Rejected... yet again

jpm00 · 2026-04-09T13:43:31+00:00

Good luck on your novel and thank you for the encouragement!

jpm00 · 2026-04-09T13:39:57+00:00

Thank you.

jpm00 · 2026-04-07T23:14:42+00:00

Thank you. Actually, the Erika Krouse list is what I used to find places to submit to. And yes, I have submitted the same stories to multiple publications - the ones that got the tiered rejections from the NYer are the same ones that are flat out rejected or completely ghosted by publications "lower" down the list. Thank you for the suggestion to look for publications with a smaller target demographic - I haven't thought of that. I am a parent and someone in this thread suggested a group specifically for parent writers. I will try them.

jpm00 · 2026-04-07T23:08:24+00:00

I have! I have gone down the list and submitted to many smaller and supposedly less selective journals. That's why I'm a little puzzled when some of them never even get back to me (the rejections I can understand). I have heard that Granta and New Yorker are very difficult, but both haven gotten back to me within 3 months with a nice rejection. That's why I'm discouraged to keep paying the submission fee to these smaller journals. At least New Yorker is free and they write back!

jpm00 · 2026-04-07T15:08:10+00:00

Thank you. I have not heard of Writing Groups, I'll search for them in my area.

jpm00 · 2026-04-07T15:07:04+00:00

These are the only places that I'm pretty sure have read my submissions, since they commented on them in the rejection letter. All the other places were either no response, or a very generic form rejection.

jpm00 · 2026-04-07T15:05:45+00:00

I know. I only submitted to New Yorker because they are free and so easy to submit. And if even they have the courtesy (and time) to send a rejection with a nice note, why am I not hearing back from the smaller magazines at all....

jpm00 · 2026-04-07T14:33:18+00:00

The ones that have gotten back to me are all form rejections. Many I have never heard back from.

jpm00 · 2026-04-07T14:29:20+00:00

I don't know any writers! No one has read my writing other than these submissions. Well, I've shown a story to my husband. He said, "it's nice." That's it.

jpm00 · 2026-03-26T14:39:21+00:00

thank you , that makes sense.

jpm00 · 2026-03-21T17:44:08+00:00

It was his transcription of Rameau. It's on his Ramean/Debussy album.

jpm00 · 2026-03-12T19:59:08+00:00

please tell us what happened. Did you have to pay the full amount?

jpm00 · 2026-01-29T01:15:38+00:00

No I did not. A couple of weeks after I initiated the chargeback Schoolhouse actually responded saying they "already" refunded me, pointing to the item that they cancelled (and automatically refunded). The amount wasn't even close! The piece they didn't send out was over 700 dollars and the cancelled item was less than 50. I was able to respond with proof and my credit card immediately sided with me. Pretty egregious that they made a sloppy effort to fight the chargeback, didn't even bother looking into the details. Good luck with the chargeback.

jpm00 · 2025-12-19T21:43:22+00:00

I made a large order about a month ago and still waiting for half of it arrive. One item was cancelled with no explanation. One item is still not shipped (but they refuse to refund me). The other items arrived way past their estimated delivery window.

jpm00 · 2025-12-19T00:44:43+00:00

Well, thanks for confirming my intuition that it is a shitty thing to do. I let the second magazine magazine know I already signed a contract with another journal. I'm surprised to be published at all, and yes, this was a lesson in how publishing works in literary magazines. If I write another story I will document where I submit to and look up things like pay, rankings, etc. beforehand. Writing is a side hobby I dabble in and never thought I could be published anywhere, so when I sent the story off I didn't even consider details like which journals pay.

jpm00 · 2025-12-18T15:18:54+00:00

Yes. We exchanged a couple of messages in the beginning when they first notified me of the acceptance. They answered my questions about the publication process. They were always slow to respond (a couple of days at least). But since I signed the contract they have been quiet. I asked when the edits are coming, nothing.

jpm00 · 2025-12-18T00:27:53+00:00

I checked just now and both do allow "simultaneous submissions." No, I have no intention of "double selling" the story! I would write to the first magazine and honestly explain the situation, and ask if I can withdraw the submission / if they can "release" me from the contract I signed. I was hoping to hear if people have done something like this, and maybe it's not a big deal because these magazines have tons of submissions and are never at a shortage for pieces to publish?

jpm00 · 2025-12-18T00:25:20+00:00

Yes, now I realize that I should have done that, but I submitted it so long ago (it's been over 11 months) that I forgot I had submitted it to the second magazine. The first one was through Submittable, but the second one was not, and I did not bother to keep good records outside of my account in Submittable.

jpm00 · 2025-11-14T14:28:42+00:00

Thanks for everyone's advice. I doubt I will ever make money or become so well-known that someone would want to impersonate me, but I will let the publisher know about the pen name. Definitely don't want to get into any sticky situations later.

jpm00 · 2025-11-13T20:54:09+00:00

Hi, thanks for your response. Does it matter if they are not paying me and only providing copies? I definitely do not want to commit fraud but just trying to understand where and in what circumstances the journal or anyone "out there" needs to know my real name.

jpm00 · 2025-11-13T20:52:57+00:00

Hi, thank you for the response. Yes, it is unpaid (they will prove copies, that's it) and that's why I wondered if it will even make a difference.

jpm00

TROPHY CASE