I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon when it comes to magazine submissions and rejections. You might remember me mentioning getting a lot of responses right before the holidays because they were all closing up shop and wanting to get through their queues. January remained pretty slow, as did February, but I started getting some responses in March and now that it’s April it feels like they’re pouring in. All of this gives me the impression that magazine editors are hibernating creatures that rise from the Spring thaw like the alpine marmot, the common poorwill, and the hedgehog. It also might be the fact that the new stories I’ve been sending out…

Writing has been full of ups and downs this last week, but it’s mostly been ups, thanks to a few epiphanies. I thought a lot about how I could reframe rejection (again), so I could regain my confidence. What I ended up doing was redefining it. I learned a lot about rejection when I was serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Knocking on people’s doors and asking if they’d like to invite me and my companion in, so we could share our innermost beliefs with them, is a bit of a crash course in rejection. The thing is, I never really minded when people…

I just got this email: Dear Christine Tyler,  Thank you very much for letting us read “[story].” I enjoyed it and have passed it up to the editors for review.  Thanks again, and best of luck!  Kind regards, [slushpile reader]   Ahhhhhh!!! Let me explain what this means for those of you who could use a little background. When submissions come in without an agent representing them or special consideration, they go into what’s called “The Slushpile.” It means your story gets thrown into a big ol’ digital swamp with everyone else’s work — the good, the bad, and the ugly. For that reason, many magazines have their interns or non-leading editors…

I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for weeks now, and it’s time I finally do it. The truth is, my rejections are getting to me. They’re not just getting to me, they’ve gotten to me. And I haven’t even received thirty of them yet! (I’m currently at twenty-eight.) When I started this whole blog, I resolved to share the real experience behind my writing. I wanted to talk about what I was doing, and how it made me feel. I wanted to be able to bring my readers along for the journey, the real journey. Conversely, I think it’s really annoying when authors don’t talk about “the struggle”…

Did you know that submitting your work to magazines in December is kind of a terrible idea? Well, turns out, it is! If you think that’s because editors are trying to get through the slushpile and go home to their families, you’re probably right! The majority of the stories I submitted during the 2018 holiday season were rejected within a week. Wow! So I guess, if you really want a quick turnaround time, send your stuff in right before Christmas, hahaha. #21 Dear Christine Tyler, Thank you for submitting [title] to [venue], but we’ve decided not to accept it for publication. We appreciate your interest in our magazine. Sincerely, [editor]…