From the File of Nice Rejection Letters: PART TWO

The note shown above was written by a very young intern, I'm sure. It's very sweet but I came to hate it because it gave me unrealistic hopes about how easy it would be to publish in Harper's Magazine. I think it was beginner's luck.



The following note, "R, I'd like to see something grownup" from Howard Junker at Zyzzyva was some of the best free advice I received. Of course, at the time I was pissed at this comment about my story with teenaged protagonists:




Keep sending! Keep sending, indeed.

From the File of Nice Rejection Letters

I received a nice rejection letter last week by email. Contents below:

Dear Renee,

We thank you for submitting your story, "Her Own Private Idaho," to Electric Literature, though it was not chosen for publication in our journal.

We are committed to publishing short stories by both new and more established writers, and hope that you will consider sending us your best work in the future.

Sincerely,

Editors,
Electric Literature

www.electricliterature.com

Renee,

Just wanted to let you know that a reader said there was "something really nice about this writing" and described it as "fluid, easy to read."
Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Ben

On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 12:54 AM, renee simms wrote:

Attached please find my story "Her Own Private Idaho". Thanks for reading my work.

Renee Simms

*****

Something about that personal note at the end, made it easier to accept and sent me back to my rejection letter folder to find the "nice" letters I've received through the years:


Some were just short handwritten notes:



And some were a bit longer:


But each was a nice surprise in a process that can wear on the nerves. Look for pics of more letters in a following post....