Failure
Last Updated: 5/23/12
Current Tally:
Rejections: 308
Acceptances: 38 (See here for the feelgood.)
Rejection/Acceptance Ratio: 8/1 (12%)
This is my list of rejections from lit magazines. Name of mag, followed by date of rejection.
THE LIST:
Blackbird 5/17/12
Narrative 5/17/12
Ad Astra 5/11/12
Ideomancer 4/26/12
The Minnesota Review 4/24/12
Intergalactic Medicine Show 4/23/12
Fiddleblack 4/3/12
Pulp Ink 2 3/31/21
Cicada 3/26/12
Threepenny Review 3/22/12
Flash Fiction Online 3/22/12
Third Coast 3/18/12
Unstuck 3/12/12
Press 53 3/1/12
Apex 2/27/12
Idaho Review 2/23/12
The New Yorker 2/21/12
Ideomancer 2/21/12
Redstone SF 2/19/12
The Sun 2/6/12
Five Points 2/3/12
Plots With Guns 2/2/12
The Paris Review 1/31/12
Dark Faith 1/30/12
Threepenny Review 1/23/12
Bibliotecha Fantastica 1/21/12
Dark Sky 1/19/12
New Letters 1/18/12
Michigan Quarterly Review 1/17/12
Redivider 1/11/12
The Pedestal 1/10/12
CutBank 1/10/12
Indiana Review 1/4/12
Boston Review 1/4/12
Shimmer 12/29/11
McSweeney’s 12/21/11
Crazyhorse 12/16/11
Needle 12/4/11
Ellery Queen 12/2/11
Bat City 12/2/11
Unstuck 11/29/11
Harpur’s Palate 11/20/11
Asimov’s 11/18/11
Beat To A Pulp 11/13/11
Beat To A Pulp 11/12/11
Shotgun Honey 11/9/11
Mid-American Review 11/9/11
Apex 11/9/11
Connotation Press 11/7/11
Pulp Modern 10/30/11
Hot Metal Bridge 10/30/11
Clarkesworld 10/23/11
Quarterly West 10/22/11
Fence 10/22/11
Gettysburg Review 10/19/11
Lightspeed 11/18/11
Los Angeles Review 10/15/11
The Journal 10/14/11
Iron Horse 10/12/11
The Paris Review 10/4/11
A Public Space 9/28/11
A-Minor 9/17/11
Fiddleblack 9/15/11
Bellevue Literary Review 9/15/11
Fantasy 9/14/11
New Plains Review 9/12/11
Glimmer Train 9/12/11
The Other Room 9/9/11
Nano Fiction 9/6/11
Nano Fiction 9/6/11
Needle 9/2/11
Minnesota Review 9/1/11
Flashquake 9/1/11
Lit 8/29/11
Southeast Review 8/29/11
Ellery Queen 8/25/11
Esquire 8/22/11
Shotgun Honey 8/19/11
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 8/17/11
Southern Humanities Review 8/17/11
Needle 8/9/11
Frigg 8/7/11
Frigg 8/7/11
ChiZine 8/6/11
Hunger Mountain 8/5/11
Barrelhouse 8/4/11
Ellery Queen 8/4/11
Ideomancer 8/3/11
Apex 8/2/11
Bull 8/2/11
Unstuck 8/2/11
Word Riot 8/2/11
Plots With Guns 7/31/11
Pulp Modern 7/30/11
Storyglossia 7/29/11
7/26/11 Pedestal
7/25/11 Digital Science Fiction
elimae 7/21/11
Dirty Noir 7/19/11
Shimmer 7/19/11
South Dakota Review 7/19/11
Jobbed 7/17/11
Electric Spec 7/17/11
Black Warrior Review 7/16/11
Pulp Modern 7/15/11
Boston Review 7/13/11
Fantasy 7/13/11
Crazyhorse 7/9/11
Bound Off 7/12/11
Not One Of Us 7/10/11
Smokelong Quarterly 7/9/11
Clarkesworld 7/8/11
Dirty Noir 7/6/11
Onirismes 7/6/11
Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show 7/5/11
Onirismes 7/6/11
Hayden’s Ferry Review 7/5/11
Glimmer Train 7/2/11
Glimmer Train 7/1/11
Ecelectica 7/1/11
Revolution House 7/1/11
Shotgun Honey 6/26/11
Bete Noire 6/26/11
Redivider 6/26/11
Contrary 6/25/11
Word Riot 6/25/11
Mixer 6/23/11
Comets & Criminals 6/23/11
Vestal Review 6/22/11
Triquarterly 6/21/11
Clarkesworld 6/21/11
