on the rejection than if some college intern "dinked" me.

I am also getting what seems a wide variety of assessments, and thought I would ask y'all. Anybody else have trouble de-coding what these people are really saying?

Here are the two I've gotten so far:

Rejection Letter 1)

Thank you for allowing _____________ to consider "______________," but I'm going to pass on this one.

Ultimately, I didn't feel the story covered enough new ground and didn't provide any surprises for the reader.

Best of luck with this one elsewhere.

Signed, ___________, Editor

Part of me read this as, "Wow, that was a waste of MY time, please don't EVER waste more of MY time by sending in another pile of steaming excrement like that." BUT, the other part of me heard, "Hey, I read it, and actually took the time to write some short but direct critique of it..."

Rejection Letter 2)

Dear Thane:

Thank you for submitting “_________________” to ____________________. Unfortunately, your story does not meet our needs at this time.

Yours is one of many high quality submissions we received, and we encourage you to try us again if you have another story that you think would be a good fit.

________________, Editor
________________

Part of me hear, "Hey, good story. Maybe not the best I've seen, but at least keep trying. You seem to be able to string words together pretty well. Try us again if you have something that better fits our exact venue." The other part of me, though, just heard, "This is our 'friendly' form letter rejection. Here's your 'high quality submissions,' right back to you, Sparky,"

I'm not quitting here or anything, just thought I would ask others, especially those authors who have already published, if they have gotten these kinds of responses on works they later published in other venues.

Thanks in advance,

T2

Was the second one Electric Spec? Rej 2A Rej 2B
Google: "Yours is one of many high quality submissions we received"

Some of these phrases are meaningful, and some bounce around among the "Publishing Community," I think.

Any opinions of the running of the "slush-monkey" gauntlet? I guess I was hoping that it got read and passed up the line, instad of just hitting one wall. Guess it doesn't really matter in the long run. Just trying to shake off my black funk and lick the wounds before diving back into the dog fight.

Thanks,

T2

Don't give up! Good luck!

If you head over to the rumor mill, you'll find people have analyzed the rejection letters based on venue and have worked out what they mean as best as anyone can, sometimes with the help of the editors from the magazines. For example, if you submit a story to F&SF you can tell from the rejection how far into the story they actually read. I can't remember what they all are at this point since I've decided to quit playing the short story game (I have always enjoyed novels more) but there is a certain letter that means they didn't read past the first page and another that means they read a few pages and quit and another that means they read the whole thing.

Generally speaking, the editors agree that if they send a rejection letter, even a form rejection letter, inviting you to submit more then they mean it. They thought you showed promise and don't want that story, but would definitely consider something else. Yeah, it's a form too, but many magazines have several different form letters handy.

As for the first rejection...it's nice that editors take the time to write things like that but ultimately, it's not entirely useful for a number of reasons:

1. That editor may be seeing a lot of that kind of story but another may not.

2. That editor may not have read the story the way you had hoped. Every reader brings in their own personal biases and expectations. One man's surprise ending is another man's, "I saw that coming a mile away!"

Rejectomancy is a time-honored magical rite among beginning writers, and it generally works just about as well as any other real-world attempt at magic.

A few things to keep in mind:

• many smaller magazines don't even have slush readers; other times every "editor," no matter what his or her title, reads (or at least passes opinion on) every story
• if you had to reject as many stories per day as they do, you'd use a form letter, too
• not many people are terribly adept at writing an obvious form letter of rejection that manages to make you feel good at the same time
• the rejections you got were neither rude nor insulting
  

This, in short, is what any rejection letter means: "We aren't going to publish your story." The reasons are not given, and they don't matter, because no one else will have the same reaction or the same needs.

The only thing to make sure you decipher correctly is whether it's a rejection or an acceptance.

I think mostly I just needed to hear (and not just "know") that everybody gets these, goes through this, gets over this, and moves on. That is, if they actually plan to have writing as part of their lives. And I do. So thanks everybody, for you words of understanding, commiseration, and encouragement.

Rick: You made my day... "Rejectomancy" made me laugh out loud. Thanks! And your several bullets are well stated. It can't be easy to say "No" 50 times a week and have them all sound original, thought out, and heart felt. And it's true, they were neither rude, nor insulting... Guess I should count my blessings in there somewhere.

If an editor says send them something again, I generally assume they mean it even if it's a form letter. It's not like they have to say that.

Don't necesssarily expect taking rejections to get easier. Even the personal ones can make you crazy. But you aren't the only one. Every single one of us gets them if we submit work. The only way to avoid rejections is to keep all your writing in a trunk.

Edit: Igwiz, it's great that you're getting your work out and getting those rejections. Eventually one will be an acceptance. But even after that you'll get rejections. Congratulations. It means you're part of the club.

"We don't see much, if anything, in the story you submitted. But we don't want to take a chance on alienating the next Stephen King, however slim the chance, so we phrase the rejection slip that way. (And we don't mind (much) if you submit to us again.)"

My first rejection was signed by an assistant editor (even though the space was supposed to be signed by the editor, complete with editor's name). After that it was strictly printed form letters, but, eventually, I got one signed by the editor in question.

The best rejections I've gotten, and by a wide margin, came from the George Scithers Asimov's era. Cards with a good deal of helpful comment, probably when and where I needed it the most. I learned a lot from them...but not enough. I'm relatively inactive right now, so I don't know if anybody is putting out helpful rejections like that anymore...you guys probably know better than I do.

Less than a month later, I finished and submitted to them a story that was set in essentially the same 'world' as was the rejected story, and was written in the same style.

A month after that, I got another rejection checklist from them. This time, according to the comments section, my style was too confusing.

Huh?

Then, I looked at the bottom of the page. It was signed by a different assistant editor.

But, he invited me to submit something else.

Too bad that mag is out of business now.

S!
S!...C!