I have officially experienced the rejection letter. Today the mail presented a mysterious thick letter with my own address in the return space. A self addressed stamped envelope that, for the life of me, I could not recognize or remember. I was perplexed and opened it eagerly. To my surprise my personalized envelope had found its way home nearly three years after being sent out! Three years!
My college assignment submitted in February 2011 had been completely forgotten. A reply was not expected. It was just a school assignment meant to teach the process of finding someone to submit to, following their guidelines, and submitting something. I was not in love with what I had written. I only did it for the assignment.
The rejection form had a check next to the spot labeled "does not meet our criteria". That was it. Simple and to the point, but I thought, "Of course it doesn't meet your criteria! It's three years old now!
My college classes keep teaching me even though I haven't been to school in years. The lessons keep coming, it's like the gift that never ends. The lesson for today? When they say you may not hear back from them in a long while, they mean it. When they say they are backed up, they mean it. And, when they advise you keep working on something else so you can move on when they do finally get back to you, that's a good idea.
My heart was not broken because I have been working on other projects. Seriously, I was not sad they didn't accept it. I was too surprised at getting any response at all to be sad.
Hoping all your rejections are as pleasant as my first one, and hoping my next will be accepted! What was your first rejection like?
Congratulations on getting rejected! That means you attempted something. Hopefully you'll have better response to a submission you really care about. Made for a funny story anyway. 3 years? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteI got a rejection the day before my birthday. Two weeks later I received an acceptance. Wahoo!