Shotgun Honey 6/21/11
Apex 6/18/11
The Reprint 6/16/11
Weird Tales 6/15/11
Flashquake 6/15/11
Necessary Fiction 6/13/11
Bete Noire 6/11/11
Onirismes 6/11/11
Fantasy 6/7/11
Corium 6/6/11
Metazen 6/2/11
Shenandoah 6/2/11
Five Points 6/2/11
AGNI 6/1/11
Hayden’s Ferry Review 5/28/11
Electric Literature 5/27/11
Witness 5/25/11
The Collagist 5/24/11
ChiZine 5/22/11
Mixer 5/21/11
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 5/20/11
Juked 5/20/11
Post Road 5/16/11
Allegory 5/16/11
Orion 5/14/11
Apex 5/13/11
The New Yorker 5/12/11
Ascent 5/10/11
Used Furniture Review 5/7/11
Necessary Fiction5/6/11
Shimmer 5/6/11
Storyglossia 5/4/11
Electric Spec 5/3/11
Caketrain 5/2/11
[kill author] 5/2/11
Fantasy Magazine 5/1/11
Boulevard 4/30/11
Big Pulp 4/29/11
Stymie 4/29/11
Daily Science Fiction 4/29/11
Corium 4/28/11
Zoetrope 4/25/11
The Cincinnati Review 4/22/11
PANK Magazine 4/19/11
Birkensnake 4/16/11
Savage Kick 4/16/11
Clarkesworld Magazine 4/15/11
DIAGRAM 4/14/11
Mid-American Review 4/12/11
Tin House 4/12/11
The Southern Review 4/12/11
Asimov’s Science Fiction 4/12/11
Moon Milk Review 4/12/11
elimae 4/12/2011
Word Riot 4/10/11
Grist: The Journal for Writers 4/9/11
Daily Science Fiction 4/9/11
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 4/8/11
Ideomancer 4/8/11
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine 4/7/11
Strange Horizons 4/6/11
Untied Shoelaces of the Mind 4/6/11
Willow Springs 4/5/11
PULP! 4/5/11
flashquake 4/5/11
Santa Fe Writers Project Journal 4/3/11
Fugue 4/2/11
Ascent 4/2/11
Flyway 4/1/11
Bound Off 4/1/11
Camera Obscura 3/31/11
Smokelong Quarterly 3/29/11
Pear Noir! 3/29/11
Used Furniture Review 3/29/11
Weird Tales 3/28/11
The Los Angeles Review 3/28/11
One Story 3/26/11
Necessary Fiction 3/26/11
New Myths (NewMyths.com) 3/25/11
Neon 3/23/11
Word Riot 3/22/11
Alaska Quarterly Review 3/21/11
Neon 3/20/11
Subtropics 3/18/11
Harpur Palate 3/16/11
Flywheel Magazine 3/15/11
Clarkesworld Magazine 3/13/11
Necessary Fiction 3/13/11
JMWW 3/13/11
Prick of the Spindle, The 3/12/11
Bete Noire 3/11/11
Boston Review 3/10/11
Witness 3/10/11
Other Room, The 3/10/11
Other Room, The 3/9/11
Storyglossia 3/9/11
elimae 3/8/11
Lightspeed 3/8/11
Bete Noire 3/7/11
Threepenny Review 3/7/11
West Branch 3/4/11
Hunger Mountain 3/3/11
Pedestal Magazine 3/3/11
Word Riot 3/3/11
StoryQuarterly 3/1/11
Hayden’s Ferry Review 3/1/11
CutBank Literary Magazine 2/28/11
Bartleby Snopes 2/28/11
Word Riot 2/26/11
AGNI 2/24/11
Indiana Review 2/24/11
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2/24/11
Bellevue Literary Review 2/23/11
Black Warrior Review 2/16/11
Abyss & Apex 2/16/11
Granta 2/15/11
Ninth Letter 2/14/11
Glimmer Train Stories 2/11/11
New Myths (NewMyths.com) 2/9/11
Threepenny Review 2/7/11
New Plains Review 2/3/11
Copper Nickel 1/29/11
Kenyon Review 1/28/11
upstreet 1/25/11
One Story 1/24/11
elimae 1/20/11
Hayden’s Ferry Review 1/16/11
Gulf Coast 1/14/11
Collagist, The 1/13/11
NOÖ Journal (NOO) 1/11/11
Per Contra 1/7/11
Public Space, A 1/7/11
PANK Magazine 1/7/11
elimae 1/3/11
Word Riot 1/2/11
