Just got two form rejections from Zombies Need Brains. Form rejections suck. They didn’t like the “Modern Deity’s Guide to Surviving Humanity” humor piece or the velyr “When Worlds Collide” story. Of course they did get 1400 submissions when they only had 20 slots available so I guess it’s not horrible. I may try reworking the stories and see if a magazine might like them.
I don’t mind being rejected, but for crying out loud, could you shoot me a line or two explaining why it didn’t strike your fancy? I understand some stories are just horribly written — but mine don’t suffer from that problem. I’ve been published before. I know how to spin a decent story. Just take a couple of seconds and say “I hated the character” or “Story didn’t match my expectations.” Form rejections suck big time.
I’ve still got a couple of stories out that haven’t been judged yet. I’m also still working on a few due at the end of February. Maybe I can get at least one of them accepted …
You guys got any suggestions for getting something besides a form rejection?