. . . And Speaking of Rejections!
Published November 27th, 2005 | 
Maybe “Huey” has a point about form email rejections. Just received a form email rejection from the New Yorker that makes my form rejection email message seem like an invitation to Thanksgiving Dinner by comparison. Not that I am New Yorker material, but that story was the closest thing I’d to a New Yorker piece or, at least, my most Carveresque effort. If I sound a little bummed — I’m not. Just a little desperate. Last time I checked, NY paid something like $5000 for a story. Being as I owe everybody these days and I only have my stories and my blood left to sell (and I need my blood) . . . Ah well, it was a long shot, anyway. Still, I am nostalgic for the old days when the New Yorker would at least send a form rejection on real quality paper with the New Yorker letterhead and a real ink signature. Back then one came away from the experience feeling as if a real human being read the submission.
Shaddup and Get Da Hell Outta Here, Ya No Good Dirty Bum!
Published November 22nd, 2005 | Hi j.,
You just sent me four(4) letters of rejection, using the exact
same words and phrasings.I would think that anyone dealing with poetry would have
more than ringy-ding verse at his disposal.Perhaps a better familiarity with the language might help!
—huey—
Well, far be it for me to challenge a guy who is unembarrassed to call himself “Huey”, but who the hell does this guy think he is?
Yes, I rejected his work. Yes, I deliberately sent four identical form rejection replies to four individual poems. Why did I reject his work? Easy. His poems were quite odious, each one worse than the last. Why did I choose a form rejection as opposed to something more personal and constructive? I didn’t feel that “Huey” would appreciate the effort and preferred to use my time more wisely. Why did I send four individual copies of the same rejection note? “Huey” had sent four individual emails. Now, I would normally send one blanket rejection to cover all of the poems (the last time “Huey” had submitted 10 poems in 10 individual emails and I certainly wasn’t going to reply ten times), but I figured sending him four copies of the same rejection was the surest way to rid myself of him.
So far, so good!
Better Late Than Never
Published November 11th, 2005 | Welcome to the first installment of my new blog. Well . . . it’s not entirely new as I have moved back installments of the old Diary of a Mad Editor column here. Lest you be confused by some of the timestamps, it’s because the column began on the old Themestream website in 2000 and has moved around a lot in the intervening years (including pitstops on Suite 101 and various electronic newsletters) before ending up here.
In truth, I should have had this thing up and running a year ago but, as with so many things connected to Asterius Press, it just got away from me. The WordPress files have been sitting on my computer for months unopened. I have no real excuse for this other than my own laziness
In any event, sink or swim, I’m going to give blogging a whirl. Until next time,
best and later,
JCE
