A story transcending the mass—Now, if I were a lesser man, I'd be angry about this. It seems insulting to me, in a childish way. This is not a response I'd expect from a professional magazine. Would you? I read it as saying "I had hoped to find a transcendant story, but your story did not have a page-turning plot, so I will pass". That in itself sounds pretty bad. When you put it in a sing-songy poem, it sounds even worse. I wonder if they get a lot of flak from more immature writers about the insulting nature of this rejection. Me? I just move onto the next magazine. I don't have time to get into debates about something that doesn't matter.
we hoped that we'd found it at last,
but page-turning plot
is something it's not
we're sorry—we'll just have to pass.
Labels: rejection, submissions