Humiliating Rejection Letter Comments I Have Received
Some of the ways that black-hearted editors and reviewers have dismissed the best that I can do.
As writers, we have to face the regular litany of rejection letters (even the best of us faces this problem occasionally). A few minutes ago I opened a reviewed manuscript which included the phrase ‘many passages are copied and pasted’ and this struck me as particularly (and needlessly) irritating. I have never copied and pasted in my life and I spend hours and hours telling my students to avoid doing it as well. This has started to make me brood, once again, on some of the more humiliating and hurtful comments I have received over the past decade or so.
This morning, another submitted paper was returned from a journal with a curt but polite rejection simply stating that ‘it did not go into enough detail.’ OK, fair enough. That is better than the charge of ‘lacking intellectual rigor’ which is a favourite of some academics (especially those who can hide behind anonymity and whose particular beliefs and ideologies differ from the poor author) and goes with the regularly applied ‘thin,’ which is very damning for an academic paper. I was also upset by being called an ‘autodidact’ as if that were somehow a terrible and shameful thing – or perhaps I am just too sensitive. When I am called upon from time to time to review the work of other people, I try to season my observations with encouragement and praise of what is praiseworthy but there is no requirement for any reviewer to do the same thing – indeed, many people believe in a kind of Darwinian struggle in getting published in which the weak fall by the wayside and their ideas properly perish along with them.
I only occasionally have time to write fiction but when I do it is nearly universally rejected, often in ill-tempered terms. I am reminded of one editor who observed ‘Since you obviously do not care about your characters, I cannot see how you expect anyone else to.’ There was also ‘Nothing seems to happen’ and ‘Boring.’ Other dismissive rejections spring to mind which, when they stick with the ‘not for us, good luck’ type are fine – I understand what you mean and there is no need to spell it out. However, some people do feel the need to spell it out and more. Perhaps the single most humiliating comment I received about a paper was “Should be rewritten by a person for whom English is the first language.” Lovely.
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January 29th, 2010 at 4:12 am
I can understand the pain. A writer’s life can be with rejections too, sometimes for no fault on our part. Avoid being too sensitive to others comments, dear.
I did not understand ““Should be rewritten by a person for whom English is the first language.” It is a vague comment generally used in the Internet world these days. I think your first language is English.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:33 am
It is really painful when someone says you have copied content when you have not done so. I also read the comment of “Sweety.” I’ve faced such humiliations. Even though my native is not English, my first language in school is English. Many don’t accept my first language as English as I live in India.
January 29th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Thanks for sharing.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:53 am
This is the reason why self publishing is gaining popularity.
http://writinghood.com/writing/why-self-publishing-is-the-best-thing-to-do/
But it has its own flip side as well.
January 29th, 2010 at 9:28 am
i have heard this before from those so call lingusitics bigots, who continue to tell me that my pidgin that is jamaican english is not english… and how my grammar is atrocious. And that i should learn the English language and this is exactly the language that i was taught in school. I do not use dialectal english in my work..but reviewers keep saying that i need to learn the english language and that the pidgin that i am speaking wont work..
i know how you feel
i have been there…
January 29th, 2010 at 10:56 am
hey buddy,i can undersnd!!
pls review my page too, hope to hear from u!
https://www.triond.com/users/parulnarda
January 29th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Loved the candor. Believe me, you write extremely well. When you know your worth, the criticisms should automatically fall off.
January 29th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Being a serious writer is not a hobby and is taken to heart and very seriuos.Every writer gets rejected here and thre in their writing career…even on triond.But they could be a bit nicer about doing it,especially since you know you didnt copy and paste anything.Maybe the editor rejecting you forgot they was in your shoes once and could have been rejected as well.But I have heard that getting a book or anything published inst an easy road to go.
January 29th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
As an academic and British you have every right to be insulted by such crass comments about your native language. Dismissive rejections reflect only on the person who sent them. Advisory rejections can at least point you in the direction the magazine,papers,etc, want. What hope for the rest of us?
January 29th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Hi John.
Rejection is always hurtful,but do not be discouraged. I still have letters form publishers who gave me the same dose of unworthiness when I started writing at the age of 12. I\’ve also had a few from Triond. My first language is Polish and my English is 100% better than those born into English speaking back grounds and that includes hubby. As for copying and pasting,challenge them to prove it.
Fiction is a difficult area to get into and one must have a very high,explosive imagination to succeed in. Like all writing,fact or fiction,whatever you are trying to portray to your reading audience,there is quite a bit of research to be done and personal experiences that form your particular style of writing.
I suggest you choose one or two areas eg., short story writing and poetry , or whatever interests you but most importantly what the reader would be interested in.
As for the rejection-You know how good you are and what you have to do now is show them all that they don\’t know what they\’re talking about and it\’s time for them to go back to school!
January 29th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
P.S. Just found a few mistakes in my last comment – sorry.
January 30th, 2010 at 4:50 am
Very good article
February 1st, 2010 at 9:29 am
Well Expressed
February 10th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
When I was editor for an online fiction magazine many moons ago, and editor of the horror fiction anthology “Dark Whispers,” I always tried to put myself in the writer’s shoes. Being a writer myself, I can appreciate the effort that goes into a piece…even if it doesn’t succeed. It’s still a labor of love. It’s still very important to the author. Many hours, and a lot of thought gets put into getting it all down and pieced together. Not to mention the guts it takes to send it off and have someone see it, and potentially rip it to shreds.
I never sent a form rejection letter, and even though a lot of submissions came across my desk and made it difficult to go into extreme detail as to why something was rejected, when criticism was offered, I always tried to handle it delicately as possible.
I took is as an honor that these writers, good or bad, submitted their labors of love because they WANTED to be published in my publication. They deserved nothing but my utmost respect and appreciation.