Obviously I'm just some asshole who's jealous because this vanity press publisher I'm warning her about rejected me in the past or something. She defended her publisher and then wrote:

As for reapplying once I have a "few things publish" [sic], is also a slap in the face. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to get published at all by a traditional publisher, and you minimalizing that is just insulting. No, I won't be reapplying.

I sent her a note back (I picture you editors shaking your heads mumbling, "You poor, doomed fool...") trying to clarify that the vanity press had no bearing on her membership consideration--it just wasn't going to be the sole reason for publication when it wasn't even out yet and there was nothing else by which to consider her site. But I don't expect to hear from her again.

I don't regret not approving her membership, but I thought about her reaction and I wondered how many new writers don't want to hear how hard it is in the publishing world. One of the judges of "American Idol/Star Search" or some similar show was on The Daily Show (which, along with The Sopranos completes my justification for cable) a while back and Jon Stewart asked him how many of the kids rejected for the talent search thought the judges were obviously blind to their talent and felt they were unjust in rejecting them.

"All of them," the judge said.

Stuff like this makes me more appreciate the editors who reject me. If they don't comment on my manuscripts, I now know that it's about more than just time and energy. It's because, even when we ask for constructive criticism, we're not always receptive to it.

At any rate, I received a letter from Writers of the Future this week. Said my entry in December placed in the quarter finals for that quarter. What wasn't exactly clear by the letter was whether that meant "You are a finalist and we’ll let you know what happens when the judging is over" or "you were a finalist, but it’s all over. Attaboy anyway." I guessed the latter but had to get confirmation from some friends online--I didn't want to submit the story elsewhere before before I knew for sure.

In spite of my initial confusion, it was a nice way to hear that I was rejected--that I was a quarterfinalist. From now on I'll try to be that gentle. But not that specific and maybe a little less constructive.

Filed under Journal, Prose and Poetry, Writers of the Future
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