I got my rejection back in the mail today. I'm bummed. Not even a pen mark where he quit reading. (I've heard that sometimes the editor will draw a blue line across the page where they quit reading.) Oh well. I had another idea for a chapter to help round out one of the minor characters, so I'll take the opportunity to write that chapter and then send it off to the next publisher. If I get enough rejection letters maybe I can paper a wall with them. :-) jon

jon....it's like a job interview. It's not that they rejected you, it's that they chose someone else. And that may not be solace, but remember that they will be kicking themselves when you get published. Can you imagine the hundred or so publishers that regret having rejected Stephen King? He persisted to be successful. So can you. :) And you know it's true because I've never lied to you.

I'm not too depressed. :-) I expected to get rejected. Now I'll polish it a bit and send it on to the next one. And besides, it gives me more time to finish Book 3! :-) jon

There you go. :D Maybe we should start the Writers' Forum Press...that way we could publish everything we write. Might not be able to sell it...but we could publish it.

I think hat's an awesome idea, dialyn. And jstro -- it's ok to be rejected, but not to be dejected. :) Keep it going! :D (and hey -- at least they bothered to let you know!)

It would be that hard, actually. CafePress does Print on Demand books. They don't have ISBNs (yet, but they are working on it). I wouldn't put up anything that I thought would be a best seller, but if the point was to get published so that you had something to sell to friends and family, it wouldn't be the worst thing one could do. And so everyone knows what babble I'm talking, International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) are unique numbers assigned to each publisher which Amazon.com uses to track book sales. So you need a ISBN if you want to sell through Amazon.com, and get listed so you can get your book purchased by libraries and displayed in bookstores. 10 ISBN's (for 10 books, which seems to be the minimum) would cost nearly $300 to obtain. That's not including costs related to getting a copyright. Sigh. So you wouldn't want to start a publishing company unless you have money to burn or you are really determined to get published. On the other hand, you could do a book of your lesser works relatively reasonably and at least have the ego boost of having something in hand. :) And I think it is terrific that jon submitted in the first place...that's more than I've done, and I'm going to proud to say "I knew him when" at the moment he gives us good news.

P.S. There are other Print on Demand publishers and some of them do have ISBN's but most would require money up front to publish. Just wanted to make it clear that I'm not recommending CafePress...I just happen to have been looking at that one.

I am sorry to hear the sad news. At least your book made it out to a publisher. My book never made it past the writer. I s-canned it after about 200 pages.

Oh, tjames. That's the saddest. Now that you mention it, most of my stories never make it past the writer. :(

Some years ago, I wrote what I thought was a long and personal letter to one of the columnists for Model Aviation, thinking I might get a personal response from him. Much to my surprise, he published the whole thing, complete with three photos. About a month later, the Academy of Model Aeronautics sent me a check, think it was $35. Does that count? (Got some good reviews from the guys when I went out to the flying field after that too. Frosting on the cake.)

I had a column in a weekly shopping newspaper on geneology for about six months. I didn't get paid, but it had 150K circ so I was getting my stuff out there. The paper unfortunately was a shopping newspaper, and under the thumb of a chain, so that when it couldn't sell enough ads to justify the circ disappeared... Oh well. I was stopped on the street a couple of times by people I had an aquaintance with an told "I read your article" Does that count? I know how good I felt. The time one person told me rhey actually looked forward to reading my column because it was the only thing good about the little paper... that had me dancing on the stars. I've had a couple of editorials printed in the local paper circ about 500k, but nobody reads editorials do they?

And I do read the editorials. In fact, the editorials and letters are one of my favorite parts of the newspaper. You'll see why in a moment. I think getting published counts, however it comes about. But then my published attempts have been pretty pathetic. Just to make everyone feel better, I share two of my publishing achievements. The funniest thing I ever got published was a letter to the editor to the Truman Tribune. I don't live in Truman, Missouri, but the mother of a friend of mine had been born there and liked to get copies of her small town paper long after she moved to California. Well, one issue had an editorial against the annual showing of the "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown." Well, my friend (a Peanuts fan) and I stayed up all night long and wrote a response. And they printed it!! The next year, the editorial was about our letter of the previous year. We nearly died laughing. My other "published" event was a Letter to the Editor to Tv Guide which was my protest against sexism on "60 Minutes" because the producer said that no woman could stand up to the difficult schedule. I said if 60 plus year old men could do it, certainly any reasonably fit woman could. It was no doubt a coincidence that they put a woman on the show the next season. Anyway, I doubt if any has any lamer examples of being published than I do.

