SLUSH LESSONS: “Try, Try Again” by Maggie Jamison
Everyone’s heard the age-old adage: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” It seemed to me that after the last SLUSH LESSON about knowing your market, it might be nice to look into how much the market knows you as an author.
The truth is, after a year of slushing for Apex, I’m starting to remember names. I always assumed, from the writer’s side, that the slush pile was just some enormous grinding machine that swallowed lovely, promising little manuscripts and chewed them up into packing peanuts. As a slush reader, I was surprised that even months after seeing a submission from one author, I could still remember his name when another submission came through my inbox.* Granted, I can only speak for Apex’s slush, and even then only for myself and my own process, but it’s far less impersonal than it sometimes seems from the outside.
Believe it or not, a submissions editor can remember your name, particularly if you wrote something she liked, even if she passed on it. If you pay attention to rejection comments (if she gives any), and keep working to hone your understanding of her market, chances are your next attempt will be closer to what she wants.
And here’s the funny thing (though maybe it’s just me): we want you to succeed. Of all the other submissions editors I’ve spoken to, the vast majority would much rather send an acceptance letter than the typical form rejection. Heck, even a personal “This was so, so, SO close!” rejection is more fun than the form. I think most magazines want to be the one that nabs the first few publications of a great up-and-comer, and I’ve always enjoyed the vicarious excitement when a manuscript from my slush pile is accepted and bought.
So keep trying. Keep submitting. Learn from whatever feedback on a story you get, and make the next one just that much stronger, that much more fitting for the market. And the more you submit, the more likely it is that we’ll recognize your name.
Now: a caveat. I had a friend recently ask me what the protocol was for re-submitting the same story to the same magazine. This is what I told her, though I’m sure other editors with other publications have their own personal take on it: Unless I’ve specifically asked you to tweak the story and send it back, DO NOT resubmit the same story. The only other way it might be acceptable is if you rewrite the story so completely that I can’t tell I’ve read it before. But then, it wouldn’t be the same story, would it?
As a submissions editor, I do try (when I have time) to give suggestions for what might make a rejected story just a little bit better. I do this so the author knows and can utilize this information to avoid the same issue in her next story submission, not so the author can tweak her story and send it right back to me. If I want to see a rewrite or a reworking, I will be very, very clear. For example:
Dear XXXX,
Thank you for submitting “XXXX”! There are a lot of things I really love about this story, though we had a bit of an issue with [XXXXXX]. Would you consider revising this story for us? If so, please resubmit this story directly to me, with the title “XXXX”-REVISION.
If I don’t specifically use the word resubmit, I don’t want to see the story again.
So keep trying, just with another story!
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*Note: I did have to run a search on my vast backlog of slush to remember why his name looked familiar, but you get the gist.
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8 Comments
Heck, even a personal “This was so, so, SO close!” rejection is more fun than the form.
Not for me! I’d rather be told “no” than “almost”. The only novel rejection I got that made me cry was the “almost”.
Aww! I’m sorry, Jennifer! ;_; Maybe I should reconsider my policy… Hmm…
It might be different for other writers. We’re all neurotic in our own special ways.
No Maggie, I prefer the “almost” reject to the “no.”
What irritates me is the rewrite request that is a veiled reject in disguise. One rewrites the story per unclear guidelines, sends it back and then gets a reject.
Or worse, the cowardly reject where the editor is so unsure of themselves that they go and get their recently retired predecessor to write the reject even though that guy would have bought the story.
99% of rejects to not faze me one way or the other but I do appreciate the “so close” reject. It keeps my morale up.
Respects,
S. F. Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Well I like knowing I’m close rather that way off target. :)
Hehe, thanks everyone for your comments!
@Jennifer – I know I am! ^_^ It’s what makes us all so special.
@S.F. Murphy – I would hate to have that happen! How awful. I think there’s only ever been one time that I asked someone to tweak something for me before definitely knowing if the story would be bought, but I tried to be very clear that it by no means would guarantee a sale. That, though, was because the story wasn’t quite dark enough in the ending, and with the change, I felt comfortably pushing it up to Jason knowing it fit our mood better than it had before. And hey! It was bought, so it all worked out.
@Michele – Me too! hehe ^_^
Maggie, there is always a risk that a revised story won’t be purchased. I understand that, but this situation was a bit different. This person was clear that there were no guarantees (unlike their predecessor) but the request was muddled and getting further clarification on the request (something their predecessor would have provided had I asked them) was met with silence.
Folks tell me I should get over it and you know, other people probably would. But the end result of the behavior of that editor is that I not only refuse to submit anything to that market, I cancelled my subscription.
Nobody appreciates a runaround, which is what it was.
My only mistake was in venting my spleen a little too publically and a little too violently in the matter.
In any case, I either get the “close but no cigar” or the acceptance letter these days. More of the former, less of the later, more due to the fact that I have not completed anything that is submission ready since I started teaching. That may change here in the next few weeks so we’ll see.
So keep sending the so close ones, to me at least, when I show up in the slush in the next few months. I deeply appreciate it.
Respects,
S. F. Murphy
On the Outer Marches
Will do, S.F.! ^_^