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freelance writing tips, getting published, poetry, queries, writing, writing for magazines, writing goals
Just a few of my rejection letters.
You know you love hearing about other writers’ rejections. It’s like hearing bad date stories. They happen to the best of us. However, there are some pretty unique rejection stories outside of the standard “thanks, but no thanks” slip of paper.
One rejection letter I received also served as a death notice. The editor died. 😦
Some markets don’t even send a real rejection letter. You just get a teeny slip of paper. As if we’re not even worth a whole sheet of paper!
Scathing Rejection Letters
A Chapel Hill-area poet, who chooses to use the nom de plume Willy Rockton, attended the Naropa Institute in 1980 and studied with Allen Ginsberg. He submitted poems to a magazine called Samisdat and they recognized the return address: The Jack Kerouac School for the Disembodied Poetics. The editor rejected the work citing:
Just because you are sucking Allen Ginsberg’s c*** doesn’t make you a poet.
A Triangle Writers member received the below letter when she first started writing, saying her piece sounded like Andy Rooney! She was mortified, but fortunately–she didn’t let it stop her!
Encouraging Rejection Letters – The Depressing Cheerleaders
Another Triangle Writers’ member, Jennifer, got a pat on the shoulder when she was shown the door: “I’m afraid I must decline on this project right now, but I do want to encourage you to continue writing and submitting…persistence pays off, so don’t give up!”
A little note I received about a travel piece: “Not for us, thanks. We need meaty narratives that surprise and tell a story nobody has told, things that will grab a reader and pull them in, which is not easy on the web. Feel free to try again with something more suitable later.”
Dead End Rejection Letters
A short email I received, in its entirety: “Thanks for your proposal. I just don’t have a place for it right now.”
And another I received: “My impression is that this would not be a workable story as it is a bit too esoteric.”
Day Late and a Dollar Short Rejection Letters
An email I received after submitting a magazine query: “This is a great idea, unfortunately your timing is off. We actually ran a story about this in our latest issue, which should hit newsstands next week.”
The Acceptance Letter Disguised as a Rejection Letter
“We aren’t sure if we love these pieces, so we’re going to let our readers decide. We are going to publish them in our Poetry Segment at Golden Sparrow Literary Review.” Also from Willy Rockton.
Have you had a unique rejection or two or three?
(Some press and market information has been omitted for privacy purposes.)
I love Bukowski and his short story “Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip”
I need to look that one up!
I just got my first rejection this week! Yay for progress. My writing motto comes from Gandhi. He said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” I have just made it to the “laugh at you stage”!
Yay, Adam! Great quote. As I was going through my pile I found what I believe to be my oldest rejection letter…from 11 years ago! Just imagine everything that was written since then. Keep writing. And keep ’em laughing.
I love this quote! I’m keeping it on my desk now to help deal with future rejections!
Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed! 😀
Jeez, some editors are so mean! I haven’t started looking for a publisher yet but at least when I do, I know what to expect…….absolutely dreading it! LOL!
Nisha, there are some really friendly editors out there too – gotta have a thick skin until you find them. 🙂
This piece can suck my c***. Just kidding, very nice indeed–keep up the BLOGS!
Was the pull quote different yesterday?
Thanks, Tom! Yes, it was updated shortly after I posted it. Had the story jumbled, like a game of telephone.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing the rejection letters.
Thank you for offering your rejection story!
Thank you so much for posting these! Hilarious! I’ve gotten some rejections in so far but nothing too notable – most of the awful feedback and comments about my writing choices have come from other writers in online forums!
It’s great that what would be a worthless rejection letter can have a positive affect. I haven’t had the online forum experience–but I imagine that can be taken with a grain of salt….unless it’s a forum of publishing industry pros!