Spring 2021 Rejections: The Common, The Cincinnati Review, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The Rumpus, Upstreet, and More Literary Journals

Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Spring 2021 edition.

Sharing rejections shares the effort behind submissions and makes celebrating acceptances even sweeter. What kind of literary journal rejections are you seeing? On the road to publication, why not “publish” the rejections themselves?

Here are the various rejections I collected from March 2021 – May 2021.

Rejection from Upstreet

5-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

We’re sorry we won’t be using “The Blackboard Epilogues,” which you submitted to upstreet number seventeen. Although your work will not be included in the final selection, we do appreciate your having thought of upstreet.

We wish you all the best with your writing; thank you for giving us the opportunity to read it. 

The Editors

upstreet
P.O. Box 105
Richmond, MA 01254-0105
http://www.upstreet-mag.org

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

61-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thanks for letting us read your story “furl & unfurl.” We gave it careful consideration, but did not think it best suited to any of the spaces we currently have open. We hope you’ll soon find the right publication for the story, and that you will continue to think of EQMM when you have new work.

With best wishes,

Janet Hutchings, Editor
Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
www.facebook.com/elleryqueenmm
www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Nashville Review

52-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for giving Nashville Review the opportunity to consider your work. While we enjoyed your submission and appreciate your interest in our publication, unfortunately, it doesn’t fit our needs at this time. 

We wish you luck placing your work elsewhere.

Best,

NR

https://as.vanderbilt.edu/nashvillereview/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from The Common

151-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘furl & unfurl.’ Our readers and editors have read it carefully. Unfortunately, this piece does not fit our current editorial needs, but we appreciate the opportunity to consider it.

Thanks again for submitting to The Common. We know that submitting your work takes time and energy, and we wish you the best in placing your piece elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Common

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from Unstamatic

31-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to view your work. After careful consideration, we have determined that it is not quite the best fit for our publication, and we are unfortunately going to pass at this time.

We receive a great number of submissions each month, but in this span we can only accept two writing and two art submissions for publication. You have our sincerest thanks for making these choices so difficult.

We are confident you will find another home for your work, and wish you the best of luck in doing so.

Sincerely, 

The Unstamatic Team

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from The Rumpus

55-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending your short fiction to The Rumpus. We understand how much hard work you put into your work, so please know this submission was fairly considered and given the attention it deserved. While this isn’t a fit for us, we wish you the best of luck in finding a home for it elsewhere, and many successes with your writing.

Sincerely,

Marisa Siegel

The Rumpus

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from CRAFT

85-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘Terminus’ to consider for CRAFT. We’re sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. Please keep us in mind for future submissions.

Sincerely,

The Editors

CRAFT

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Wrongdoing

15-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you so much for trusting us at Wrongdoing with your work. We appreciated the chance to consider it, however we ultimately found that it isn’t quite the right fit for the magazine. We encourage you to submit again in the summer/fall for our Thorns issue.

Thank you again for your submission; we hope you are keeping safe and well.

If you have sent us work in another category, you will receive a separate email regarding that submission in the near future.

Best wishes,

Pascale, Editor-in-Chief

Wrongdoing Magazine

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from perhappened mag

22-day response time

dear arthur,

thank you so much for trusting us at perhappened mag with your work. we are honored to review it, and we deeply apologize for the delay on our end as we waded waist-deep in submissions!

unfortunately, our team felt that your flash fiction submission, “duskwing,” was not quite a match for our DAYDREAM issue. however, it was a privilege for us to review, and our guest reader marked this story as particularly vivid, wistful work. we’re confident it will land with a wonderful home, and we would love to see more from you!

we would recommend resubmitting “duskwing” to alien magazine, spelk, interstellar lit, breakwater review, and/or farside review. once again, we are deeply grateful for your trust and interest in perhappened mag. we are open for DAYDREAM submissions until tonight, april 3rd at 11:59 pm pst. from our little literary family to yours, we hope you are staying safe and well!

warmest regards,
isaura ren
editor-in-chief
perhappened mag

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Gulf Coast

24-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending ‘Still Watching’ to Gulf Coast. While we didn’t feel it was the right fit for our pages at this time, we appreciated having the chance to consider it.

Best wishes to you and your writing.

Sincerely,

The Editors
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts
https://gulfcoastmag.org/

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Encouraging Rejection from storySouth

96-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for allowing storySouth to consider The Blackboard Epilogues. We have read it carefully, but must decline to publish. However, we received an exceptional crop of stories this spring, and this piece did make it to the final reading round due to the quality of the writing. We would love to see work from you in the future and sincerely hope that you will consider submitting to us again.

We wish you the best in placing this fine story elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Jen Julian

Fiction Editor, storySouth

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Monkeybicycle

198-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for sending us ‘Working remotely isn’t even remotely working.’. We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, it’s not quite right for Monkeybicycle so we’re going to pass. Do feel free to send us more of your work though. 

Thanks again, and best of luck finding a home for this piece. 

Sincerely,

Monkeybicycle Staff

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Encouraging Rejection from Fugue

13-day response time

Dear Arthur,

Thank you for sending us “The Blackboard Epilogues”. Our staff, composed of writers, is keenly aware of the anxieties and subjectivities of submission. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a place for this story in Fugue at this time. We wish you the best of luck placing this story elsewhere, and hope that you will keep us in mind for future submissions. 

Sincerely,
Sean Theodore Stewart
Fiction Editor of Fugue

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”

Rejection from Washington Square Review

109-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov,

Thank you for submitting your work to Washington Square. We appreciate the efforts that have gone into this piece. Unfortunately, it is not a fit for our upcoming issue. Please be assured that your story was read thoroughly and given careful consideration by our editorial staff. We wish you the best of luck finding a home for it elsewhere.

Sincerely,
The Editors
Washington Square Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

Rejection from The Cincinnati Review

167-day response time

Dear Arthur Klepchukov:

Thank you for the opportunity to consider your submission “within & without.” We’ve read it with care but have decided not to accept it for publication. Best of luck placing it elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors of The Cincinnati Review

The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”

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