This was my reaction when I opened my e-mail, and saw that I had received an e-mail from a fiction magazine that I'd sent a short story back in September. Somehow, even without opening the message, I just knew it was thanks, but no thanks! Indeed, given how competitive the market is, I knew that was the likely fate way back in September when I clicked the on-line "submit" button. Still...the story interested me, and one item on my "bucket list" is to have just piece of fiction published before I take up residence in the skull orchard. But...even so, such rejection still hurts. And it's beyond painful at the moment, as I'm drowning with all the other problems in my life. Drowning with loneliness, and no apparent options left for increasing my local friend count past its current whopping zero. Struggling with cash flow issues. Struggling with a dysfunctional family issue. Struggling with the fact that I am stalled on my EC journey, and no apparent way of getting the EC journey engine started again. And, making things extra special, this week I'm working on another story, which will be submitted for a contest. Highly competitive contest, and a part of me already was asking why bother? Now...it's: "Why bother? Why not quit before wasting any more time? And also this way I'll save a few bucks on postage!" (I can't even comfort myself here with the argument: "Well, maybe a different editor will like my work better!" I'm pretty sure at least part of the editorial staff that runs the magazine also judges this particular contest.) I opened the e-mail. In a story, the expected rejection would be actually be acceptance, with the offer of ten million dollars. But this is real life, as dreary as that is, and so it was the expected rejection. Life, I guess, goes on, and one must continue the fight, even if the war appears to be a hopeless.
I'm sorry. My good friend is an aspiring author (I get to read her stories/books and help edit them!) and she hasn't had any luck outside of a collection of short stories her writing group published. I'm sure it is disappointing, but besides self publishing, you just have to keep trying. Good luck with the contest!
I'm sorry to hear of your rejection...although I very much have wanted to write and have not been able to get far so I think it's great that you have achieved this. But what I really want to say is that your post resonates with my mood so much and although I don't want to necessarily glorify the negative, it just feels real to me. You have successfully expressed my own state of despair, "Life, I guess, goes on, and one must continue the fight, even if the war appears to be a hopeless.". __________________
aurturoenrico has it right: you are far ahead of most, in that you have completed a piece of writing rather than talking about it. Congrats to you for this! I, for one, would love to read what you've written, "publishable" or not.
Completion is something to be proud of. The market out there is so deep and it's really so picky and choosey. I write daily for me, every now and again I'll submit something whether an article, story, screenplay but ultimately I do it for me. There are also a ton of options out there to self publish, whether blog form, various websites or even e-books (which is something I'm heading towards). You got the story out of and should be proud of that!
Yup, those rejection emails suck, but it doesn't necessarily speak to the quality of the piece. There can literally be a hundred reasons a piece is rejected, ranging from an editors personal biases to not fitting the style of the publication etc.. The point is, though the writing is personal, the rejection isn't.
Robert D'Nero had some good advice for actors and people in the media alike recently. He said, 'Get used to being rejected, you will be told NO more times than you'll remember but keep going for your big break is just round the corner.' The media business I assume is similar to the acting business in that it's swamped with applicants- the more you try the more likely it is you'll succeed. Keep going!
I am an appallingly bad sports fan (yes, I am gay), but I remember reading something about batting averages, so I decided to check it out and indeed it is a very applicable statistic to this thread. From this site, I found out how it is calculated: And from this site, I found out that Ty Cobb had the leading batting average at 0.366, this means he had a base hit 36.6% for all his at-bat opportunities. It also means that he "failed" 63.4% of the times he was at-bat... Also from the site I quoted above: I could go on with the clichés about "stepping up to the plate", but I think you get my drift... Whether you are published or not, is really out of your control; you did the best you could, and as arturoenrico said, you are far ahead of most of us with aspirations to write. Both success and failure are impostors, they mean nothing and it is better to be indifferent to either. Try to learn why it didn't get published, be as objective and as analytical as possible. Continue writing what interests you, and perhaps, as Paolo Coelho wrote in this piece, try to write things that not only make people think, but also dream.
Thanks for the comments! It is interesting, because I know full well the reality of the situation, and have known for years. The market is beyond competitive. The short story market is particularly tough. But, while one might realize this intellectually, the seemingly inevitable rejection still hurts on another level. And, as I discovered yesterday, that pain is multiplied when everything else in one's life has apparently turned to shit. Also, while thinking of all this, I realize that there is another problem here. I have a low self esteem issue at work--I desperately want to hear someone say something nice so I'll feel like I am a worthwhile human being.
