/lit/ - Literature

>>4733778
"Your work is not suitable for our publication. We suggest you become familiar with what we publish. Enclosed find your manuscript.

Eds
Playboy"

- lol

>>4733794
"Please consider re-submitting this for our writers' contest issue.

Zoetrope: All Story"

- then a year away

>tfw your rejection is just the word, NO, written on a postcard

>>4733809
I think I'd prefer that kind of rejection. It's straightforward and you get a sweet looking picture on the reverse side.

>>4733809
"I regret that I cannot extract from you by force the amortized equivalent of my daily salary to compensate for the minutes of my life wasted reading your 'work.'"

-name and pub withheld

>>4733778
"At first I thought I might want to ask for more pages, but upon reflection I don't engage with your protag enough to sell his story with the enthusiasm you deserve for a first novel. Enclosed, etc."

- an established NY agent

>>4733825

>hurr i cant relate

what a pleb.

For a short story submission:

"We wanted to thank you for your submission this month to Liars’ League NYC for the Travel & Adventure theme. We thought The God in the Road was interesting, but felt it was more of a part of a larger narrative than a short story. Have you thought of developing the idea further? Although we didn’t pick your piece this time, we’d very much like to see more of your writing in future..."

At least they read it.

>>4733818
Oh christ, that's cold, man. Is that real?

>>4733846
I've gotten a similar rejection letter. An agent actually bothered to tell me that I was a strong writer, but she didn't feel a 'personal connection' to the story, so she would have to pass.

>mfw

But in her defense, I've rewritten huge chunks of the book since then, so she may have had a point.

>tfw submitted work to school's literary journal and they said to expect to hear from them in March
>still haven't received any word

Golly, this is nerve wracking.

I submitted an article to the student paper a few months back. The editor rejected it and gave me the copy back. The headline was annotated with '...thud' and a giant cross was put through the text.

>>4733872
March is over. Time to put a bucket on your head and charge their headquarters.

>>4733863
Yes. But the pub is known for that kind of attitude. In context, it fit their editorial disposition. I was warned.

this is a paraphrased as the email is gone:

you have a great platform [i mentioned having 6,000 twitter followers] but 140,000 words is too long for a debut novel

>qt: oh you write? let me read it. you're gonna get it published right?
>me: y-yea, and s-sure.
>2 weeks pass and forget to send story
>qt: hey anon, i was just talking to anon-a about your story. I want to read it!
>me: o-okay, give your email
>send her story 2 days later
>no word
>its been a month

It's worse than your stupid letters.

I have always been an avid reader but I just recently thought about actually writing something.
However I would not even know how to format a story or a book in word. What kind of formatting do you guys use?

>>4733882
I don't get it

>>4733897
ahahaha im so sorry

post the story and we'll learn why

"This is excellent work; we would love to publish you! Please reply with your bank's routing number in order to receive your $500,000 payment.

Sincerely

Franklin T. Cornbum (Ed. of The New Yorker)"

This is what we would have said if we were The New Yorker. But unfortunately for you, we're not. We publish the bloodiest, nastiest, most magical shit on the planet, not boring Alice Munro crap about old ladies crying over dead boyfriends and adult diapers at the farmer's market. Get fucked.

Sincerely

The Entire Editorial Staff of Nightmare Magazine

>>4733897
she's stolen your idea and because she has a pussy, she'll get it published and no one will take your word over hers

>>4733913
ow the edge

>>4733890
>mfw when my novel is 185k and I'm still trying desperately to edit it down before submitting it somewhere

>>4733911
the plot of Californication, season 1. I hope anon is not banging a jailbait.

>>4733883
I might have to. Expecting something for so long is driving me nuts.

>>4733919
break it into 2 90k word novels
that's what i'm going to do

>>4733913
That one is funny. And they pay .05/word. I wonder how many subbers think NYer actually pays like that for fiction.

>>4733897
Perhaps, in light of reading your masterpiece, she became shackled so by the weight of your genius - a most unexpected burden - that she felt herself unworthy of your companionship and thus retreated safely to merge back with those of common stock to which she truly belongs.

>>4733778
>Dear anon,

>We have read your submission and will have to pass, as it unfortunately does not
>meet our needs at this time.

