The Losing Game: Writing Rejections 38-53/100
Hiya pals It has been a BIG MONTH for rejections. (Also the world, but you're already saturated with that shit.) The magazine readers and editors of the world have my respect, appreciation, and admiration for the work they're doing in these turbulent times. I salute you. I've been reading some thoughts from editors about having the time to read faster but being unsure if people are emotionally equipped to handle rejection in this time. That's consideration right there. I know I don't speak for everyone, but my vote is: Reject me, Daddy.
It makes my day to get responses to the work I'm doing. The rest of my life feels like whimpering into the void, so when something echoes back, I'm thrilled. (Incidentally, since I know you were curious, yes, the void is whimpering back into me.) It is my great pride to present the following rejections. Thank you for your service.
[WRITING REJECTION 38/100] First one's not that exciting, but wait. They get better. *Name was not on shortlist*
[WRITING REJECTION 39/100] Dear Entrant
We hope this email finds you, your friends and your family safe at this difficult time.
We would like to thank you very much for submitting a story to this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The success of the prize is dependent on the submission of entries from writers such as yourselves, and please be assured that we read each and every entry, and appreciate the time and effort that goes into crafting each story.
We received 5,107 entries this year, so, as always, the readers and judges have to make difficult decisions and we regret to let you know that your story didn’t make the shortlist this year.
Details of the 20 shortlisted stories will be on our website shortly. The regional winners will be announced in May, and the overall winner in a virtual ceremony on 7 July. We’ll be sharing more information about the ceremony via our newsletter and on our social media platforms nearer the time. We very much hope you will join us wherever you are in the world.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best in your writing endeavours and look forward to receiving entries from you in the future.
On behalf of all the team at Commonwealth Writers,
Many thanks again and our very best wishes Editors
[WRITING REJECTION 40/100] Dear Erin Kirsh,
Thank you very much for submitting to MUZZLE. Unfortunately, we will not be using this submission. Please keep in mind that we are only able to accept a small percentage of poetry submissions. Best of luck placing your work elsewhere.
Sincerely,
The Editors
Muzzle Magazine
[WRITING REJECTION 41/100] Dear Erin
Thank you for your poetry submission to Filling Station Literary Magazine.
We apologize that we will not be able to accept your work for our upcoming issue.
We do invite you to submit again to our magazine in the future.
Thanks for your commitment to poetry, and for putting your work out there!
Kindest regards and all the best,
poetry editor, fS
[WRITING REJECTION 42/100] Dear Erin,
Thank you for giving us another opportunity to read your work. While this submission wasn’t the right fit for our editorial needs at this time, we enjoyed reading your writing and are honored that you trusted us with your words. Please think of us again in the near future.
Best of luck with your writing,
The Editors
Cosmonauts Avenue
[WRITING REJECTION 43/100] Dear Erin Kirsh,
Thank you for sending your work to POETRY magazine - and thank you, too, for your patience.
Although we won't be able to keep anything from your submission for our pages, we are most grateful for the opportunity to read and think about it.
We hope you are as safe and well as can possibly be.
Sincerely,
The Editors
POETRY
[WRITING REJECTION 44/100] Dear Erin Kirsh,
Thank you for sending us "The Model." We read and evaluated it with great interest and your submission made it to our final round of selection. We loved your humor and the realness of your characters, but we have ultimately decided not to accept your submission for our next volume.
Thank you again for submitting, and we wish you the best of luck with finding a home for your work.
Sincerely,
Reunion: The Dallas Review
[WRITING REJECTION 45/100] Dear Erin,
Thank you again for submitting your work to The Puritan.
As editors, we’re forced to select an extremely small number of works from the hundreds of great submissions we receive each quarter. Submissions for this issue were once again excellent, and numerous (in fact, we broke a Puritan record for sheer volume). Although we have to pass on your submission this time around, we’re truly grateful that you thought to send it our way.
All the best in your future writing. Warm wishes and good luck!
Sincerely,
The Puritan Editorial Staff
[WRITING REJECTION 46/100] Dear Erin,
Thank you again for submitting your writing to Canthius.
We really appreciate the opportunity to read your work and we’re sorry to let you know that your submission was not chosen for publication. However, your submission was on our longlist for this issue and we want to encourage you to submit to us again.
We wish you every success in placing this work elsewhere and we hope to read more of your writing for upcoming issues. Our next round of submissions will open in the summer.
All our best,
Canthius Editorial Team
[WRITING REJECTION 47/100] Thanks for this submission, Erin. I’m going to pass on this one, but I appreciate your time and thank you for thinking of us. Best, Salon
[WRITING REJECTION 48/100] Dear Erin Kirsh,
Thank you for sending us your submission "Five Poems." We're sorry we can't use it, but we appreciate having the opportunity to consider it.
Sincerely,
The Editors
Colorado Review
[WRITING REJECTION 49/100] Dear Erin Kirsh, Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your poems for publication in New England Review. We have read them carefully and found that they do not fit our current editorial needs. However, we do appreciate your interest in our magazine and wish you the best in placing this work elsewhere.
Sincerely,
The Editors
New England Review
[WRITING REJECTION 50/100] Dear Erin Kirsh:
Thank you for sending "Five Poems." After careful consideration, we've decided against publishing this submission. Our staff is available to read from March 1st to May 31st, and then again starting on September 1st.
Kind regards, The Editors
[WRITING REJECTION 51/100] Dear Erin Kirsh,
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your poetry. Unfortunately, these particular pieces are not right for the magazine.
We wish you the best of luck with your writing.
Yours sincerely,
Editors
[WRITING REJECTION 52/100] Dear Erin,
Thank you for your recent submission to Booth, along with your patience during the review process. Although we are unable to find a place for The 6 Types of People you Meet at Public Skating Rinks at this time, our readers responded positively to the list's usage of concrete details. Due to these strong details, the readers could easily imagine the skating rink as they read.
Once again, thank you for submitting to Booth, and we hope that you will consider us in the future. We strongly encourage you to submit more work to us when we reopen submissions. We wish you the best of luck in finding your writing a home elsewhere.
Best Wishes,
Non-Fiction Editor
[WRITING REJECTION 53/100] Dear Erin Kirsh,
Thanks again for submitting your poem to our 2019 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. This was our most competitive contest yet with 5,516 entries, and I regret this entry did not win a prize.
Before the public announcement on April 15, we invite you to preview the judge's remarks and the winning entries at
https://winningwriters.com/our-contests/contest-archives/tom-howard-margaret-reid-poetry-contest-2019. I hope you'll consider entering again.
Best regards,
Adam Cohen
Winning Writers
What a glorious onslaught of Nopes. Also, hate to brag, but OVER 50. This might be the year I do it folks. 100. Pray 4 me. Until next time, - E.B. Kirsh