Almost Success - The "Mixed Feelings" Thread

Received a personal rejection from tor.com. They had pulled it aside for further consideration because of the "interesting premise & smooth prose" but had a hard time identifying with the main character (she has Aspergers, but my fault for not making that clear). This story was my V30 Q1 HM. They also asked to see more of my work.

Nice work, Jeffrey!

Received a personal rejection from tor.com. They had pulled it aside for further consideration because of the "interesting premise & smooth prose" but had a hard time identifying with the main character (she has Aspergers, but my fault for not making that clear). This story was my V30 Q1 HM. They also asked to see more of my work.

Sweet!

Received a personal rejection from tor.com. They had pulled it aside for further consideration because of the "interesting premise & smooth prose" but had a hard time identifying with the main character (she has Aspergers, but my fault for not making that clear). This story was my V30 Q1 HM. They also asked to see more of my work.

Very nice, Jeffrey! I had something similar to this from tor.com recently. They liked my characters, but thought the plot was a bit too linear.

I got a personal rejection from Fantasy & Science Fiction. Definitely mixed feelings!

I got a personal rejection from Fantasy & Science Fiction. Definitely mixed feelings!

Niice and I understand the mixed feelings.

But did you get one already or was that someone else not that long ago?

I hope my Q3 story will get me the same mixed feelings.

No this was my first submission to Fantasy & Sci Fi. It was my WoTF semi.

In that case no wonder it got a comment. Good work there.

But than some one else here recently received a personal comment--maybe two someones.

Meh. That's it. Just meh. Move along, nothing to see here.

Meh.

I got my first personal from Strange Horizons this morning. It seems like I've been getting personal rejections from several different markets lately (though none of the big three ... yet), so I suppose I'll take that as a good sign.

I got my first personal from Strange Horizons this morning. It seems like I've been getting personal rejections from several different markets lately (though none of the big three ... yet), so I suppose I'll take that as a good sign.

It is a good sign. Take as getting SF from Wotf, you are getting close, keep at it.

I got my first personal from Strange Horizons this morning. It seems like I've been getting personal rejections from several different markets lately (though none of the big three ... yet), so I suppose I'll take that as a good sign.

As I understand it that is the sign that something big is close.

Be nice to be in the same boat.

Made it to final round with Penumbra, but my story wasn't selected for the issue.

I got my first personal from Strange Horizons this morning. It seems like I've been getting personal rejections from several different markets lately (though none of the big three ... yet), so I suppose I'll take that as a good sign.

That's great!

Austin, that's awesome! You're almost there! <img src="

Thanks everyone! The story is back out there, but all I can do is write more in the meantime. One of these days. <img src="

And congrats to everyone who's final rounding at Penumbra!

I'm in Apex hell. On duotrope there are 13 responses pending (7 on Grinder). I've been waiting 128 days. The responses have slowed to a trickle, and I've resorted to stalking Lynne on twitter to see if there are any updates on the slush pile.

I'm hoping for a personal rejection at the very least. The wait is killing me.

I'm in Apex hell. On duotrope there are 13 responses pending (7 on Grinder). I've been waiting 128 days. The responses have slowed to a trickle, and I've resorted to stalking Lynne on twitter to see if there are any updates on the slush pile.

I'm hoping for a personal rejection at the very least. The wait is killing me.

Don't stalk her--she's not the editor any more. Did you get a second round notice? If so, you probably also should have gotten another note saying your work has been passed to the new editor. If not, it might be time to query (presuming you've hit the query-by date. Can't remember what theirs is off the top of my head).

She's still finalising slush though while the new editor takes over. I sent my query just before her announcement, when she said she was behind in the stories that had made it to her. I've gotten the autoresponse for each email I've sent so it's not like they've just disappeared, so I'm assuming they are still contenders.

TBH I'm superstitious about querying at this stage. Really I should just want my ordeal to be over.

I see a bunch of Asimovian rejections today, all in their mid-forties. This gives me hope that my story might have survived the slush-pile as my current entry with them is now at 60 days. I've never gotten a personal rejection from these guys. Yet.

I see a bunch of Asimovian rejections today, all in their mid-forties. This gives me hope that my story might have survived the slush-pile as my current entry with them is now at 60 days. I've never gotten a personal rejection from these guys. Yet.

Good luck. My previous submission got a personal "send more," though my latest was in this round of form rejections today. No great surprise there though! I actually didn't send them this one for quite a while because I thought it was too fantasy, it was only after getting the "send more" last time that I was filled sufficient amounts of hubris to think I might as well send it.

I have a set of comments related to a number of threads, but I think they go best here.

