With all the submissions I’ve been making, at least a few (read: all) of them will come back as rejections. I’ve already racked up quite a few, and I thought I’d analyze them a little here. Don’t worry, I’ll be filing off all the serial numbers and identifying marks.

Rejection #1:
Dear Damon,

Thanks for submitting this story, but I’m going to pass on it. It’s nicely written
and I enjoyed reading it, but overall it didn’t quite win me over, I’m afraid. Best
of luck to you placing this one elsewhere, and thanks again for sending it my way. I
hope you’ll try us again with something else.

Sincerely,
[Editor]

I love these rejections. The editor clearly read the story, and even liked it. While this is still definitely a form letter, I interpret it as the one for stories that almost make the cut. There are all kinds of reasons a story might not cross the finish line — it doesn’t fit thematically with any upcoming issues, there were too many other good stories in the running, and so on. But the story is a good one. A very heartening rejection for a writer.

Rejection #2:
Thanks very much for sending this story to [Magazine].
Unfortunately, it’s not quite right for us. [Identifiable story locale] are a more
[time period] setting element than we’re looking for.

I appreciate your interest in our magazine. Please feel free to submit
again.

Regards,
[Editor]

Oops. I misjudged this market’s guidelines and sent them a story that didn’t quite fit the theme of their magazine. I need to read a few more stories they’ve published and get a better feel for them. However, there’s a lot of hope here, too. They encourage more submissions, which means they weren’t immediately horrified by my atrocious writing or the inclusion of tribble-porn (kidding), so after I’ve reset my barometer on what they want, I should comb through my submissions queue and send them something else.

Rejection #3:
Dear Damon,

Thank you for the opportunity to read [Story]. Unfortunately, your
story isn’t quite what we’re looking for right now. Each month, we receive hundreds
of submissions and while I may like many of them, I can only publish [some of them].

[Identifiable information redacted]. I appreciate your interest in [magazine] and hope that you’ll keep us in mind in the future.

Take care,
[Editor]

This one is definitely a form letter, but my rejectomancy senses indicate it’s the one reserved for stories they actually liked. It’s hard to say, though. The phrase “while I may like many of them” could be taken to include mine… Or it could be a way of side-stepping the question of whether they liked mine personally. For the sake of ego gratification, I choose to believe the former. I believe I’m justified in that choice, because once again, they encourage me to submit more stories in the future.

So there you have it. Three rejections I’ve received within the last month, all generally positive. I forgot how much I enjoyed receiving them during last year’s dry spell; they’re proof I’m a working writer.