So the question is, "When is a rejection not a rejection?"
If you're a writer looking to get published, let's face it, YOU WILL BE REJECTED.
So I repeat, "When is a rejection not a rejection?"
It's all subjective. "No" is still a no, except when it's followed by "but." (No, this is not
making you the butt of a joke or any other such fodder...)
Say you submit to Publisher X and you get a response of "Sorry, your work does not fit with the market we sell to."
Well, hey, yes, they said no to your work, but they didn't say your writing is unmarketable. Matter of fact they didn't say anything at all about your writing. It's just not a fit for them.
So the first thing any writer has to do is target the market they are going to try to sell to. (Well, okay, maybe second. Either you have to write your story first, or your synopsis, or at least have an idea of what your story is.) Because if you're going to write a historical story in space, for instance, I think you're going to find very few markets for it. (Perhaps you ought to consider self-publishing?)
So let's say you've done your homework and you have a list of publishers that all handle exactly the type of story you write. And still you get a "Sorry, your story is not ready for publication, but..."
Ah, is not ready - THERE'S HOPE!
So your story is not ready YET but obviously they liked something and hopefully they will point you in the right direction. Watch for the next installment and I'll point out some of the biggest struggles writer's have.
And I'll bet you can probably name a few.
Until next time.