Well Son of Adam (or as we say for every human being in Hebrew: Ben Adam), your worth is not what you do, not who your parents were, not where you live or what you have. Your worth is infinite and beautiful, and nothing needs to prove it, you are indeed a human being and the world was created for you and for all of us, equally!
It's always possible at some point the story will end up being "published" on-line someplace. Right now, it's been submitted elsewhere. (One old rule: when rejection hits, resubmit immediately, without even rereading the piece.) I "published" one story on my blog here on EC. Not my best, but for those looking to cure incurable insomnia, the story is at this link: http://emptyclosets.com/forum/blogs/bmc77/9057-secrets-must-remain-secrets-short-story.html ---------- Post added 28th May 2015 at 03:35 PM ---------- True enough. But...it's so easy to loose sight of this, even if one doesn't have low self esteem. At least in the US, people get so wrapped up in defining self worth as the job they have, the McMansion they have, the TOL BMW they have as a daily driver, etc, etc, etc.
Well, if it's any consolation to you, most people who "own" all those toys and oversized dwellings bought them on credit (i.e. they belong to the bank), and you can bet that their disposable income (except for the fabled 1%) is consequently not that much better than yours.
Yes, although I think my cash flow is ugly enough that the people heavily in debt probably still have more disposable income. :tears: But there is no doubt that a lot of people in the US have massive debt to finance houses and cars that are "necessary" to impress the neighbors. I remember reading an article published in the late 1970s that talked about how it was "impossible" to live on $100,000 a year. Keep in mind that this was the late 1970s--$100 grand is a lot now, but it was a lot more then. But...as the author showed, the people in that salary bracket had massive spending to acquire the stuff "needed" for people in that income bracket. There was little or nothing left by the time the Mercedes payments, the penthouse rent, the expensive clothes bought, and the high end restraunt meals were eaten. I am fortunate in that I have little interest in status symbols. Even so...it's sometimes hard, because of the herd mentality can slip in. I went to an event Tuesday--one of those pitiful attempts to add to my non-existent friend collection :tears:--and I could not help but notice that everyone else appeared to have a smart phone. There was a moment of feeling like poor, white trash. But, later, once again, I was able to remind myself that yes, smart phones are interesting technology. (A computer beyond any I used in the 80s that can fit into your pocket!) But I have no practical need/use for a smart phone. The money--even if I had it--would be better spent other ways.
Hi I have never needed approval of others. I learned long ago self satisfaction on a job well done is far more valuable. Dude! You freaking wrote a work of fiction. Congratulations!!!!
I'm sorry to hear that happened. I believe that is a scenario with competition that is markedly above average. And then it really sucks when you feel confident about the work you had put into it and the final product. Try to go for some small reachable victories in the meantime to give you some pep once you identify what they are. They could make you feel better and they could offset the rejection you experienced. I know that it can take several smaller ones to offset one or two bigger losses or rejections. Boy, do I know that.
Hi lots of people's stories get rejected. Have you thought about publishing part of it online and then when people get hooked you could ask them to pay to view the rest of the story. Have you had any people edit the story you have written to ensure that it flows well? I like your reference to skull orchard, I haven't heard that one before. I'll be your friend, so that +1 on that friend count. Other ways to increase friend count are try meetup.com it has groups who go on outings based on a particular interest (not a dating website) a great way to meet new people, other ways are join a local club either sports, arts club or maybe even a church group if you believe in God. As for cash flow I'm not sure how to help with that one, watch what you spend you money on, change or get a job, get assistance for your government if you can't find a job, get a loan from the bank offer to garden at people's houses for some cash. Can't help with the family issue without more details. Why are you stalled on your EC journey? In terms of the contest it is your choice if you will enter it, however having an attitude that you won't win and shouldn't bother and save postage on money makes no sense. Clearly you are interested in the contest and even if you don't win you could still post the story on line for people to read or at least get some feedback on the story. We can't win all the time but we can hope to win and if we don't well then perhaps the story needs editing or perhaps you need to try other avenues to get it read. However if you don't enter there is absolutely zero chance of you winning so you may as well enter. Lastly I'd like to say even though your first story is yet to be published it is quite an achievement to write a story so I hope you are proud of all the work you have done and with being able to finish a story, I know that's something I could not do. All the best!
If your passion is writing.. Keep on writing and persist Being rejected should be secondary if you are doing what you enjoy It's great to have a creative outlet like that And one day someone will grab it with both arms Maybe you can vary the subject matter so it becomes even more personal and useful to you - kind of therapeutic?
