About a month ago, I found this fiction magazine I wanted to submit to. I went to their website, read their material, and was completely enthralled with their stuff. It excited me so much because the values of their work matched my own. I had just written a story I thought would be a perfect fit with the magazine. It was a little longer than what they wanted. (I wrote a story that was 7,000 words, they were looking for about 4,000.) So I said, fine, someday I will edited the story down and send it in.
May is a busy month for me. I have a million other things on my mind, but I could not stop thinking about that magazine. I had to send my story in! They would love it! It would be another publishing credit! I think we all know where this is going, but I will finish my tale anyway…
So, I took one night and really worked on it. I whittled it down to 4,000 words. Anyone who edits knows that cutting a story in half can be a big job. But, I did it. Next, Editor sat down and went over every single word with me. (He corrects. I fold laundry until he has a question, comment, or suggestion on the piece.) We spent two hours working. I was so excited about finishing it; I e-mailed it out right away.
I get up from the computer. I put folded laundry away. We get some food. We take turns kicking each other’s butt in Tetris for Wii. It’s just about bedtime. I go to shut down the hatches for the night. Oh… the computer’s still on…
I have an e-mail waiting for me. “Thank you. Although I enjoyed your writing, we only take stories about ….., and this story was about ….., not exactly what we have in mind. If you have other work, I would love to see it.”
I was heartbroken. All that work just for the editor not to understand what I was writing about! I feel like he didn’t even think about my story, just rejected it. Now I know the drill before anyone can tell me. If he didn’t get what I was saying, I must have said it wrong. He’s the editor, and he’ll print what he wants to. Don’t take it personally. I’m still feeling defeated. Hours of work… for an hour of anticipation and then a big fat rejection! GRAHHHH! I don’t usually get that worked up over rejections, but GRAHHHH!
It’s time to move on. On the bright side of this, I now have a story that’s 100% ready to fly. I just have to find other places for that story to go. It will find a home, it’s just a matter of time. You hear me, writing buddies? Positive thinking works.
I’m waiting for my story to come back from The First Line. This is my golden ticket, the one I’m really hoping to make it into. I’m trying very hard to get published in this magazine. The wait continues.
On a personal note, we set up the pool yesterday. Yee haw! We also had two pipes burst in the basement, but lucky for me Editor is not only an editor, he’s also a plumber too. J
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