10 July 2006

rejected

i just received a rejection from Rattle. second attempt, 5 years apart, same result. at least i'm consistent.

on the bright side, i now have 5 poems available for rejection someplace else.

35 comments:

Kat said...

I got rejected there a few months ago. :)

j.b said...

seems it's contagious.

oh well...there are plenty of outlets with standard low enough for our drivel! :)

christopher cunningham said...

listen: FUCK STELLASUE LEE in her stupid pretentious academic shallow ass with roses and walnuts. she and I had it out when I first started subbing. we sent some nasy notes back and forth and finally I said FUCK YOU I CERTAINLY DO NOT NEED RATTLE TO PUBLISH MY CRAP. and have since more than proved myself right.

she is an idiot. don't waste any more stamps on that literary turd. how many books has stellasue lee published?

oh. I see now. she really lived it.

great on the rejection, j.b. means you're on target, baby.

christopher cunningham said...

yeah, that's right. I'm not embarrased by a little ad hominem attack on the bullshit artists of the world. I can back it up with facts too. always.

but calling someone a nutdigging self important shrew is more fun.

ahem.

heh.

Luis said...

Hey, JB, CC, KAT:

I've been rejected many times (at least three times) maybe more by Rattle. But CC's right. No need to waste one's time there. I'm a local poet, but I'm not welcome there. So I send my work elsewhere.

j.b said...

thanks a lot guys.

i can't believe you had it out with Stellasue, CC. way to fucking go. we should probably call out more editors. i know i needed a calling out or two while i manned the helm of remark.

you're both right though. fuck it. fuck them. fuck it all.

the poems were pretty damn good i thought. i really did. fuck it. i'm going to whip them right back around to someplace else. any suggestions (other than Nerve, i've already got 2 out to them)?

thanks for the kind words both of you!

as for ad hominem attacks. fuck it. sometimes it's required and it sure is a whole lotta fun!

Anonymous said...

i had an email from Nate G the other day and he's just had an acceptance there, after having had around 127 rejections.

i still haven't heard about my submission. i think i submitted about a week after you did, so i should hear something soon.

Kat said...

Christopher,

Thanks for those links. Kind of softens the blow of that rejection for me. :)

I don't look forward to being called out, although, I think people have tried to argue with me and I won't go there.

In the very beginning, when I first took over, I got some so-so poetry by someone and rejected him. He continued to submit once a week for about a month. And then, on the last submission he got rude, said I was unfriendly and he didn't want to appear anywhere, where the editor was unfriendly. If rejecting so-so poetry is unfriendly, well, then, I guess I am! :)

I'm curious. When I get rejected I usually don't go back to that 'zine and submit again. Do you guys? Because I have people submitting amazing amounts of times after being rejected.

christopher cunningham said...

oh mama...you want raw chewed up editor meat? I'm your man. j.b, I will send you my exchange with one Rob "fullashit" Cook, editor of the Turd Review, er, Skidrow Penthouse that culminated in one of the most ugly letters you will have read. and this guy loved my work, accepted and pubbed some, then he suggested editing one of my poems for publication and I declined, sweetly explaining my method of writing. then it got nasty. fuck that guy. he can't write worth a shit either. preening cocksucker.

kat: I only call out an editor who is wrong about something, not their opinion of my writing, good or bad. I could give a shit about their opinion, just accept the poem or reject it. if I like the mag, think it has guts and balls, spits blood, then I will resubmit. I never waste my stamps on mags with huge slush piles where the eds. pub only other eds (academe), and stellasue lee's rattle falls in this category. just look at the contrib notes sometime.

and you MUST REJECT BAD POETRY. it is your job, kat. the world is full of hacks and the need to be shown their hackery at every turn. it is the only way they can ever begin to improve. or quit. whichever. they both are good for me.

glenn: good on nate's accept, but again: screw that shrew.

*mwahhahahhaaaaa*

christopher cunningham said...

send to NAKED KNUCKLE

j.b said...

Naked Knuckle, yeah. I need to send there again. This is what I'll do with my Rattle rejects.

I am dying to see that letter. But, if it snail mail, hold off as our new address will be valid in a few days. I'll be sending out an email soon about it.

Glenn, that's great about Nate (i'm a poet and didn't know it) and you know your work is good regardless of the outcome.

Kat,
i think i might have my first row with an editor with you. cool? :)

j.b said...

Casey,

yeah, 3's about right. that seems about what i do. if i like a mag, i'll try it. then maybe 2 more, after that, fuck it! :)

i'm surprised Nerve didn't like your stuff. that really surprises me. hmm...

as for the editor comment, i certainly hope it's not me, but i would understand if it were. ;)
if not, you've got me intrigued. i wonder who it is?

i've had a few "run-ins" with editors, though nothing too bad. most of my bad dealings have been with writers. they're the worst! i think that's why people hate me so much, i'm not only an editor (gulp!) but a WRITER, too.

christopher cunningham said...

strange for Joe and/or Jerry at the COWBOY to take so long. they must've been backed up. they are solid editors and well worth repeated submissions. they only take the best, I think. each issue is a beast. you keep at em CAR, they'll wise up. and KNUCKLE has rejected all of the last eight submissions I've made, though they've taken a few of the previous. if I like I mag I'll keep bombing them with new pomes regularly. AND NAME NAMES CAR! it's the only way these assholes will learn. does one of em rhyme with VAINDOG?

rejection only makes you stronger, mothers...

j.b said...

