A one-two set up by former
New Yorker fiction editor.
- On the Left: The initial stinging rejection with seductive invitation. The first handwritten note says: "This is alive, good writing, and ideas too--but the general notion seems overly complicated and a stretch for presenting this world; the payoff isn't great enough for the labor. But I hope you'll try another piece here? L Asher"
(As if there were any question. In fact, I sent her two pieces.)
- On the Right: The second rejection arrived remarkably quickly. The handwritten note says: "Sorry--These are well enough written, but their material seems rather showily outsider, more posture than we like. But thanks."
Showily Outsider? Posturing? Maybe she didn't like that the main character was a lesbian prostitute?
A one-two set up by former New Yorker fiction editor. 
2 comments:
Maybe it's just me, but a lot of us striving writers would love a personal rejection from the New Yorker. And you've got not one but two! Personally I'd be showing these off to my friends, Writer Dejected! I'd be bragging about them.
Take these and run with them.
I've got about a dozen of those from her. Seven years and she never accepted a story. BTW, she left the magazine in 1996.
Post a Comment