Oh, Well...

What Happens When Your Story Doesn't Get Accepted?

A few weeks ago I submitted a story for the Raconteur Press anthology entitled “Pogue One”. It’s a collection of stories about the non-combatant members of the military. People whose work is just as vital as those on the front lines, but less likely to be shot at. The book is being edited by Spearman Burke and I highly recommend that you pick up a copy when it comes out. The story that I submitted was about a Marine cook in the not-too-near future. It was the story that I thought of, so I wrote it. Then I moved on to the next story.

This past weekend, the contracts for Pogue One came out and I didn't get one. What was my reaction? I said, “Oh, well…” and continued working on my next submission.

But “wait a minute” you say. “You put all of that time and effort into the story and it wasn't accepted. How are you so calm?”

Here's the thing, there were probably a great number of stories submitted, but only ten are getting in. Just because I didn't get in doesn't mean that I wrote a bad story. I like to think of it as there were ten better. Or, perhaps, there was one better than mine that was thematically similar and the editor only wanted one. Or, perhaps, the story I wrote didn't fit the tone of the others that were chosen. It could be any of these things, none of these things or any combination.

At this point in my writing, I know that I am submitting reliably entertaining stories. When submitting to an anthology, you can't view it as a rejection. It's just not an acceptance. Spearman may have had twenty stories that he really liked and wanted to use. But he had the extremely difficult task of winnowing the stories down to ten. So you take your story, you put it in a folder and sit on it. Maybe a volume 2 comes out next year and you dust it off, use a year’s worth of experience to polish it up and resubmit it. Or you keep writing and publish it in your own collection.

Non-acceptance is not rejection. It’s part of the writing business. I’ve only been writing for a year and a half, but I’ve been in business for four decades. “No” today doesn't mean “no” tomorrow.

The point of my post is this: If you’ve submitted a story for publication and you didn't get in, give the editor a break. It’s a thankless job and the only reward is cheese sandwiches.

Thanks for reading…and if you do want to read what I’ve written, pop over to Amazon and look for my work. There's a story that I wrote in Goblin Market that was well received. Check it out.