Here's a dude who loves the rejections he writes to others so much that he posts them voluminously for the world (and his literary magazine readers) to see. (Click on the volume number to get to the other six pages of rejections in case you are so inclined.) One word about Lee Klein from me: Wow.
I learned of this phenomenon from the man himself, who wrote me an email with a link to his rejections and an invitation (perhaps challenge) to submit to his site, Eyeshot.net.
Wrote he, "Maybe send something for Eyeshot, award-winning writer..."
My response: "Um, no thanks." But he is welcome for the publicity, and I do wish him peace and light.
20 comments:
Wow. What an a-hole.
What is that photo? Is it real? Is it for Halloween? I can't stop looking at it. It's freaking me out, man.
If I were so lonely and empty inside that no other human beind would take my picture, I would close my eyes and let the the Loch Ness monster orally rape me too.
oh, here's my eyeshot submission:
rape rape
lochnessmonster caught on tape
wearing a cape
Paz y luz y AMOR - LK
So...Writer Rejected=Lee Klein.
You've certainly got the third gendered name down pat, and the shared unhealthy attitude about rejection. Kind of a let down, I thought you'd be someone famous. Oh well. peace light and love to all.
Huh? Who said WR=LK? Is that WR's Crazy Uncle again? Weird.
Pretty quick to defend yourself there, WR, and pretend the anonymouse is your uncle (wft w/ ur uncle anyway?) Btw, is Eyeshot the journal that was duped by the hilbilly random word generator? (what a soap opera this site has become.) But my vote is that you really are Lee Klein. You should do a poll, does WR=LK? In an unrelated note, 'Lee Klein' looks like 'Kleenex' without my glasses.
WTF R U TALKING ABOUT, DUDE?
Eyeshot cannot be duped and it's not edited by Mr. Writer, Rejected
we've got a site that doesn't have rejection letters. We give every writer who submits customized feedback--6 months out of the year for free--and the other 6 months along with a contest entry we give page-by-page feedback for what you would pay somewhere else to say, "no thanks."
Check it: www.ourstories.us
Love the blog.
Yours,
Alexis E Santi
Editor-In-Chief
Our Stories Literary Journal
well, i guess that's a better alternative to the Narrative Magazine contests, wherein you essentially pay $20 to someone who's already rich famous auteur.
aslo: your pic is hawt mr. santi, much better looking than lochnessy face. hey wr, put up a pic of mr. santi!
What the hell is going on here lately??
Is it pre-election fever? Halloween? A full moon? The prospect of Palin becoming Pres?
Madness.
I'm flattered, WR, that you remember me. But, no, I can't take credit for the Lee Klein remark - I haven't written you for a long while. I do sometimes skim your site when my turn comes to use the prison computer.
Skimming through your interview, I noticed that you worked the slush pile at Antaeus. Without, as you've claimed, attending an MFA program? Really?
You asked for comments re. the fate of LROD (and supplied a number yourself, under various aliases and Anonymous - just as you are, surely, the Anonymous above, who brought up your Crazy Uncle; who else would think of that?)
When you request opinions, why do people respond? You previously asked for opinions on whether to continue your book club, and the results were as dismal as was the response to Strauss' novel (even he stayed away). Anyway, I asked you directly, WR - TWO times - what your decision was. No answer. Kind of like what we get from politicians.
Alas, the life of a writer in these sad times! Such grasping at opportunities! I'm glad I'm merely a reader.
Why is it so improbable that WR=LK? If you look at the history of Mr. Klein and Eyeshot, it's not incompatible with that of LROD. Some MFA-less shmuck starts a website to publish his own crap under pseudonyms, site becomes mildly popular, legitimacy ensues, and before you know it he's got enough connections to get an MFA at Iowa. Flash forward and post-Iowa he's still a nobody. (an MFA does not guarantee instant fame people! not even one from Iowa, you have to be insanely talented and lucky for the $$$ to roll in.)
And then this site is born in 2007 to record the rejections of a self described "award winning published author"
Two big egos, two obsessions with the rejection process, compatible timelines, is it any wonder why the anonymice think it's the same person?
I'm not saying that I think WR=LK, for the record I think WR is a woman, but it's not some crazy theory being thrown about with no evidence. And WR brought this on his/her own self by giving LK publicity.
That's my piece y'all. Peace light and love to you too.
What is the matter with you mice? What's with all the hate?
So bitter. Must be McPalin supporters.
I wish you inner peace and outer manners.
Anonymous several posts up: Don't be flattered by me. I don't know who the hell you are or what you're talking about.
I post here as myself...green frowny face and all. Also, fyi, I was an undergraduate when I had an internship at the lit mag in NYC, and it was only for a very limited time frame.
By the way, I am not Lee Klein. I'm not anyone you have ever heard of. And, believe me, you won't find out who I am until I reveal myself. And you know what else, this blog is the most interesting thing about me, so you'll probably just be disappointed when you do find out.
Enjoy the mystery while it lasts.
I'm on the west coast, so I have the privelege of being able to submit to zyzzyva, which is sort of what the journal eyeshot reminds me of. The rejection letters Lee posts are at least more interesting than forms, so no need for hating. I've gotten some weird rejections from him and have enjoyed them immensely.
And yeah, WR isn't Lee Klein. Anyone who's dying to know who WR is can piece it together from some careless backposts. Let me assure you the reveal will be a pretty big letdown. There was a weird out-of-nowhere comment on a post earlier in the week; it suggests that I'm not the only one who figured it out. WR will surely know what I'm referring to.
Lucinda: You think you were disappointed when you figured out who I was? Imagine how I felt when I figured it out. You certainly aren't whistling dixie when you say "a pretty big let down." I'm discouraged about it every day, and I have to live with me. It's a bummer.
I poked around on that Eyeshot place and found some Acceptance Letters that might cheer you up, WR: http://eyeshot.net/acceptanceletters1.html - yup, that LK ego-freak even posts acceptance letters he's sent out, among all that stuff by Zadie Smith, Daniel Alarcon, Tao Lin, and all those lesser-known awesome writers like Kevin Sampsell and Elizabeth Ellen.
Okay, let's all use the comments section of a blog about rejection to shout-out our lesser known writer friends:
Gloria Qiao, TJ Park, Lief M Beckett, Violet Viconda, Meg James-DeWitt, GCC, Sally Hemmings, Ryan Davis, D Aristizabal.
Whose in your fave five?
I don't really enjoy these types of arguments. I never have good comebacks. I mostly just know what happened to me and can't think of cool and funny shit to say to all the stupid shit other people are saying.
I am a nobody really.
Still, Lee Klein has taken the time to write me two critical rejections in the last few weeks. It's amazing that someone cares enough about someone they've never met and aren't even publishing to write a critique longer the standardized no thanks you get from most publishers. Every way I've looked at it he's done a good thing for me.
Also, the loch ness monster is cool, dinosaurs and everything.
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