All Things Rejection!

[Kyle R]

I wonder if this is a form rejection. It seems too "nice."

It probably is, though. I imagine they have a list of templates based on how much they liked the rejection.

"Dear [WRITER]

Thank you for sending '[STORY]' for consideration in [PUBLISHER]. We really enjoyed your story, but we're sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. We did find much to admire in your work, though, and we hope you'll send us more to consider soon."

My memory is a bit foggy right now, but I believe that's a second-tier rejection from Fractured Lit. (I could be wrong about the market though, so forgive me if I am.)

A second-tier rejection is a good thing. It means one (or more) slush readers voted your story forward to receive a second reading. It's still a rejection, sure, but it's farther along in the process than most submitters get.

It means you did something right—even if, in the end, it didn't turn out to be the perfect fit.

[EternalGreen]

I'm shocked you would correctly identify this as being from Fractured Literary. I thought I had a good memory. Yours must be almost supernatural.

[Kyle R]

Hah! Oh, I wish I had a supernatural memory.

Actually, there are only a handful of flash markets that I've recently submitted to, and Fractured is one of them. I've been rejected by them a few times with the standard form response, along with the one you posted, as well. (That's how I know you got a second-tier rejection. I recognized the wording.)

I don't know what's beyond their second-tier rejection, though. Maybe you'll be the one to find out, if you submit to them again!

[Kyle R]

I definitely would not assume that some version of "I enjoyed your story..." means they actually did! 'Enjoy' probably means nothing here, it's a courteous little sweetener, a freebie of encouragment. If they actually, genuinely enjoyed it then it's likely (if not necessarily certain) they would have said yes. Because why wouldn't they?

Now you have me imagining all sorts of false-praise rejections that could be sent out. Lol.

"Dear Author,

Thank you for submitting your story for our consideration. All things considered, your story is quite possibly the best work we've read in recent memory!

Unfortunately . . ."

[EternalGreen]

Well, I just assumed that, with all your writing about super-heroes, maybe you were one.

A 3rd-tier rejection would probably go something like "we LOVE and would MURDER for your story, but we're going to have to pass, thanks."

[Kyle R]

A 3rd-tier rejection would probably go something like "we LOVE and would MURDER for your story, but we're going to have to pass, thanks."

LOL!

Fourth tier: "We were THIS CLOSE to accepting your story, but after careful review, we realized that there are other submissions that we like better than yours."

[EternalGreen]

"We typed out an acceptance letter and were MILLISECONDS away from hitting 'send,' but unfortunately . . ."

[Kyle R]

"'Congratulations! Your story has been accepted for publication!' ... is what we wish we could say to you. Unfortunately, it's a no."

[luckyscars]

It's really hard to assess what a rejection might mean without insider knowledge or multiple rejections from the same place to compare/contrast.

Personally...I don't feel a whole lot more encouraged by a nice rejection than a blunt one. A rejection is, well, a rejection. There's no such thing as 'almost getting published'.

I definitely understand others may perceive differently about it but to me it's almost worse if, hypothetically, the rejection implied that they were 'close but just not quite a yes', while another submission rejected it within two minutes with a template that offered no indication and was basically just a straight pass at the first glance.

The reason I consider it to be almost worse is because 'close but just not a yes' implies that I most likely had everything right except for a handful of crucial aspects that prevented it from being carried it over the line. That's a different kind of tragedy than simply 'not for me thanks', and to me...yeah, it's worse. It suggests that rather than the story simply not being the editor's cup of tea -- which is something that probably no amount of work on my part could have changed -- there were more preventable reasons for the rejection. Reasons which I could have fixed with slightly more work or a different decision. It's the difference between falling short ten feet from the summit and not even making it to base camp. Falling short ten feet from the summit might make you a better climber, but it arguably makes you a worse climber of that mountain because you actually had an opportunity and simply couldn't quite go the distance.

But, of course, it depends how you look at it. You could make a case that a positive reception to a story/ compliments on one's ability is always better than a 'sorry not for me' type of comment, regardless of whether the positivity leads to an actual 'yes' or not. I won't argue with that. I just never personally shared the view. At the end of the day, my self-esteem as a writer does not rest on acceptances and rejections much anyway: I think if I was to allow myself to think of it that way I would find it hard to write at all.

It's worth remembering that in most cases of form rejection, editors and agents will not have actually read the story in full or even more than a few paragraphs/pages. So extrapolating their opinion on how good or bad the work is, is often pointless -- they did not read it. An editor who offers detailed feedback and/or compliments the work only to ultimately turn it down, on the other hand, can be presumed to have actually read all of it -- in which case their lack of commitment in the end can be read as a more damning indictment.

[Matchu]

All the permutations are available to see on reject wiki/wiki rejection - I always forget the exact title of the website.

Personal rejections can be a boost - tho’ even personal rejections can take the negative spin - meaning you submitted to a tin pot/one man and dog operation where he definitely, absolutely read your story because he has not much else to do...awaiting bi-annual e-pub of sister’s chap book over in Norfolk forest.

I’ve had a few of those, making new friend with new loser situation.