Welcome to The Rejection Quarterly, Spring 2023 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 rejections I collected from March 2023 – May 2023.
Since introducing The Rejection Whisperer, I’ve had fun plugging in wordy rejections and getting quick interpretations. Check out the interpretations below each rejection email. And please feel free to try your own rejections!
Monkeybicycle encouraging rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you for sending us “encircled”. 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”
Little Patuxent Review rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you for submitting your work to Little Patuxent Review. We appreciate the effort that has gone into your submission. Unfortunately, it is not the right fit for our upcoming issue. Please be assured that your submission was read thoroughly and given careful consideration by our editorial staff. We wish you the best of luck in placing your work elsewhere.
Best regards,
Chelsea Lemon Fetzer
Editor
Little Patuxent Review
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”
Gulf Coast rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you for sending “furl & unfurl” 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 Journal
https://gulfcoastmag.org/
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”
Witness rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov:
Thank you for allowing us to consider “Evertour.” Unfortunately, we have to pass at this time. We wish you the best in placing this piece elsewhere.
Sincerely,
The Editors
Witness Magazine
https://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org/
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”
Alaska Quarterly Review rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you, sincerely, for giving us the opportunity to read your work. Though ultimately it wasn’t selected for publication, we’re so thankful for it; now more than ever, the arts feel as necessary as they are fragile, and it’s up to each of us to keep them going.
We’d like to encourage you to submit your work to Alaska Quarterly Review again. For the foreseeable future, we’ll only be accepting submissions via Submittable. Information regarding open submission reading periods will be posted on our website. We certainly hope you’ll consider sending more of your work our way in the future.
Wishing you safe and well, all our best,
The Editors
Alaska Quarterly Review
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”
Threepenny Review rejection
We have read your submission, and unfortunately we are not able to use it in The Threepenny Review. Please do not take this as a comment on the quality of your writing; we receive so many submissions that we are able to accept only a small fraction of them.
Thank you for sending your work to us, and please accept our apologies for the automated message system. We wish we had time to reply to everyone individually.
The Editors
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”
Lightspeed Magazine rejection
Thanks for submitting “Terminus,” but I’m going to pass on it. It didn’t quite work for me, I’m afraid. Best of luck to you placing this one elsewhere, and thanks again for sending it my way.
John Joseph Adams
Editor/Publisher
Lightspeed Magazine
www.lightspeedmagazine.com
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”
Uncharted rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you for sending “Lunch with Scott & Zelda” for consideration in Uncharted. We really enjoyed your story, but we’re sorry this isn’t the right story for us right now. We did find much to admire in your work, though, and we hope you’ll send us more to consider soon.
Sincerely,
Tommy Dean
Uncharted Mag
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”
The Gettysburg Review rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you for letting us consider “Verdant Heaven.” We regret that it does not suit our present needs. Please accept our apologies for the delayed and disappointing decision and our thanks for your patience.
Best of luck with it and your other work.
Sincerely,
The Gettysburg Review
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“No, thanks”
jmww rejection
Dear Arthur,
Thank you for sending us “Duskwing.” We appreciated the chance to read it. Although there was a lot to like here, it didn’t quite come together for us in the end, and we regret to pass.
Thanks again for thinking of us. Best of luck with this!
Sincerely,
The Editors at jmww
Narrative encouraging rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov:
Thank you for sending your work to Narrative. We are always grateful for the opportunity to review new work, and we have given “Evertour” close attention and careful consideration. We regret, however, that “Evertour” does not meet our needs at this time. We hope that you will keep us in mind in the future.
Sincerely,
The Editors
CRAFT encouraging rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you for sending us “encircled” to consider. Unfortunately, we must pass on this story at this time, but please keep us in mind for future submissions.
Sincerely,
The Editors
CRAFT
Ninth Letter encouraging rejection
Dear Arthur Klepchukov,
Thank you for sending us “Parting Pages, duskwing, encircled”. We really enjoyed your work, but we didn’t feel this submission was right for Ninth Letter.
We hope that you will continue to send us your work, and we apologize for our delayed response to your submission.
Sincerely,
The Editors
Ninth Letter
The Rejection Whisperer interpretation:
“Please submit more”
Understand your rejections
Copy & paste your rejection; get a concise interpretation.
Arsenal of Words 