Tuesday, August 02, 2011

First Rejection

In April, I submitted RUDE TO STARE, my first Chrysalis story, to New Writing Dundee's sixth anthology. I had been waiting (not so) patiently considering I was so supposed to hear back by the end of May. Yesterday, I felt my heart give a little jump when I saw their email in my inbox.
Hello,

I am very sorry to inform you that your work was not chosen for publication in NWD 2011. We received roughly 300 submissions this year, and narrowing this down was a very difficult task.

Please do feel free to submit to New Writing Dundee again in the future. We will be accepting submissions again in December, and keep an eye on http://www.literarydundee.co.uk/newwriting.htm for information on purchasing New Writing Dundee and various NWD events.

Thank you again for your submission and your support for New Writing Dundee.

Best wishes,
(This is where it gets weird.) I had been wondering about this day for a while now. How would I feel? Would I cry? Would I walk around in a state of depression before becoming determined to show them they were wrong? The truth? I was elated!

And (after reading this post) I sat down and wrote 2k on THE LULLABY.

21 comments:

  1. it sure did take a while for them to reply, that's for sure.

    & congrats on the 2k. good luck with Camp NaNo.

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  2. Yes, but that might have been the fact that I didn't get picked. -shrugs-

    And thank you. It's going pretty good. I feel my story is a little disjointed though.

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  3. Sorry about the rejection. They totally suck.

    Congrats on writing 2k! Just dive into your WIP and you'll get your mind off it! :)

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  4. I'm almost up to 5k now, but I'm getting lazy. XD Thank you so much for your support. ^^

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  5. Thats a bummer about not getting in the anthology, but I see what you mean about the weight lifting...hang in there.
    Edge of Your Seat Romance

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  6. I definitely can sympathize with the frustration about the late reply-- maybe two weeks? ago, I got a form rejection from a magazine I had submitted to almost a year ago.

    Glad to see that you wrote so much in your story after reading that post though :). And even better that the form rejection was inspiring for you!

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  7. Any kind of closure is welcome when it comes to submissions, right? I'm sorry you had to wait so long! Talk about silver lining though; kudos on the 2k!

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  8. @Raquel Perhaps it didn't hit me so hard because I had already accepted it, knowing that it must have come late for a reason.

    @Christina Wow. A year? That's just wrong. It's almost like they just sent it to you as an afterthought. Unprofessional in my opinion.

    @Jes Yes, my greatest fear is not that I was rejected, but not ever hearing back (ugh, awkward wording).

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  9. OK, we must all learn your secret for being elated following a rejection letter. :) But, you're right, any day you write 2,000 words can't be a bad one.

    P.S. I left a reply to your comment on Bird's-eye View, http://michellefayard.blogspot.com/2011/08/interview-sequel-its-ebony-mckenna.html.

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  10. I truly don't know, perhaps because it made me feel like I was headed towards something as a writer (plus it gives me an excuse to buy a scrapbook, more on that later).

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  11. Glad to hear you turned it into something constructive. And congrats -- you're officially a struggling writer, making a list of names you can someday tell "I told you so!" I think I went into a mini depression after my first rejection. But now I wonder how much of that was just teen angst. I went into a mini depression after just about everything back then.

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  12. My father and I were talking about that the other day. I decided it might be a little unprofessional. XD

    I'm sure each situation warranted a mini depression if you thought it did. ^^

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  13. Way to be! At least you got a letter. The only writing contest I've entered didn't even give that much for those who weren't in the top. Good job on writing 2k!

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  14. That would drive me nuts, this drove me nuts. And thanks though I've lost some of my momentum since then.

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  15. Now you're in the rejection club. There's scarcely an author, living or dead, who hasn't been there.

    And you wrote 2k, so you don't even need a pep talk!

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  16. Sorry about the rejection, but your attitude it amazing. Keep writing. You're great!

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  17. @Theresa Do we get cool membership rings?

    @Angela Thank you. ^^ Of course, the more my rejection pile grows, the more my attitude toward them will probably deflate, but maybe it'll take a while.

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  18. Sorry about the rejection, but I think you're awesome to take it so well. Good luck with your The Lullaby.

    :-)

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  19. This may sound weird, but congrats on your first rejection! I felt pretty pleased with my first one too, and I haven't had any since then only because I haven't submitted anything. But none of my stuff feels ready!

    Good on you for having such a great attitude, Brooke!

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  20. You have my sympathies on the rejection Brooke. Please never get discouraged. I love the samples of your writing that you post on your blog...you have amazing talent. To give up would rob me of the ability to read your wonderful words. :)

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  21. @Misha Thank you (for both your kind words and using the different forms of 'your' correctly). I'm definitely going to need that luck.

    @Trisha It's not near as weird as me feeling excited about a rejection. XD I think I rushed into submitting anyway (I was so embarrassed when the woman emailed back the first time to tell me I forgot the title).

    @Michael Ah! Thank you, Michael. -hugs- I really appreciate every comment you leave and the fact that you read every one of my short stories. You so deserved that publishing deal. ^^

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