>Thank you,


>Jack Fisher & Sean Wallace, Editors
>The Dark

Well I've read your magazine and considered subscribing, but unfortunately I will have to pass, as it unfortunately does not meet my needs at this time, and you're the ones losing more money.

>Churn Thy Butter appreciates your submission, The Rachel Martin Show. Episode 5 Season 3; >“Alien Gonzales.”. Rest assured we've read the whole thing, but it wasn't right for our magazine. We >wish you all the best in placing this piece elsewhere.

>Notes: Parts of this seemed they were meant to "gross out." Not our style.

>The CTB editors.

C'mon step it up.

If I ever become wealthy I'm going to start my own publishing company and publish the actually good shit that needs to be put out into the world

>>4733857
How does that work? Did you write it just for the theme? Or did you sub an existing piece? Did you alter it for live performance?

"Dear Author,

"I greatly appreciate the opportunity to consider your query - thanks for sending it.

"Alas, the query didn't appeal quite enough to inspire me to offer representation or further consideration of your project. I wish I had the time to respond to everyone with constructive criticism, but it would be overwhelming, hence this form response.

"This business is highly subjective; many people whose work I haven't connected with have gone on to critical and commercial success. So, keep trying!

"I am grateful that you have afforded me this opportunity to find out about you and your project, and wish you the best of success with your current and future creative work."


>Dear Author,

Why even bother at that point?

How long did it take most of you to get your rejections? I queried about 20 agents a month ago, and it's been silence ever since.

They all have 2-6 week reply times, according to their websites. I think I might be so bad as to not even warrant a response.

>>4733907
no youll steal it like she stole my <3

I don't write but this is kinda sad. Any success replies?

>>4733980
I wrote it just for the theme. They had a 3k word limit, so it wasn't super long, and therefore didn't take a huge amount of time.

They probably realized- correctly- that the short story I submitted is one in a series of stories taking place in a universe I've created. I wish some of these magazines and journals weren't so averse to taking on something that's part of a bigger world, that clearly has more going on with it.

I wonder if any of them would have accepted "The Phoenix and the Sword" if it were submitted today.

>>4733998
"The Phoenix *on* the Sword," rather. I always forget about that.

>>4733997
Actually, the whole point of this thread, as I intended it, is to look back with satisfaction on the foible and pride required to have gotten this far. Everyone here knows what I mean. Besides, if we post accepts, we are using /lit/ for advertising. The failures have to come first. That's the thing.

>>4733991
Fuck up your formatting, you'll get an instant form rejection.

>>4733998
I am trying to imagine writing for an actor to read. It is contorting my broca's area.

It doesn't make sense to me either, on the other thing. I would want the back issue sales and click-throughs from when the novel comes out full of prior acks about where the pieces first appeared.

>>4734010
Is it advisable to resubmit to agents after you've fixed your formatting?

Should I start writing with a format in mind or search for those seeking writings and then write according to their format?

Or just write a novel and shove it in everyone's face until they print it?

>>4734010
So, what does no reply at all mean..? They're just too busy to even bother with a form rejection?

>>4734014
I didn't write with a mind to it being read, I just wrote for the theme and I thought it would sound good when read out loud.

>>4734023
If it's an agent, then it is like silence in a crit thread. The assistant assigned to whittle down the slush pile didn't even.

>>4734033
Damn. So, should I resubmit in hopes of actually getting read, or just cut my losses and move on?

Where do you guys get your list of agents from? The Writers Market has an unforgivably puny list, and every online resource requires a monthly subscription fee.

I'm an editor of a small literary zine. Reading these makes me feel like a saint. I reply within like three days and give the most encouraging feedback to even the shittiest writers.

>>4734037
Judgement call, anon. There are many agents in the sea. Also, there is always the Miss Snark archive to consult. She left it up there for a reason.

>>4734061
what's the sub/pub ratio in a given month?

>>4733897
should have just sent her the text of infinite jest

>>4733778
What is we post our solicitation messages instead.
Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Verlaag Dr Mueller.

>>4734076
Probably like 1:1.