failbetter.com 12/29/10
Annalemma 12/27/10
Crazyhorse 12/23/10
Tin House 12/16/10
La Petite Zine 12/14/10
PANK Magazine 12/14/10
New York Tyrant 12/11/10
One Story 11/29/10
AGNI 11/23/10
PANK Magazine 11/19/10
Alt Hist 11/17/10
Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show 11/15/10
PANK Magazine 11/15/10
failbetter.com 11/5/10
Metazen 11/2/10
Birkensnake 10/30/10
upstreet 10/28/10
PANK Magazine 10/27/10
OG’s Speculative Fiction Magazine 10/26/10
Café Irreal 10/26/10
Red Penny Papers, The 10/26/10
PANK Magazine 10/20/10
CutBank Literary Magazine 10/19/10
Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show 10/14/10
Smokelong Quarterly 10/12/10
Word Riot 10/10/10
Futurismic 10/9/10
Moon Milk Review 10/7/10
Collagist, The 10/2/10
Hobart (Print) 9/28/10
Word Riot 9/28/10
Camera Obscura 9/27/10
Pedestal Magazine 9/24/10
BLIP 9/21/10
Glimmer Train Stories 9/21/10
Lightspeed 9/21/10
Sci-Fi Short Story Magazine 9/19/10
Malicious Deviance Anthology 9/1/10
Clarkesworld Magazine 8/26/10
Word Riot 8/2/10
Neon 7/31/10
~
Let me note, that while most of these rejections were form, some of them were personal, with useful comments and suggestions. Starting from 4/26, I’ll note which was which in individual posts. Anyway, a rejection is a rejection.
Note, too, that all the mags below are fine publications. That’s why I want to be in them. Hell, I want to in Word Riot so bad I’ve been rejected by them 8 9 10 times, and 6 times by PANK (and accepted, finally, in May 2011). So this list is not meant to disparage these mags. I’m not giving them what they need, is all.
This list is by no means complete: from about 2003 – 2006, I submitted hundreds of times to various mags. That was on an old Yahoo account, though, and I didn’t keep careful track. Also not included are the hundred or so literary agents that turned down (mostly by not writing back at all) my first two novel manuscripts.
From late 2006 to mid-2010, I didn’t submit short stories at all. I wrote two novels. But around summer 2010, I broke up my novel manuscript, rehabilitated a few old short stories, and starting writing new ones. I soon found myself with lots of material.
Thanks to the magic of Duotrope, I’ve been able to keep extremely accurate track of each submission. The first went out on July 28, 2010. (To a rejection 3 days later, from Neon.)
29 Comments
Leave a CommentTrackbacks
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Court Merrigan
Don’t give up the fight. Keep trying.
I will – thanks for stopping by, Dan.
I have only submitted to a handful of these journals and they’ve all rejected me too. Some were from WAY back like 8 years ago though. They include:
DIAGRAM (8 years ago, yes)
elimae (a few years ago)
Used Furniture Review (this year)
upstreet (two years ago)
One story (don’t remember – they didn’t even reply)
Collagist (two years ago)
failbetter (two years ago)
Pedestal (last year)
I’ve never tried again. There’re a handful of others which I like but don’t think I’d even try, like Black Warrior Review.
