Now, VQR is probably my favorite literary journal of the moment. I'm fond of it not just because it hails from my hometown, Charlottesville, VA, but because editor Ted Genoways has completely overhauled it in a way that I believe demonstrates a new model for a successful, high-quality publication. VQR is innovative, sports full-color photos and graphics and consistently features an eclectic array of writers and styles that somehow always works perfectly. I've ordered subscriptions for friends and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. Seriously, you should do it now -- here's a link to the VQR website.
Getting my rejection note from VQR was hard, but not unexpected. I can only imagine that, with their newfound success, they are getting truckloads of submissions. But is their rejection note as professional as their product? To the slip!
Rating Summary: Printed on 3x5" cardstock, VQR's slip gets points for paper quality. It's not flimsy and the print is clear. The language itself is straightforward and succinct. But, in the end, what's most depressing about rejection slips is their cold, generic quality, and VQR's professionalism only seems to enhance that. I realize they can't give personalized feedback to everyone, but even a short hand-written note, along the lines of "sorry, totally wrong for us," or "maybe next time" would do. Getting something this perfunctory and uninformative seems especially harsh given how long they took to get back to me: five months! Sorry VQR, that'll cost you.
The Grade: C+. Just a touch above average. But responding faster might have gotten them within striking range of a B.
Click here for more about the Rate the Rejection series and links to other rejections I've rated.
15 comments:
Well, at least VQR had the class not to combine their generic rejection slip with a subscription card:
http://www.petelit.com/2006/04/beyond_comment.html
A printed card is very harsh. You know to get those that they have to order them in quantities of 500. What happened to the days of form letters that at least were addressed to you, if not signed?
I love this project! But 5 months is nothing! It took a full year for one journal to accept a poem of mine. But I'm not complaining because at least it was accepted.
Tin House's rejection slip is way worse that VQR's--same principle, same size, but on plain paper cut out unevenly out by some intern, no doubt.
It could be worse, I suppose. They could have gone down the Catch-22 road of "Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. And Mrs. _______: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your manuscript, poem or literary work was rejected, misplaced, or reported lost in the post."
Pretty standard rejection these days, I don't think it stands out at all. The hand-written note these days is a big compliment reserved for work that somehow floated to the top of the slush pile.
I've been on both sides of the submission process, so I've received the standard rejection many times, but not as many as I've sent as an assistant editor. I'd have long lost the use of my hands if I'd signed every one I sent out, and I was on the very bottom of the editorial ladder. The best bet is to keep submitting, don't hate on the magazines for saying no, and keep your name fresh in the editor's mind. Enough times and someone will remember.
That's how I've seen it work. Maybe it's different elsewhere.
The only ones that severely piss me off are the ones that don't bother to respond AT ALL. About a decade ago, I submitted an essay for Newsweek's My Turn column. The editor called me to say they were interested; they decided in the end not to use it, but a personal phone call seemed a pretty gentle rejection and an indication I'm in the ballpark of the column's style. So, last year, I sent them another piece. And got ... nothing. Not even the most generic of rejections. Just *nothing*. I queried after five months, still nothing.
Thinking perhaps it was a fluke, I sent in another essay in Feb. And once again got resounding silence. Which seems tremendously lame -- I don't care if you send me the most generic of emailed rejection letters, but if I've gone to the trouble of carefully following your guidelines and *not simultaneously submitting my piece elsewhere*, at least have the courtesy to actually send me a rejection note.
Guess which market is no longer on my list of places to submit.
What a great idea!-putting rejection slips to the test.
I've recieved a few-about 3 out of hundreds-rejection slips that were hand-written by the editor and very cordial as well as encouraging.
Pete, I have to agree, the inclusion of the subscription card takes the rejection slip to a new level of insensitivity. Then again, it also shows just how desperate some of these magazines are for subscribers.
And thanks to everyone for your insights! I'm looking forward to posting (and grading) my next rejection. Well, sort of.
Am excited to watch this blog unfold. Great idea.
I was just wondering how long the the rejection took to receive?
And was the submission made online?
Thanks for this blog, very interesting :)
Sutebia
You should list this "Rate the Rejection" project to the website "52 Projects."
OK, I've been rejected twice by VQR (the only reason I submitted to them at all is that my niece, a very smart Stanford sophomore, was told by one of her English professors that VQR is THE best literary magazine in the country). Both rejections took a long time, so long that I actually started thinking I had made it past the "first round." The first rejection came in the mail: standard rejection, no sig. The second one was on e-mail.
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