Yeah, My Rejection letter is here

[MavrickWeirdo]

My SASE for the War-Torn novel search arrived in my mailbox today.

Inside was (of course) a generic rejection letter. I guess I was hoping for a checklist with the things that made my entry lame checked off, but I did't even get that.

Most of what it said was "read the guidelines carefully", "many of the Fantasy genre's beloved staples don't hold true in the world of EBERRON", and "utilizing the character classes, races, and spells of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game, and we're pretty strict about maintaining the way those things work."

Now I am sure, that there probably were entrys who decided that they didn't really need guidelines, or to have things in the story work like their "house-rules", but little of that applied to my enrty. (Whatever else was wrong with my enrty, I paid attention to the details.)

The most useful part was at the end. "In most cases, we prefer the EBERRON novels to be written in third person, past tense. Always concentrate on The Three Cs: conflict, character, and climax."

As a final note, I was bothered that there was no signature. I realize that there were hundreds of entry's, but they could have at least included a rubber stamp of a signature.

Hope I didn't spoil the surprise for those who didn't get theirs yet.

 

[Kastil]

Wow. Amazing. Looks like you received the same generic letter as I did. I found the 'third person' bit amusing considering that's what I wrote my sample in. Heck, I can't remember the last time I did something in first person. Nonetheless, I got the feeling we are a long list of people with the same letter. It would have been nice to get something a little more personal or some kind of critique, good or bad but with 300 submissions...imagine the writers cramp!
Oh well, I've moved on and mailed off the next thing on my list. The open call for a fiction novel. If that doesn't work, I'm seeking other outlets for my creations.

Anyone wouldn't happen to know a good place to sumit a short story would they?

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I was very impressed by Wizards' rejection letter. It was crisp, to the point, polite, and PRINTED ON GORGEOUS HIGH-QUALITY PAPER. That there's suitable for framing, folks; I know of no other publisher who sends form letters with anything better than copy paper.

If you're complaining about this, you haven't had many rejections by major publishers. Which means you're either very inexperienced, very lucky, or very, very good.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Oh, if you only knew the form rejection letter I used to send out from HarperPrism when I used to wade through the slush pile (that's the pile of unrequested manuscripts from unpublished authors).

Dear ...

Thank you very much for submitting your manuscript <insert title here> to HarperPrism. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept your work for publication at this time.

Sincerely,

XYZ

Man, we used to get some BAD manuscripts. The decent and good manuscripts that we had to reject actually got a thoughtful rejection letter, with pointers and tips on making the work suitable for publication. But when it comes down to it, an agented ms gets looked at before an unagented ms, so get an agent if at all possible. It'll get your work looked at faster than just sending in blind or sending a query letter. Sometimes a ms would sit for over a year before getting rejected. Seriously. We tried for a 6 month turn around tuime, but when you have 30 ms arriving daily, it just doesn't happen.

 

[tarchon]

That's funny. All I got back was an envelope full of ashes. Maybe it's my pen name - does "Rose Estes" sound too corny?

 

[tarchon]

Anyone wouldn't happen to know a good place to sumit a short story would they?

The spicy green iguana (http://www.spicygreeniguana.com/) knows all.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

I was very impressed by Wizards' rejection letter. It was crisp, to the point, polite, and PRINTED ON GORGEOUS HIGH-QUALITY PAPER. That there's suitable for framing, folks; I know of no other publisher who sends form letters with anything better than copy paper.

That's why I wanted it it signed

If you're complaining about this, you haven't had many rejections by major publishers. Which means you're either very inexperienced, very lucky, or very, very good.

I am willing to admit I am very inexperienced

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I was very impressed by Wizards' rejection letter. It was crisp, to the point, polite, and PRINTED ON GORGEOUS HIGH-QUALITY PAPER. That there's suitable for framing, folks; I know of no other publisher who sends form letters with anything better than copy paper.

Playboy Magazine responds to short story submissions on quarter page stationery. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw it. As I recall, it even has a gold leaf stamp of their logo on it.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

My all-time classic inconsiderate rejection letter was a block of form text very poorly photocopied onto a legal pad-sized scrap of paper, with a "declined" stamp crudely and innacurately applied in the upper-left corner. It just screamed derision.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Playboy Magazine responds to short story submissions on quarter page stationery. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw it. As I recall, it even has a gold leaf stamp of their logo on it.

Wow.

I'll bet this, not the fact that they pay well and are/used to be prestigious, is the real reason many short fiction writers considered Playboy the best market in the world.