Things I do not get
Jan. 4th, 2012 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thanateinclude whining over "life is *so* hard, I got a rejection letter!" for a piece of short fiction.
Cumulatively, over time, looking at the changing percent of markets who have already rejected a story, and the percent of decent (however you define this) markets you can still submit it to, I can see getting a bit worn down. (Though, if you haven't already written and started sending out something you think is better by that point, it's time to get to it.) But if you're heartbroken because you got a rejection letter or three then you don't understand the game.
There are a finite number of short fiction markets, edited by a finite number of people. Any story (and that's ANY, no matter how good) will be liked by some people, and disliked by others; there aren't a lot of things in the world where the idea of "good" isn't a matter of taste. Probably I'm more picky than most, but I don't think I've ever read a collection of short fiction where I didn't dislike at least something in it; 2/3 good to 1/3 on the meh-awful spectrum is a really good ratio for me. The same goes for magazines, or any other form of market I might submit to; some of the things that these editors love? I am unmoved by, unconvinced by, or occasionally hate with a deep and abiding passion. Somewhere you've got to think that the reciprocal might be true.
Your story is on a quest for its audience, and you know what? Not every quest ends well. Think of all those older siblings in the fairy tales who couldn't follow directions. But that doesn't mean that your success as a writer hinges on any one sale of any one short story. Your ego shouldn't either.
This is not to say that I don't reserve the right to be depressed [one day in the future, pending actual, um, query letters...] by rejections from particularly awesome agents, but that's a different game entirely. And I'm not liable to go around complaining about it in public.
Xposty from dreamwidth, but yes, I'm still here.
Cumulatively, over time, looking at the changing percent of markets who have already rejected a story, and the percent of decent (however you define this) markets you can still submit it to, I can see getting a bit worn down. (Though, if you haven't already written and started sending out something you think is better by that point, it's time to get to it.) But if you're heartbroken because you got a rejection letter or three then you don't understand the game.
There are a finite number of short fiction markets, edited by a finite number of people. Any story (and that's ANY, no matter how good) will be liked by some people, and disliked by others; there aren't a lot of things in the world where the idea of "good" isn't a matter of taste. Probably I'm more picky than most, but I don't think I've ever read a collection of short fiction where I didn't dislike at least something in it; 2/3 good to 1/3 on the meh-awful spectrum is a really good ratio for me. The same goes for magazines, or any other form of market I might submit to; some of the things that these editors love? I am unmoved by, unconvinced by, or occasionally hate with a deep and abiding passion. Somewhere you've got to think that the reciprocal might be true.
Your story is on a quest for its audience, and you know what? Not every quest ends well. Think of all those older siblings in the fairy tales who couldn't follow directions. But that doesn't mean that your success as a writer hinges on any one sale of any one short story. Your ego shouldn't either.
This is not to say that I don't reserve the right to be depressed [one day in the future, pending actual, um, query letters...] by rejections from particularly awesome agents, but that's a different game entirely. And I'm not liable to go around complaining about it in public.
Xposty from dreamwidth, but yes, I'm still here.