April Submission Blitz – Try Again

It’s easy to get discouraged in the face of rejection. To be honest with you, I’m much more inclined to resubmit to venues where I receive positive feedback along with any rejections. It lets me know that they didn’t take issue with my particular style and voice, but just decided not to go with that particular story. If they tell me they’d love to see more submissions from me in the future, they definitely will.

I’ve also received rejections that weren’t just negative, they were downright scathing – my story was some terrible blight upon their day and I must be a moron for submitting it to them. While I can handle rejection, I don’t need that kind of negativity. That being said, I find you only tend to run into those responses from venues with multiple slush readers, and the response you get is a matter of whose portion of the pile you happen to land in. Three different submissions can end up with three very different responses clearly written by three very different slush readers. I’ve actually learned to ignore those ones and resubmit anyway. I may just end up the next time with a slush reader in a better mood or with a better overall attitude.

The ones that make me nervous are the ones where I get nothing to let me know how they felt about my story, like the venue I’m submitting to today. The last story I sent drew a very neutral response. It had me wondering if they were put off by my voice or style, or just the story. It’s easier to get up the gumption to resubmit to a venue where I get a strong response, even if it’s a negative one. If they were inviting, I think “hope you like this one too” as I hit the send button. If they were nasty, I think “take that – I’m going to keep submitting until you’re sick of me!” But the bland ones with a “meh” approach? I just can’t get all excited about sending them a new story.

So what have I done? I sent them one of my stranger stories. Maybe that might draw a stronger response. Guess I’ll have to wait and see…