Rejection Update

Fun fact: Out of all of the stories I've been sending out, my fake astronaut story has garnered the most rejections, having been turned down by The New Yorker, McSweeney's, Quick Fiction, and Blue Earth Review. So it's been quite useful for my alphabet project, especially with that Q.

I wasn't too bothered about Quick Fiction and Blue Earth Review, because in retrospect the story really needed way more revising. And I never expected to get The New Yorker, because I cannot compete with John Updike's corpse.

This makes my third try with McSweeney's, and I may be getting too hopeful, but it seemed like a nicer rejection than usual. My first rejection email from them, which I received in 2004, read, "Thanks for the look, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass." That was it, verbatim; I know because it's been echoing in my brain for seven years. The second time I submitted, I never heard back. This time, the email read, "Thanks for giving us a shot with this, but I'm afraid we're not going to use it. Hope you'll keep trying." Is everyone just writing nicer form letters now? Did they pass some kind of law? Or is this maybe a good sign?

Of course, most of my thesis committee also thought it was a pretty stupid story. I'm starting to think it might only be funny to me, and I've decided that I'm ok with that. I love obscure indie stuff--books, bands, movies--and what's more obscure than something with an audience of one?