You get used to rejection letters after a while; in fact, you even grow to expect them. I know that when I submit something, the odds are about 10:1 in favor of it generating a rejection versus an acceptance. So, when I see a response to a submission, my gut tells me to prepare for the worst.
Last night, I received an email response to a submission that had been out for quite a while. So long, in fact, that I had deemed the submission beyond salvation and I had sent the story to a new market.
The original submission was to one of my “bucket list” markets, one I’ve been trying to crack for as long as I’ve been writing. And, lo and behold, the email was not a rejection but an acceptance. What was the first thing I did (after a brief but energetic happy dance in the living room)? Get on my computer and withdraw the submission from the more recent place I’d sent the story. Happy ending: the editor wasn’t the least bit put out that I’d withdrawn the story.
The story in question has an interesting genesis. I originally wrote it for a themed anthology, but it didn’t make the cut. So I made a second pass at it and de-themed it, which didn’t actually take very much doing. I changed the story’s location at the same time. And off it went, 323 days ago. Yes, that’s right—the story had been in the queue for about 11 months. In this biz, 3-6 months is the norm.
If the story had been accepted by the original market for which it was written, or to the more recent one that I sent it to, it would have earned 1/8 to 1/4 of what it will make in its new home. But it’s not specifically about the money. The story will have far greater visibility in its new home, and that’s even more important.
I hadn’t read the tale in a while, and my wife had never read it at all, so I read it to her last night. It pleases me immensely that she liked it a lot, and I still like it a lot, too. I’m very proud of it, and I look forward to seeing it in print, though that might take a while.
I haven’t received the contract yet. That should take another 30 days or so. I’ll announce it more officially once that happens.