Vaindog....fucking nailed it.

how FUCKING sad is it that we need to name names?

fuck that.

i'll name only one name, my own at the end of the letter. the rest is poetry and i let my poems speak for themselves, good or bad.

Casey-
glad it's not me, and glad my tactfulness showed. i really tried not to be an ass.

we'll talk during levyfest about our favorite and least-favorite editors. and poets.


rejection makes you stronger. but so does steroids and protein supplements.

fuck strength. i just want to write, get my words out there and the rest be damned. you know? but, i do know what you mean, CC.

Vaindog...still chuckling about that one. nice...

christopher cunningham said...

I think Hosh coined the moniker VAINDOG, as that guy failed to deliver a chap of his as well as a chap of mine, both books held in limbo for two plus years and then DEATH/NO PUB.

you need strength to write the deadly line, j.b. and you got it. it shows in your willingness to get back to the artform, to get back to the writing again. took guts to pick yerself up and sit at the typer after a long break like you and I both "enjoyed" recently.

and "What's Right" sometimes demands that the cockshakers be called onto the carpet for their shoddy work ethic/bad faith/poor judgement/etc. who wants to waste their time/hard earned $$$/finite energy shipping work to assholes when you can find out the TRUTH. I'm not talking about being an unnecessary dick, but I won't take that shit off ANYONE much less some halfass who is wasting the only thing that I can't get more of: TIME.

Kat said...

justin-

Okay, you can be my first fight!

:)

Normally, I do not say a whole lot in a rejection. My standard for someone I don't really know is-

Thank you for submitting to "remark.". I'm sorry to say I'm going to pass on these.

I have screwed up a few times. Ask William Taylor! :) The longest I ever took to answer a submission was two months. And it was because the person submitting sent me 59 pages of poetry! Via email! And then, the next day they submitted a huge amount via regular mail. After wading through the email submission, I could not face that envelope sitting on my desk. I just couldn't!

I also forgot to put a poem I accept in an issue. This was recent and as an explanation, not an excuse, it was because of the nutsy-ness in my life right now. So, what I did was put him in the next issue and then, gave him a three month subscription for free! I felt awful because I know I'd be pissed off at something like that.

I try hard to be nice. Even though, sometimes, people can get annoying. :) Myself, I'm sure, included.

I try hard to answer as quickly as I can, normally. I hate sitting on things.

Casey, I'd try Nerve Cowboy again. I have never waited ten months for them. Usually about six weeks. And I am also surprised they rejected you because you seem to fit them.

I have no idea who VainDog is but I am very curious!

And Christopher, the way you write, I would LOVE to see the letter you were talking about!

j.b said...

all good points.

Chris-
yes, it does take courage and strength (of mind and body) to do what we did. 15+ months isn't a laughing matter. it got serious. then, i got serious.
i'd also be curious to read the letter. but, again, if it's snail mail, wait on that...

i agree, too, that sometimes we need to call people for their comments or practices. i've done it in the past and will continue to do it as i see fit. if that makes me an asshole, so be it. just be sure to bring plenty of toilet paper, because i'll be the biggest asshole you've ever seen.

Casey-
10 months IS weird. the most i've ever waited on a sub from them was 3. weird. and Kat's right--it seems your more recent work (and you know of which i speak) is right up their alley. i urge you to try again.
i am still good on my word for our project, bro. don't doubt that! just wanted to be sure you knew that.

Kat-
i respectfully agree with Casey on the rejection issue. if the poem sucks, do what you do (no sense rubbing their noses in it), but if you think there is potential, or whatever, be encouraging. i remember, specifically, that i asked Casey to send me more stuff. i knew he had IT and that there were elegies in his brain just waiting to escape.
i was right!

amazing how a little rejection post can spur so much debate. i love it.

and Casey, oh yeah, brother, we will talk. i can't wait to hear your stories. :)

christopher cunningham said...

well, I'll be. I'll dig up that miserable corresp. and post it later this evening after a wee bit of a card game. I'll post it here, if that's cool j.b. I'll call it "Cunningham's Happy Talk."

you'll enjoy the snarky venomous good time.

Kat said...

justin-

Oh, sure. When I see something I think sparkles a bit but needs something, I ask for me. It's gotten me into weird situation at times but it's only when the poems I read just didn't really work for "remark." that I've just said thanks, but no.


I don't comment on the work usually because I think that makes people nuts. So, I just say what I say. I think that's when people start to argue with you. Am I making sense? I'm cooking dinner, the girls are watching a show I hate, Gilmour Girls and Griff is in the can cabinet telling me how he cooks things!

:)

Kat said...

I meeant ask for more! But like I said...as always, 800 things going on at once!

Anonymous said...

