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The vagarities of rejection letters
May. 13th, 2012 03:49 pmI had an insanely busy week, so I didn't actually think to check my e-mail as regards Humanbearer till today. I'm glad I did--I got both the notice it was being held for consideration, and the final couldn't-fit-it-in, at the same time. Since Well Enough got held for consideration, I would've been on crazy pins and needles waiting for the two days it took the official rejection to come in, and yesterday would not have been the awesome relaxing (first swim of 2012!) day it was.
On the one hand, I am sad that it got rejected. On the other, I am philosophical, because--note my last post--I saw this coming.
It's one of those choices you have to make as a writer, when you know that for reasons beyond quality, a story might not be saleable. Do you try it anyway, or do you move on to other projects? I know there are stories (novel ideas, even) I've stared long and hard at, and decided not to write more than the outline because I knew they'd never get anywhere, and I didn't love them enough, I wasn't devoted enough, to go through all the sweat and then not get anything concrete out of it. With Humanbearer, I chose the other route. I decided I wanted this story badly enough, that it meant enough to me, that I would devote time and energy and emotion to it, even though I knew it was unlikely to be accepted anywhere. S&S has a generous word count limit--9k--and Humanbearer got held, at least, which means my other worry--the not-quite-the-right-subgenre worry--was irrelevant, and that I did make the right choice in submitting in the first place.
So I'll shop it around to the few other markets that might want 7k words of high fantasy about a dragon and her girl, and we'll see. There might also be a few more stories about these two in the future, as well, but I don't want to count my dragons before they hatch.
On the one hand, I am sad that it got rejected. On the other, I am philosophical, because--note my last post--I saw this coming.
It's one of those choices you have to make as a writer, when you know that for reasons beyond quality, a story might not be saleable. Do you try it anyway, or do you move on to other projects? I know there are stories (novel ideas, even) I've stared long and hard at, and decided not to write more than the outline because I knew they'd never get anywhere, and I didn't love them enough, I wasn't devoted enough, to go through all the sweat and then not get anything concrete out of it. With Humanbearer, I chose the other route. I decided I wanted this story badly enough, that it meant enough to me, that I would devote time and energy and emotion to it, even though I knew it was unlikely to be accepted anywhere. S&S has a generous word count limit--9k--and Humanbearer got held, at least, which means my other worry--the not-quite-the-right-subgenre worry--was irrelevant, and that I did make the right choice in submitting in the first place.
So I'll shop it around to the few other markets that might want 7k words of high fantasy about a dragon and her girl, and we'll see. There might also be a few more stories about these two in the future, as well, but I don't want to count my dragons before they hatch.