Pass We Must At the House of Tin

Why do they bug me at Tin House?  They just do:

Thank you for sending us "Title." Unfortunately, we must pass at this time. Best of luck placing your work elsewhere. Sincerely, Tin House Editors

The House of No

Here's the rejection from Tin House Books, as promised in yesterday's post. As far as rejection encouragement goes, it's a pretty good one. It says: "Dear Writer, Rejected: Thank you for letting us take a look at [title of book of creative nonfiction]. Many of us here, including Lee, read your manuscript with interest. The writing is lively, and the subject matter is intriguing. Unfortunately, we don't feel the manuscript is right for Tin House Books. While we did find the book to be "viable" we are focusing our attention on literary fiction as we begin to make a name for ourselves. I wish you the best of luck placing [title] with another publisher, and strongly encourage you to try us again with future projects." Anyone out there want a lively, intriguing, "viable" work of personal, literary nonfiction?

Tin House is Not a Home

With this little scribble, Lee Montgomery started a fire in my heart. It says: "The writing was clear, and the story quite strong. Please send more work." I pursued publication in her pages for years, but was sloughed off on junior editors, who invariably said my stories weren't "distinct enough" for Tin House.