"but nobody reads editorials do they?" Yikes! Don't say that! My sister makes her living writing editorials! She would not be happy with you. ;-) Actually, I read the editorials off the Washington Post and NY Times on-line almost daily. The only thing I've actually ever had published was a scientific paper in the proceedings of an obscure technical conference. But that doesn't keep me from trying. "Anyway, I doubt if any has any lamer examples of being published than I do." And just what is the circulation of Renderosity Magazine, I wonder? jon

How about getting poems published in the letters column of a monthly old persons newspaper? Can't expect any money there or editorials where you change your id to bait a writer in an alternative newspaper? back around '85 or so. They had a rule about submitting more than so many times...By getting published under an alter ego I learned that I can be anyone. In this case where the writer was obviously writing for the very politically correct crowd. I wrote as a vain young girl and baited him with the exact thing he was railing against.(that's lame) The result was a torrent of bimbo mail, but hey I knew it was read. I couldn't have received a better response if I turned on a light in a room of roaches. (and that's what it's all about) I love to write, love getting into print. It's a drug. I remember that when I submitt and get a rejection slip. Jon, when your feeling low, remember those highs that's what gets you through.

hey, you're in the small group of those who actually submitted something, as opposed to the far larger number who never tried..keep at it. From various forewords, some established authors get rejection letters, even after they've published several books..my favorite is one Sci-fi editor, who sent a rejection back labelled something like 'COOCH', which is the chemical Butyl Mercaptan, which is the active ingredient in skunk..;) best response to a review I've seen is a composer, who wrote 'I am sitting in the smallest room in my house with your review in front of me..soon it will be behind me' (think about it..;)

Lol bettr'n silence or worse? Been through a part of the farmland where a plant produces fertilizer at skatol is an aerial byproduct....I remember the COOCH capsules being considered a terrorist weapon as well.

Hmm. If you have Sci-Fi or Fantasy stories ( particularley ( sp ) short stories try submitting them to this site. I know the Fantasy Story link is currently not working but I know he USED to pay $ if he selects your work. Bsteph

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Dialyn - shame shame shame on you - You didn't mention that you HAVE been published in an international magazine - You have had articles in the Renderosity Magazine :) We do not feature all the articles that come across our desks, so to be published in the Rosity Mag is a big deal, and a great way for artists to get a first article published! Sometimes getting published can be a catch-22 situation - you can't get published unless you have already been published. Also, in the past we did not pay for submissions, [this was due to the high printing costs] however, we are working on changing that policy for future issues :) So, anyone interested in submitting an article - as long as it is art related - please send us a query letter to: mag@renderosity.com Looking forward to hearing from you :) Dee-Marie

jon,

Just remember that "every no is closer to a yes" - and as members have already noted - You are a winner by the simple fact that you have finished your novel and are shopping it around! Way to go!

Stephen King [no moaning - I know his name has been over-used] was about to give up his writing career due to all the reject letters he received in the begining. Thank goodness he kept on revising and resending.

I have read your stories and know what an amazing author you are - I believe in you and know that your novel will make it into the hands of that perfect editor who will see the magic of your words just by reading the first paragraph!

I am proud of you that you are not giving up, and I look forward to a future posting, annoucing the acceptance of your labor of love!

Keep the faith!
Dee-Marie

I don't put getting published in the Renderosity Magazine in the same catefory as being published in the letters section of the Truman Tribune. That's why I didn't mention it as one of my "funky" publishing experiences. I also edited and wrote the Geraniamania newsletter for a year. I'm not ashambed of the accomplishment but, you have to admit, it does make for a strange looking writing resume. (And, yes, I spent a year of my life writing about geraniums.)

I was just teasing you Dialyn, you know I loves ya! Just my sneaky way of getting a plug in for the magazine :) As to my oddest [yet most rewarding] writing credit was published in my college newspaper - It was a fond farewell to a beloved professor on his retirement little did I know that 3 years later his wife would contact me, asking permission to read my article at the funeral of the same professor. Dee-Marie

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"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." -- Richard Bach