Sharing the Near-Perfect Rejection Letter

This is an example of the kind of rejection letter every author wants to get. And it is a rarity among the finer and more established literary journals in the world. I’m sharing it with you with two tips for submissions:

      1.   Choose journals with heart like this one—when you can tell the difference.

      2.   Choose journals that offer a subscription to their journal as a benefit for paying for one of their contests.  Missouri Journal does both.

The only additional thing I could have asked for (would it be presumptuous of me to ask?) is, why?

Why would a story that is otherwise praiseworthy and additionally has bigotry as an important theme not be “not right” for a literary journal in a state that still harbors much bigotry—and don’t all journals (states) fall into that category? Could that really be it? 

Happy submitting!

And keep reading for an Audio prize Missouri Review is offering!

Carolyn

From: Missouri Review <submissions@missourireview.org>
Date: February 9, 2016 at 9:37:43 AM PST
To: hojonews@aol.com
Subject: Your submission to Missouri Review

Dear Carolyn Howard-Johnson,

Thank you for sending us "The True Big Bass Story".

This is a delightful story with a great grasp of narrative movement, plot, and strong insights on the world of journalism.

Unfortunately this particular piece was not a right fit for Missouri Review, but we were very impressed by your writing. We hope that you will feel encouraged by this short note and send us something else.

We look forward to reading more.

Sincerely,

The Editors of Missouri Review

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We’re awarding a $1,000 first prize in Prose, Poetry, Audio Documentary and Humor categories in our 9th Annual Miller Audio Prize audio competition. Send us your entries by March 15, 2016.

Find out more at http://www.missourireview.com/audiovisual/submissions/


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 Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .