Celeste Tyler

Wow! I just sent off a story to a magazine that gave me an estimate of six weeks wait, and they replied in three days! Since I’ve been hearing back from these venues so frequently, I’m planning on making this the last time I share each and every rejection on its own. From now on I’ll share every five rejections or so, at which time I’ll make a compilation list. That way you can still read every letter word-for-word, but it doesn’t turn my entire blog into a never ending list of rejection posts. In the meantime, I have so many posts planned that I can’t wait to share with…

I’m pretty sure this blog is about to devolve into a big list of rejections, but sharing these letters with everyone has become part of my process now, so without further ado: Dear Christine, Thank you for sending ‘[TITLE]’ to [VENUE]. Unfortunately, we’ve decided it’s not quite right for us. We have to reject many good stories for a variety of reasons unrelated to their quality. We appreciate your interest in our magazine and wish you the best in finding a home for your story. We thought the exchange between [H] and [S] was compelling, but we wanted more connection with (and resolution to) the first-contact thread. Best Regards, [EDITOR]…

Want to see my latest form rejection? Dear Christine, Thank you very much for letting me see [TITLE].  I’m sorry it didn’t strike me as quite suitable to our present needs. Sincerely, [NAME] Editor So. This is the third rejection I’ve received for the same story. It’s the one I call “Satellite” in this post where I describe my current projects. I mentioned that it is very “niche.” It has a unique structure and style, one that doesn’t fit with most of the sff venues I read. I figured I’d go ahead and send it out to some larger publication venues in the odd chance that they might pick it…

Want to read my actual second rejection letter? Dear Christine, Thank you for the opportunity to read “[title].” Unfortunately, your story isn’t quite what we’re looking for right now.  In the past, we’ve provided detailed feedback on our rejections, but I’m afraid that due to time considerations, we’re no longer able to offer that service. I appreciate your interest in [name of venue] and hope that you’ll keep us in mind in the future. Take care, [name of editor] I think sharing my rejections might become something of a tradition on this blog. After I got the first one I decided to print them out and start collecting them in…

Hey guys, amazing news! I got my first rejection! It was for my “Satellite” short story that I briefly described in this post. I knew it’d be a hard sell, and sure enough, here’s the reply I got: Dear Christine Tyler,  Thank you for submitting [title of story] to [anthology], but we’ve decided not to accept it for publication.  We appreciate your interest in our magazine. Sincerely,  [name of editor] I thought I’d share this with you guys for a few reasons: One, if you’re thinking about submitting your work, you might be interested in seeing what a form rejection looks like. This is the kind of reply you get…