WRITER'S REJECTION LETTERS

WRITER'S REJECTION LETTERS - PART 1

March 18th 2011 02:14

Hands up if you’ve been rejected before.

Here are just SOME of the online rejections I've received for work I’d submitted to publishers, literary agents and journals over the years (I also have a pile of rejection letters sent over the mail that I’ll sell on eBay one day).

Rejection letters have become smart. They’re not as harsh as the ones I used to read about: they don’t put you down and always end with some vague, supportive last line. My favourite rejection letters are from Voiceworks: a publication focusing on the works of artists aged below 25. They always have something constructive to say.

It's pretty clear that I haven’t been rejected enough.

-

REJECTION 11 (March, 2011):

Thank you for your patience while we read your proposal. We are unable to take things further and I am sorry to be disappointing. This is a reflection on our full list, and we are always looking for cutting edge projects, but due to the huge number of submissions received, please understand we select very few. Of course do keep trying other agents.

Andrew Mann Ltd, Literary Agency
London N7

-

REJECTION 10 (February, 2011):

Dear Author,

I'm sorry that the volume of unsolicited material we receive makes this sort of form response necessary. We've read your material, and I'm sorry to say that we don't think it is right for the specific talents of the people working at our company at this time. We wish you the best of luck in finding the right path to publication.

Sincerely,
Brian DeFiore & the staff

-

REJECTION 9 (A series of rejections occurring from 2009-2010, from a guy who was nice enough to let me show him two of my novel manuscripts):

Thanks again for showing me your novel, and sorry for the delay in response. Having read it now, I’m afraid it’s not for us: I wasn’t sure about the overall narrative arc, though I did admire the concept and thought there were some poignant moments in the piece. Sorry to disappoint you here, but of course this is all very subjective, and another publisher may feel differently.

Best wishes,

...

-

REJECTION 8 (October, 2009):

Thank you for submitting your story to the 2009 State Library of Queensland’s Young Writers Award. We received a total of 173 entries from across Queensland.

I regret to inform you that your story was not selected as a winning entry. Our judging panel this year commented on the large number of high quality stories this year, and as I’m sure you can appreciate, not all of entries could be short-listed.

The winning story – The Lunar Coast - was written by Megan McGrath, a 24 year old woman from Brisbane
The winner of the Maureen Donahoe Encouragement Award is Liam O’Brien for his story What sort of heroine. This award is given in memory of the late Maureen Donahoe, a runner-up in 1998.

The ‘Highly Commended’ stories for 2009 are Agua Mal by Curtis Clarke, Nagymama by Catherine Vallance, And the rest is unwritten by Meg Bauer, One night stand by Kate Sherrington, and Vapid descent by Samuel Dinnison.

All of these stories can be read online at

Really Long Link

Thank you again for entering and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best with your writing in the future.

Yours sincerely,

...

-

REJECTION 7 (October, 2009):

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your manuscript. We read it with interest but I regret we will not be making an offer of publication. We do not feel that Text is the right firm to successfully publish this book.

Thank you for thinking of us, and we wish you every success in finding a publisher for your work.

-

REJECTION 6 (October, 2009 – yup, I received multiple rejections in October, 2009. It was a shitty month!):

Dear Vogel Applicant,

Re: The Australian/Vogel Literary Award 2009

I am writing to let you know that the judges have decided on the shortlist for this year's award. I am sorry to have to tell you your manuscript was not selected.

The shortlist was published in the 'Review' section of The Australian on Saturday 12 September 2009, and the winner will be announced on Thursday 17 September and published in The Australian on Friday 18 September.

We will however be looking at your manuscript over the next few weeks and we will be in touch with you as soon as we have had a chance to assess it.

-

REJECTION 5 (September, 2009):

Dear writers and artists,

Thank you for your submission to Going Down Swinging No.29. Please forgive us for sending out a form letter to notify you of the progress of your submission, but being time-strapped and with so many to contact, we must resort to the quickest method of letting you know about your work.

We received well over 1,000 submissions for this issue, which necessitated a long selection process, in order to give all works due consideration, so we also thank you for your patience in waiting for a reply with regards to your submission. We do respect the work, courage and persistence that writers must employ to deal with editors and publishers.

We're sorry to say that this time we are not able to use your work. We hope you'll again submit to Going Down Swinging - as well as to many of the other great literary magazines that support writers and readers.

For details of when to next submit to GDS, please sign up to our e-bulletin on the website, at www.goingdownswinging.org.au Really Long Link

Again we'd like to thank you for taking the time and effort to submit to Going Down Swinging. We look forward to reading your work again and to hearing about your future successes.

-

REJECTION 4 (September, 2009):

Thanks for your submission to Voiceworks. It wasn't selected for publication this time around, but don't be discouraged - each issue we receive several hundred submissions and can only publish a few of them. Submitting is daunting, and we're glad you were prepared to send us your work. Keep writing, keep reading, and keep submitting to us and to others.

The ideas here are pretty clichéd but they are handled with a degree of originality, which doesn’t happen very often. The effect the poem is going for could work, and the last line’s great in the way it jars against the rest and creates that contrast, but overall the poem tends to fall a bit flat. The effect it does achieve isn’t strong enough to carry the duller lines and clumsier language, the form is messy, and there are a number of weaker lines that drag the piece down a bit. It needs a good honing down and sharpening.

For reference, I've attached a file with some basic guidelines to bear in mind when you're writing. Read them over and see if they help. The most important thing with poetry is to read and listen to as much as possible. That way you keep ideas coming in. Read books, get out to poetry readings, read out your own work and listen to others. A lot of poetry is crap, some of it is good. Be patient. This way you can learn from other people's mistakes and successes without having to wait until they've happened to you.

Poetry Editor
Voiceworks Magazine

-

REJECTION 3 (July, 2009):

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your manuscript. We read it with interest but I regret we will not be making an offer of publication. We do not feel that Text is the right firm to successfully publish this book.

Thank you for thinking of us, and we wish you every success in finding a publisher for your work.

-

REJECTION 2 (July, 2009):

Thank you for your submission, ‘Los Angeles Angie’, to Voiceworks. Unfortunately we were unable to include your contribution in this issue.

Each issue of Voiceworks receives a large number of contributions from writers and artists from around Australia. The process of selecting work for publication is very challenging for the Editorial Committee. This issue we received submissions from more than 300 people.

The committee really enjoyed reading your submission. Angie’s character, in particular, was cleverly constructed and her dialogue was very believable. We thought the “crash” was well executed. However, the self-assured voice could not entirely compensate for the lack of conflict in the plot.

We would love to see more of your work, so if you are interested in submitting the next issue theme is: #78 - FLUID (Spring 2009): Submissions close Sunday 26 July

------------
Voiceworks Editorial Committee

-

REJECTION 1 (June, 2007):

Hey colleague,

Everybody at The Lifted Brow would like to thank you for sending us your work. Unfortunately, it's not what we're looking for this time.

Your story was read and discussed by a panel of five people. We're five very different people. We fought it out. For reasons of space, style and cohesion, we decided against a lot of excellent stuff.

One thing on which we all agree is that the meeting where we get to talk about your work is the best part of our job. We feel really privileged. Thanks again, and all the best.

- The Editors

-

SEMI-REJECTION (September, 2008 – from a mentor who promised me the world):

They just took somebody I sent them last week. I begged them to give your work proper consideration. Sorry this didn’t work out. I really believe in your work and home you get to prove a lot of people wrong!

Share |