Since the first of the year I have already received two rejections for my writing. Oh dear! One was in response to
my novel, or rather a synopsis and an excerpt of the novel. The editor who rejected it said in a personal email that he enjoyed reading my work, was intrigued by the premise, and found the characters believable, but the book didn’t fit the type of thrillers his company sells. He encouraged me to keep marketing the manuscript to other publishing houses until I find a good home. The turnaround time from submission (November) to rejection (January) was relatively short, which could mean he wanted to free up the manuscript so I could send it again soon, or more likely, that he wanted to get it out of his hair! As rejections go, however, it was a very nice one, for which I’m thankful because it was also the very first one for my very first book.
The other rejection, for a short story that I submitted over seven months ago, was of the impersonal variety that said they appreciated it, but “no thanks.”
Oh well. We writers have to be philosophical and remind ourselves that for novices like me it takes a high ratio of submissions to result in even one acceptance.
But acceptances do happen. A first-person piece I submitted to a local magazine called, Northwest Prime Time, got published in the January 2011 issue. I picked up a free copy on a newspaper stand in a local bookstore.
http://www.northwestprimetime.com/
One step back and two steps forward. Actually that’s two steps back and one step forward for me. In any case I’m gearing up this year to submit a marathon of manuscripts.
Norma Nill 
Alas, the Northwest Prime Time URL yielded a “Sorry, the website you’re looking for cannot be accessed.” But congratulations! And also for getting a personal rejection for your first novel. That’s fantastic, and not at all the norm. The editor did not want it out of his hair; he just knew that it didn’t fit their publishing needs. But there’s a vast array of publishers out there. Good for you–your 2011 writing resolution to “submit a marthon of manuscripts”! Best wishes.
Thanks for the heads up about the site–I will doublecheck the link. Thanks even more for the vote of support, Judy!
P.S. Wouldn’t you know that I left out the “w” in Northwest. I’m such a pro at typos!
I went to the Prime Time link but did not find a way to search by author…which article is yours?
Appears they only post online a selection of articles from older issues of the magazine, but–not to worry–I’ll bring a hard copy of the article next time we get together. Thanks for your interest, Diane!