I could probably go without publishing a lot of the stuff I do, but it's just a small-time DIY zine so I'm not gonna take myself too seriously. I've also been in the position of a lot of these guys before, so I like giving them something to stick on a resume if they have any potential.

>>4734052
Twitter. I'm not kidding. Go on Twitter and search for 'submissions,' or better yet, if you've got a novel ready to go, search for #mswl .

I've never gotten any, but I have had poems gone unpublished without a response a long time ago.

>Dear Mr. Braxton,

>Thank you for submitting "Gear 10," but I'm going to have to pass on it. This tale didn't grab my interest I'm afraid. Good luck to you with this one, and thanks again for sending it our way.

>Sincerely,
>Scott Thomas
>Assistant Editor

Got this from Asimov Magazine when I was 12, I believe. It was in response to my horrible Final Fantasy/anime inspired short story. God bless his soul for actually bothering to read it and respond.

I got a rejection from one well known story lit mag, not mentioned in this thread (clew: choo choo), which consisted entirely of a business reply postcard to subscribe for a year. 5% discount for two.

>>4734092
"Dear anon,

We've decided that our single poem for the [month] issue will be from the current Poet Laureate of the Library of Congress, instead of yours. We hope you understand."

fucking statists.

>>4734157
Shit like that almost gets me down. "You're not well known enough to be published." "You need to be published to be more well known."

May as well jump off a bridge and push your book on Good Morning America or whatever dying talk show grabs you to fill time.

>>4734157
>>4734165
reminds me of when i applied for a residency at a local college
just before sending the email, i checked who had taken the residency in the past
they were all liberal stereotypes and I knew my application was doomed
soooooo
the last line of my application was "good luck picking a morbidly obese gay black womyn who writes non rhyming poetry about storing her hot vinegary queefs in a mason jar over me you miserable fuck."

they actually went with a bald headed black fat woman.

>>4734180
I have a feeling being aggressive and demanding will go well for me. Call me old fashioned, but having the right amount of "force" tends to do well against literary-administrative types.

>>4733778
Hell, I here - I have it saved OP

What should the subject line for a query look like? Query: Title-Genre-Author? Do you include the agent's name too?

>>4734227
Wow, that report completely took the words out of my mouth.

Good to see someone had common sense back then.

>>4734229
>> Miss Snark at the blog spot.

>>4733866
>If I don't like it, It's obviously not good enough to publish. I mean I can speak for everyone!

>>4734246

Fucking this. Read Animal Farm in high school and it's just like... Why don't we just read a fucking text book? Am I 3 years old or something, do you think I can't pay attention unless you turn them into animals?

I actually liked it fine, but far out, it's just a bit of history with animals, what's the big deal?

>>4734281
That woman has awful taste. Sure, she's a great editor, but the only stuff she ever praised on her blog was either manic-pixie YA fiction or very simplistic, "gritty" YA fiction. Everything else was labelled as either "too confusing"; had an "unrelatable" protagonist; "I don't handle books dealing with terrorism"; "This isn't my genre"; "Not for us"; and although she referred to Faulkner whenever somebody was a little heavy-handed with description, it sounded as if she were basing it on his work's reputation rather than her reading of it.

>>4736930
Gotta pay dem bills. I was referring to her advice regarding the submission process, the handling of rejection, handling acceptance, how to follow up, formatting detail advice, contract negotiation, agent selection, publisher shopping, marketing expectations, and all the other apparatus of fiction production.

Her personal reading tastes and individual business choices were irrelevant to the value of all the above.

>>4734140
I know who that is.

I have been snailmail-spammed for two years by a journal I submitted to and never heard back from in any other way. Not same journal.

"Though Markson's original manuscript was rejected fifty-five times, the book, when finally published in 1988 by Dalkey Archive Press, met with critical acclaim. In particular, the New York Times Book Review praised it for "address[ing] formidable philosophic questions with tremendous wit." "

>>4733975

Enjoy going bankrupt.

Publishing is a business, they have their hands tied on only being able to publish what will sell. It's how the world works. Not their fault. Blame piece of shit readers who have terrible taste.

>>4737570
>Publishing is a business
a dying one

>>4737628
So was the recording industry. More music is sold now than ever. The money just goes to different hands. So shall it be.