Thanks for contributing to the Failure rollcall, Nicolette.
Hell, I say all you can do is try. You never know when you’re going to crack a place like Black Warrior Review. Especially when there are online submissions.
If you ever get accepted at any of these places, stop back by here and report!
6% is pretty good. I’d glare at a puppy for 6%. Great list of mags. I too have rejections from many of these. Some of my favorites in this list!
I love rejection blogging and admire all of you who do it. It helps everyone, I think, to see the struggle.
Thanks, Alisha for stopping by. Revolution House, I’ll note, is on the list!
I hemmed and hawed for a solid month about whether to blog my rejections. Glad I did – it’s cathartic as all get-out.
1% capture rate is a wicked success in a direct mail campaign, which is what English degree holders with no true writing talent or passion end up doing as their job. Here’s to being 6x better than that and to still doing something you love.
Hey, thanks, Andrea. I call that a pep talk!
Hi Court, I just posted a blog item about your “Failure” page, which inspired me to share your insights from your ongoing efforts, plus a few statistics of my own. I hope you like it.
Thanks,
Carol
What a nice write-up, Carol! Thanks very much. I’m headed over to yours to comment.
My percentage runs close to yours (10% or so); I’ve never actually kept track as diligently as you have, but based on what I see on submishmash the last 2 yrs. I supposed I’m “on par” percentage-wise. I have an ongoing battle w/Bartleby lately and with Hobart. Send…No. Send something else…No. Another…No. We’re playing a love game, I feel. I keep asking them to dance…and I just know that one day they’ll give me that slow dance finally, where I’ll be able to put my arms around them and feel them up just a little bit; enough not to insult them, naturally.
I know that dance! I kept asking out Word Riot, and getting rejected. I think it happened about 13 times until I ran out of stuff that was up their alley. Well, at least the punch back at the punch table is alright. It tastes suspiciously of Jim Beam.
All my grad schools profs told me, 1 out of 10 is about the best you can hope for. At least you’re still brave. I’d gotten into the bad habit of only targetting mags I know will take me. You get tired of busting your ass and then getting a “Dear Writer…,” you know? I finally started going back to Tin House and the like, sending out to the places I’ve had a hard time getting into in the past. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? We’ll see… Thanks for the list. You’re certainly tenacious…
Yeah, all you can do is put yourself out there. Either they love you or they don’t. Thanks for stopping by, man.
Like Tom Pitts said when he read this page, it’s a little discouraging, yet strangely…hopeful. (I just submitted to 10 of the big boys, including Tin House and Black Warrior. Let the rejections start filtering in. It’s all for the best. I was starting to feel a little too good about myself…)
I hope the big boys end up fighting over your stuff, man.
This is awesome. I feel so relieved knowing a fellow writer has racked up substantial rejections from the same places I still submit/get rejected from.
Thanks, Jenny – it’s cathartic as hell, airing out rejections. Thanks for stopping by. Awesome name, by the way.
I have a question for you Court…do you find it worth your while to submit paper/SASE’s to a whole bunch of mags? I notice you do submit regularly to pubs who aren’t accepting electronic submissions.
Aren’t those publications hopelessly out of touch with the times? It literally costs nothing to have an email account, if they don’t want to “spring” for a Submittable account.
Yeah, it’s dinosaur-like, but I submit via snail mail from time to time. There’s a few pretty prestigious journals that are still into dead trees. Although now that I’m not really writing “literary”-type stuff anymore, that probably won’t be happening much from now on.
Interestingly, I’ve gotten a couple emails back from snail mail sub places, with some nice notes from the editors. So I guess they do have email accounts in those offices. They just don’t like to use ‘em much, I guess.
Wah! So jealous to see you got a rejection from Cicada so recently! I sent something a month ago, but waited over a year for my last rejection and am not looking forward to an equally long wait. If you don’t mind me asking, how long did you wait for yours?
104 days. This was my first stab at writing a kid’s story so I wasn’t expecting much and, not surprisingly, I wasn’t disappointed. Got any ideas on where else can I send the sort of kid’s story that might have worked for Cicada?