About a month ago, I sent out a short story of mine called “Dark As Roses” to Realms of Fantasy. The story isn’t all that fantastical. It’s mainly about regular people and events, but the main character has the ability to see colors around people depending on their moods, and the core of the story is her struggle to either run from her ability and the complications that come with it, or to embrace it and find a way to live with it. I guess the term for that kind of story is “magical realism,” or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.
Well, today I had it returned with a form rejection slip paper-clipped to the manuscript. It’s frustrating, but it’s so common in a way, to myself and to all writers at some point, that I don’t even feel that disappointed. Or, at least not yet. Sometimes it’s like I have a time-delay reaction to things.
One thing that gives me reassurance is yesterday I read an interview with Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander, probably my favorite book EVER, and she wrote about getting rejected for years, and how when she got accepted somewhere, she had a party and papered the walls with her old rejection letters. So, it happens to all of us.
As they say the only thing to do is to keep trying, so I think I’ll go back to working on rewriting my book manuscript.
~Emilia J
Currently listening:
“Angels of the Silences” – Counting Crows
April Julia 
Ahhhh, pooey… I got two (for poems) last week. Wish I had a parrot, perfect fodder for page liner. Just get even: write. Write more. Write better. And send that baby back into the world – now! Errr, maybe tomorrow when the post-office opens…. peace, Linda
Good luck getting it published!
@Kevin – thanks! It’s funny, I ended up winning a $1,000 scholarship because of that story, but still no publication. At the same time, I’ve gotten really lazy about submitting stuff until very recently. So there’s that.
~EJ
I sometimes wonder who does get published when I hear about good writers continually getting rejected. I suspect a lot of publishers, magazines, newspapers etc lack the courage or foresight to publish anyone other than established writers. Some publishers didn’t even bother to respond when I sent off my manuscript last summer; I think one year on I can assume their answer is ‘no!’
@Alison – I know what you mean. I think there are a lot of contributing factors. One is that there are SO many people trying to get published, and I do think the publishing world is a little more skittish with new authors than they used to be. There are still some places that look for new authors, though. It just takes some more searching and a lot of persistence.
Sometimes I wish I could hire someone to do the querying and submission stuff so I could focus on writing.
I’d love to learn a lot more about your manuscript and where you’re at with it. If a year has passed, I think it’s okay to call and make sure they received it, but yeah, I’d probably assume no after a year with no response, and I’ve had to do that before.
~EJ
Thanks for the shout out in the related articles.
Getting rejected is tough. It seems like there are a lot of people trying to break into the game, but only so many spaces available. The odds are against us, but I’m sure we’ll get it eventually! At least they were nice enough to get back to you in a timely manner.
@Nancy – one of the things I LOVE about wordpress is reading all the suggested similar posts and finding other blogs and writers.
Persistence is definitely the key. Sometimes sending out material and writing queries and all that can be so time- and energy-consuming, but every once in awhile, when it pays off, it’s so worth it.
And yes, definitely appreciate a timely rejection, or personalized ones, or encouraging ones.
~EJ