I got a rejection yesterday. I'm mentioning it for two reasons.
Firstly because it proves I wrote and submitted something, which in itself is an achievement. Secondly to remind other writers this is a perfectly normal part of the process which most of us regularly experience.
Womag news
I didn't have an email from TAB at the end of the month, saying one of my stories would be in Fiction Feast, so assumed that wasn't the case. I was partly right as I actually have three in the October issue! Just occasionally a lack of news isn't bad news. (I did know they'd been accepted, just not when they'd be used.)
Free entry competition news
Here's a novel writing competition and here's another. Both are for debut novels and both offer good cash prizes. The first is for writers under 35 and the second for those over 60. I can't enter either – and not just because I already have published novels.
This competition is for new 'underrepresented voices' in the 16-30 age range, writing fiction non fiction or poetry. The prize is a publishing contract. That one's not for me either. If anyone sees a fabulous prize for middle aged people who've been at this writing lark a fair while, please let me know!
Here's a poetry competition, open to all writers and offering a £1,000 prize. I'm tempted to try, particularly as one judge is hoping for 'a little strangeness'.
Wergle Flomp are again running a poetry competition with a $2,000 top prize.
I've mentioned Globe Soup's challenges before. What I didn't say then, because I didn't know, is that there's also an opportunity for free feedback via their Facebook group. You can just post something up and hope for comments, or take part in feedback exchanges which are arranged after competition entries have been submitted.
These are entirely optional. I've not got involved with that aspect myself, but I can see that it has the potential to be useful.
15 comments:
Thank you again for all this. I had an acceptance and rejection last week and was quite happy with that for me at my stage. Obviously I'm going to keep working towards more of the acceptances! But, as you said, it's good to know one way or the other.
Thanks Patsy for all the news and information on competitions, most of which I don't qualify for on a number of fronts not being over 60, under 35 and mainly because I have never written a novel!! I've had an article on Irish abstract artist Mainie Jellett accepted by Ireland's Own last week. Congratulations on your trio of stories in TAB, that's a feat in itself.
I really need to get on with writing and submitting as I remember you saying early on that the best solution to rejections is having lots of other fires in the iron (or something to that effect) and it is so true & I have only two stories out there at the moment waiting for a decision.
In what way were you surprised by the response to your rejects post?
Achoo 101.
Thanks Patsy, and well done on your three acceptances to TAB.
Thanks also for the comp info, hopefully one day I'll be a winner. In the meantime I'll keep trying!
I've noticed on Twitter that the younger writers (at least the ones I follow) share everything on social media - their acceptances, rejections, their general highs and lows - in a way that most older writers (at least the ones I follow) don't. That perhaps makes it harder for newbies who are older, especially those trying to break into the womag market. I don't think I'm alone in being a womag writer who only posts on publication. With the time lag between writing the story and it being published, this probably means that some of us can look as if we're on fire when actually we're going through a bit of a slump.
Unfortunately, I qualify for one of those novel subs :( would be good if I had actually nearly completed some half-attempts... still, thank you for those - the very fact they come up from time to time gives me a bit of umph :)
Well done with the acceptances, Patsy. It is good to hear the balance, though.
@ Marian – In the past I'd have said that we should aim to improve our acceptance ratio, but the womag market has become so much more competitive that staying level probably counts as progress ... if you see what I mean.
@ Sheelagh – Well done for the article!
Yes, I think it's a good idea to always have several pieces 'out there' if possible.
@ Achoo 101 – I was surprised by the number of comments and that some other writers were surprised to learn just how usual it is for most other writers to receive rejections.
@ Elizabeth – That's the spirit. Good luck!
@ Liz – I do think it's possible to over share!
And yes, we may have stories in magazines which were accepted many months ago, or not have had any published for a while but recently had sales, so what others see isn't how it feels to us.
@ Marguerite – It can be helpful to keep an eye on the kind of opportunities which regularly occur and work towards having something ready for next time – or the time after that.
I also had a rejection from TPF but it was one I sent only about 4 months ago. Still waiting on others subbed 2-3 years ago! I have a novel sitting and waiting but unfortunately I don't fall into either of those categories....although very close to one!😂🤣
Congratulations Patsy (and everyone else) on both your acceptances and your rejections!
Liz, I’m like you, I rarely post on social media about rejection (in fact I rarely post!) I did when I won a short story competition last week (mentioning the comp was found through this blog), as with competition wins they often encourage you to promote.
I’ve hardly sent anything to PF this year after doing a lot during the lockdowns, and am back to sending out poetry and entering short story competitions, so my rejection rate is huge compared to acceptance, but I worked in newsrooms for many years and my hide is thick!
Wondering if anyone has tried the submission tracker on @chillsubs? Apparently they have a bingo game for rejections and you have to match the “unfortunately not this time, “not quite suitable for us” replies to mark off on the card!
@ Chris C – I withdrew some stories which had been waiting for a long time. I've just seen a blog post from Lucy (I've updated the post with a link) which makes me think other authors might do the same.
@ Fiona – I've not heard of that submissions tracker, but I like the idea of the bingo game!
Hearing of people who've asked their editor questions before and never got a reply, so telling people to contact their editor over subs is going down just grand!
anon-annoyed
Hi everyone. I just received a different kind of acceptance than normal from Woman's Weekly. Apparently they would potentially like to use it but can't guarantee a place in the schedules and say I'm free to submit elsewhere. Normally I get a clear answer one way or another. Anyone else had this kind of response?
Sue, I've just had exactly the same as you from WW. They have now responded to 2 of my stories like this. It's a bit odd. I'm happy to sit tight for a while, but it would be good to know if there's any real chance of publication.
I wonder if they have too many stories in the pipeline. I've had a number accepted over the past months, some of which have been published, but quite a few that are still waiting.
@ Anon - annoyed – Do you mean TPF? My editor has responded to my query and some writing friends are reporting the same this week, so communication seems to be improving.
@ Sue and New Girl – I don't sub there because of them taking all rights, but I have writing buddies who do and now usually get that kind of acceptance rather than something more definite. Some have gone on to be published, but it seems there are quite a lot waiting in limbo.
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