A Wonderful Rejection

What? Can there be such a thing as a wonderful rejection?

Absolutely.

Here's the background: Last year I entered a novella-length story in the On The Far Side contest for unpublished authors (of which I was one at the time), sponsored by the Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal Special Interest Chapter of RWA. I placed first in the erotic romance category, and Kate Duffy at Kensington requested the full manuscript.

November 15th saw that baby go out in the mail. And I waited. And waited.

And waited. (Which is typical for NY houses. They get inundated with so many manuscripts and queries... I imagine some days you can hardly walk into an editor's office, there are so many stacks.)

On Friday, I received an SASE in the mail, and I knew it was from them. (Primarily because it had a 37-cent stamp on the envelope, instead of the current postage of 39 cents.) And I knew it was a rejection. (You know how that goes. I would've gotten a phone call (probably) had they been interested in publishing it.) The letter inside was from Ms. Duffy's Assistant Editor, Sulay Hernandez. And here's what it said, in part:

"You have a great sense of humor and some scorching love scenes, but the story that frames them just feels somewhat sparse and not as well developed as I think you could potentially make it... I hope you consider my suggestions and then delve deeper into this story because I'd love to have Kensington revisit this. Please also send any other material that you may have. I look forward to seeing your work..."

Ho-ly Hannah! Now, this is the kind of rejection I am thrilled to receive. LOL And you bet your bippy I'm going to be reworking and resubmitting this story.



"When the world says, 'Give up,' Hope whispers, 'Try it one more time.'"~Author Unknown