First, to the spirit of the thread! I'm a little late reporting it, but I had a streak about a month ago where I got a tier 2 rejection from One Story (yes, the literary journal) asking me to send them more of my stories. Then I got a glowing personal rejection from Waylines (which, from what others are reporting, seems to be a good place to get some feedback on what is working or not working in your stories). Then I got a personal request to submit more material from an anthology paying pro-rates. The editor responded to my follow-up submission by saying the second story wasn't right for his current anthology project, but he wants to consider it for the next one he's got planned and wants me to re-submit it when the time comes.

As a little background, I write in kind of a strange space, literary fiction with a sci-fi twist, kind of Twilight-Zone-esque. I've submitted three stories to the contest and haven't sniffed an HM, I can only gather because they're not sci-fi enough. I was submitting my stories exclusively to the top sic-fi magazines for a while (Strange Horizons in particular held a couple for quite a while) but then on a lark submitted one to the New Yorker, got their tier 2 response (the one that goes "this manuscript is not right for us, in spite of its evident merit") and realized that maybe the literary journals were a better fit for me. But to a degree I'm stuck in no-man's land, too sci-fi for the literary journals but not sci-fi enough for the sci-fi journals.

I want to steal this quote from the Success thread:

Woot! Woot! Galaxy's Edge is a great market. And I loved that story! So glad it found a home. I was baffled over the rejection--because it was so good--especially the voice.

Some great ones slip through. This is just proof. Also some stories do awesome in some markets and bomb in others--it's unfortunately not an exact science.

I want to expand on it, to take a moment to make a point I've seen a couple people make, but not strongly enough for my liking. The judges at WotF have been fairly forthcoming about what makes a good story in their minds. I remember reading somewhere that stories that get HM have pro-level potential and those that don't probably aren't pro-level. But I want to be very clear for everyone in here getting close, that selecting stories is a matter of taste. I think editors and agents do writers a disservice by not emphasizing this more. Some people like having their senses engaged in a story, I couldn't care less about it, I need my mind to be stimulated by new ways of looking at things. ALL editors and agents are wrong far more often than they're right. Just to name a few examples, Brave New World was panned when it came out, Steven King and JK Rowling both had terrible times launching their careers, major awards like the Pulitzer Prize routinely overlook historically great novels and pick novels no one remembers twenty years after the selection.

So I just want to emphasize my point, because I've been very annoyed at writer's conferences at just how dismissive agents can be and how certain many editors and agents are that their method of reading a couple lines of a story or book is the best way to judge merit, or has any relation to how their readers judge stories: However hard we may take rejections, they mean absolutely nothing, including failing to get an HM here. It just means that your story didn't meet the tastes of a particular editor, and, so long as your writing isn't fatally flawed, it has absolutely no bearing on what any other editor is going to think. On the other hand, when one editor likes your work, it means that other people will as well, and you have to do what you can to find an editor among those people.

I just got my first personal rejection from Giganotosaurus. Held for a second reading!
Of course, that is the tenth story I've sent to them, so I guess I finally wore them down.

Been getting a lot of these lately. The most recent was from Strange Bedfellows. Made it to the last cut before getting a personal R. Yay/boo so close!

I'm ninety days out at Asimov and submission still "Received." Is this unusual/unheard of ?

I'm ninety days out at Asimov and submission still "Received." Is this unusual/unheard of ?

Not right now, no. There hadn't been any responses at all through most of December. I'm at 99 days, and still at "received" and I'm aware of several other people who are around there as well.

I think there are a few Asimov's responses well up in the 100-range.

Until it goes to "under review," nobody's even looked at it, unfortunately.

I just got my first personal rejection from Giganotosaurus. Held for a second reading!
Of course, that is the tenth story I've sent to them, so I guess I finally wore them down.

Just saw this. Nice! Did they tell you that they'd already held it when they sent the rejection? Or...?

(I'm a little edgy about Giganotosaurus because the editor told me she'd get back to me by late December on a story of mine she was holding for the second round, and I've since seen an acceptance and some rejections on January 6th but haven't heard back even though I queried. So... )

I'm ninety days out at Asimov and submission still "Received." Is this unusual/unheard of ?

Not right now, no. There hadn't been any responses at all through most of December. I'm at 99 days, and still at "received" and I'm aware of several other people who are around there as well.

Thanks for the share- that makes my stomach a little less queasy! Oh the agony

Not right now, no. There hadn't been any responses at all through most of December. I'm at 99 days, and still at "received" and I'm aware of several other people who are around there as well.

Thanks for the share- that makes my stomach a little less queasy! Oh the agony

Good(?) News everyone!

According to the SubGrinder, Asimov's is starting to roll out responses again. Best of luck.

(?) indeed...