I've had around 14 consecutive rejections from Bathtub Gin. But one day I'll crack it! :) Always reminds me of the time in the 70s when Vitas Geralitas finally beat Jimmy Connors after having lost to him 20 times in a row. At the press conference, Vitas said, "Hey, nobody beats Vitas Geralitas 21 times in a row."

Mwahahahaha!

Kat said...

Glenn,

One of my first rejections was from Bathtub Gin. :)

j.b said...

Vitas is hilarious...you can say the same WHEN you get into Bathtub Gin, Glenn! :)

Chris, please by all means, post the letter here. it'll be fun to read. you've a keen wit and a great eye for pacing and structure, so i'm quite sure you gave the bastard a right thrashing.

Kat-
it can get you into trouble, sometimes, requesting more. but just remember that the mere request for more DOES NOT require you to accept anything from the next batch. just be honest, give suggestions when you feel like it, and be kind. the rest will work itself out.

christopher cunningham said...

that's funny shit, glenn. I think I've gone 2 for 4 at BATHTUB. that's a tough one to crack, all the way around. but Harter has a good eye, and rarely disappoints.

and j.b's right: an invite to submit doesn't mean you got the goods. you might still be sending out your trash and not know it.

and as for me, I never get rejected. I just said that '2 for 4' shit so you losers wouldn't feel so bad about your terrible writing.

deal with your mediocrity.

*chuckle*

Anonymous said...

Regarding Nerve Cowboy ... the longest I've ever waited is about 3 months. Joseph and Jerry are usually very quick.

Rejections don't worry me in the slightest so long as they are SPEEDY rejections. But I hate waiting 12 months for a response, or worse, no response, ever. There are many, many mags that I have submitted to without ever receiving a response.

Kat said...

Casey,

I understand what you mean. But I try hard not to say much because usually when I send that rejection, I really had nothing nice to say. Just one time, I got poetry that really, really needed help and I have no idea if my suggestions worked or not because I never heard from the person again.

There have been a few times where I've said...you know, you've changed tense here or the word is in this line should be are. Those kind of things. But I only say those things when I "know" the person. Someone I've emailed with before. I think, at this point, I know who I can suggest things to and who I can't. If that makes sense.

Glenn-I've had two or three places never answer me. I hate that. And why on earth does it take someone a year to answer a submission. You read it, you reply! It doens't take that long.

Anonymous said...

When you get no response ever you start thinking, "hmmm, my stuff stinks so badly they didn't even think it worthy of a reply!"

kat -- exactly. It should never take any longer than a couple of months.

What are some of the strange submission guidelines you've seen? The weirdest I ever saw was a mag that said they would "not consider poems of extreme revenge."

what's that supposed to mean?! LOL.

Kat said...

Glenn-

Does it mean poems written about other living poets who have appeared in the 'zine? Because I actually got one of those, really awful, rude mean poems about a person!

I saw in Poet's Market, which is across the room and I too lazy to get up and get, that one place only replies if they accpet your work! I think that's just dumb and I would never send my stuff there.

christopher cunningham said...

CAR:

I look forward to the chance to be rejected with aggressive unpleasantness by you, sir. thank you for the opportunity.

j.b said...

poems of extreme revenge?

weird...i suppose that one you're talking about (which i think i'm aware of) is definitely one.

but, it's funny that that is on the submission guideline....ha!

as for not reply unless it's accepted, that is inarguably bad form. what of the all the SASE they receive? bullshit, i tell you. BULLSHIT!

oh, and Casey...could you reject me? i've heard through the grapevine that you've not TRULY made it unless you got rejected by Rearick's seminal journal, THE REJECTED. ;)

Luis said...

C.A.R.

You can name your journal Letter Bomb, stolen from Brain McGetrick's
post.

Jen Hawkins, when she edited
Arsenic Lobster, sent the most
thoughtful rejection letters,
always honest & told you about
what she liked about a certain poem she did not accept. I
made it in several times into
Arsenic Lobster. But was rejected more times than not. There are many journals, online and print, that have never responded. Bathtub Gin published August Bleed awhile back. August Bleed did the cover for Raw Materials & it's his green eyes on the cover inside that statue.

I don't submit to College Journals because they only publish their friends or so it seems.

Anonymous said...

Then you get the other extreme, where you never actually get an acceptance notice, but one day a mag arrives, and there's your poem! I like those ones! Justin and I both had that experience with a little mag called "Brevities".

If I ever start a magazine it's going to be called "FRET".

Luis said...

Yes, Casey, unfortunately Jen is not editing that journal any longer. It doesn't have the same feel, either.

Perhaps Kat will invite you to edit the Casey A. Rearick issue. Kornacki's Remark edited issue was pretty good & I liked those covers.

Kat said...

Luis! Great Idea.

Casey, if you'd like to guest edit, you're invited! Email me and we can work out when and all that good stuff!

:)

Kat said...

I'm not sure if anyone is still reading these posts but, if any of you are, I want you to know that the last two rejections I sent said something other than I'm going to pass on these. You guys sort of made me re-think it and I've tried to say something more! :)