Living the Fictional Dream

A few weeks ago, I got a rejection letter in my in-box. Not an uncommon event, but this particular rejection has a strange history.

The market in question deals solely in reprints, which is unusual enough, but on top of that my impression of this market is that a group of children/teens have a great deal to do with the running of the place. It is a Y/A market, by definition, and all the editorials, etc., I’ve experienced were done by younger people.

I sent a story into this market quite a while ago — last summer, actually. After two or three months with no response to my submission, I queried the market and asked if my story was still in their reading queue or if it had been lost in cyberspace, in which case I would be happy to re-send it. No response.

The months crept by. After a couple more months, I pondered sending them a note withdrawing my story from consideration, but it was a reprint, after all. It wasn’t like there was somewhere else this story needed to go. And there was still a chance that they reason it was taking so long was because they liked the story.

Then, approximately six months from the original submission date, I get the rejection note. One of the highlights of the note was that it addressed me as a Mr. instead of Ms. — maybe this is unfair of me, but that gaff makes me believe that someone more youthful wrote the response.

Basically, the note says that they liked my story and it sat in their maybe pile for quite a while, but because of the limited number of stories they produce per month (only 2), they eventually had to reject it.

Now, that is all fine and good. I am no stranger to rejection, and a story that was classified a maybe is way better than a story that is rejected flat out with a form letter. I’ve gotten some harsh rejections in my time, and, despite the gender-bending typo, this one was pretty nice.

Here are my problems with this situation, though. If this market wanted to be more professional, I think they need to make a few changes in their submission response system. First of all, if someone queries the status of their submission, they should reply, even if it is just a short response that says, “Your story was received and is still under consideration. Thank you, the Editors.” Second, if you’re going to tie up someone’s story by keeping it on your maybe pile, you should let them know. Most authors would be thrilled to have their story make it to the next round of consideration — just tell them about it and tell them how long you think you’ll need to make your final decision. Don’t leave them hanging out there with no news, wondering if the market has closed, if it didn’t actually recieve the story, or if they just don’t care.

Part of me really wants to reply to the rejection letter and, very calmly and professionally, give them the above advice. However, replying to a rejection letter is typically one of the biggest faux pas in this business. I’m torn… what would be the better course of action?

I guess, in the long run, I will just let it go. That’s probably the right choice. I think the reason I am so much more tempted to reply and give them this advice is because of the perception I have that they are all young. But that perception could be wrong — there could easily be adults behind the scenes, even if that would mean they aren’t very experienced adults.

I don’t know… what do you guys think? Would you reply, or would you leave it alone?