Rejections…and assumed rejections

Val — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:27:43 +0000

In my year-end review I mentioned a piece that I marked on Duotrope as an “assumed rejection.” Being the person I am, I don’t like loose ends, such as stories I don’t hear back on. Before this group I am about to talk about, I had only two long-time stories, and they were LONG – one was 562 days, and one was 374. I never heard back on the first one and the second I finally got a rejection. I also had one that went 205 days, but with that magazine it was expected – plus it was a mail submission and a mail rejection which always takes longer. Other than those all of my responses have been under 90 days, with the exception of six that were between 100-139 days, and two that were in the 180′s (and those two I was kept up to date on when to expect an answer by.) So all of those I didn’t stress over.

But this year I had 3 stories go out and go over 200 days. One, the longest, I emailed inquiring if it was still under consideration, and received a quick reply letting me know it was. So, even though it is still going a long time, I’m not worried about it, as I know it isn’t lost.

The other two however, have me a wee bit irked, only because I don’t like marking assumed rejections, even when I feel they must be. Both I emailed over a month ago to inquire about, and neither responded. One I hadn’t received a conformation email for submitting, so at 200 days I reluctantly marked it AR. The other one I did receive a conformation email, but no response to the inquiry email. Tomorrow that one will be at 200 days as well, and I will probably mark it as an AR, but it irks me more than a rejection does. (I’m used to those.)

So this year so far, I have submitted two pieces, and already received a rejection for one. Go new year!

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Rejections…and assumed rejections