Top this, if you dare!

If you've read Gibberish for any length of time, you'll probably have twigged onto the fact that I get a kick out of whining about almost selling every story I send out. The "close but no cigar" factor, I suppose you could call it. I know many starting writers out there would love to get personal rejections, and I appreciate the attention, truly I do. But sometimes "almost selling" reaches comic proportions. Lest you think I exaggerate, I offer a sampling from my most recent flush letter:

Jayme, it's terrific to see something new from you, as always--especially when it's a piece this strong...

This is a really great tale--fast paced, exciting, with a great plot & a terrific opening. I was especially impressed with the well-realized setting & the intriguing main character.

Exciting, eh? That's what I thought. But then it goes on for half a page explaining that no, they're not going to buy the story. Granted, concrete reasons are given for the decision, so it's not wholly arbitrary. Rather minor points, actually, one of which could be cleared up with a modest rewrite. The second, well, the nature and structure of the story precludes any real changes in that area, but I could at least address it superficially here and there.

And no, after reading the rejection many, many times, I can't interpret it as a subtle request for a rewrite and resubmission. It reads pretty cut-and-dried. But that hasn't stopped me from shooting off an email to the editor asking point-blank if they'd like one. I don't expect them to say yes, but hey, I'm not that big of a fool.

Now Playing: Queen Greatest Hits