She Writes

A Room of Her Own Just Got Bigger

I have a rejection slip story to end all rejection slip stories. Early in my efforts to get published I sent my short story "The Aviarian" to a magazine called Samisdat, now defunct I believe. The editor wrote me a letter of rejection instead of a rejection slip and said, among many other things, "Who the fuck told you this is a story?" I was devastated and didn't write again for a year. BUT - read on.

The same story was later chosen by Kurt Vonnegut for the PEN Syndicated Fiction Project; it was then chosen as one of the Ten Best PEN/Available Press Short Stories of 1984; then it was chosen as one of three for a special reading at the Library of Congress in 1985.

I have a work in progress about that incident that will go in a longer piece. I wanted to tell it here for any writer who is disheartened after going through a long period of repeated rejections.

Tags: rejection

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Renee Cooper Comment by Renee Cooper on March 9, 2010 at 11:25am
Thank you, It felt like I was alone. And yes, I did know a long process. I just didn't expect to have to do it with this level of exposure.
Cheers,
Renee
Rebecca Rasmussen Comment by Rebecca Rasmussen on March 1, 2010 at 8:30am
Wow! Now that is a rejection for the books, mostly because that person was wrong!
Dangerous Old Woman Comment by Dangerous Old Woman on February 14, 2010 at 6:07pm
Renate: I had forgotten about Jonathan Livingston Seagull. My novel (Sing Soft, Sing Loud) was rejected by 15 publishers before Atheneum took it, and at the time I thought that was bad! Ackshully (and this is more about the insanity of publishing) the first house that saw the book made a great offer and wanted me to promise I would agree to a book tour and I turned it down because the book is based on my experiences in prison and the editor who made the offer said about a particular segment "That's not how it is in prison". I kid you not. I was there and she wasn't. So I was sure the relationship would be a disaster and turned it down. My agent cried.
Renate Stendhal Comment by Renate Stendhal on February 14, 2010 at 4:42pm
Great story with a happy ending! Reminder: "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" got 150-some rejections. Even Harry Potter got lots of them. Your brilliant editor probably thought your story was chick lit!
Cheers. Renate
Wilson Sherwin Comment by Wilson Sherwin on February 9, 2010 at 9:30am
Wow, what cojones on that editor! Please do send us the info for the longer version when it comes out, looking forward to reading it.
E Victoria Flynn Comment by E Victoria Flynn on February 8, 2010 at 2:23pm
Beautiful.

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