The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly... Except Without The Good

I got an email yesterday from a big time publisher rejecting my novel along with the following comment:

"I realise that this is not the news you were hoping for, but I hope you will take some comfort from the fact that yours was one of just a handful of novels we requested after reading the initial submission."

For those who didn't know, the "initial submission" they mentioned was during said publisher's open door month where they solicited queries and a few sample chapters from the unagented. ...