08.01.2007
I'm seriously thinking that I need to stop posting anything but straight up rejections on this thing. It seems to me that every time I post something non-rejection related, within 24-hours I get a rejection in my inbox.
I'm just saying...
Anyway, the anthology Speculative Realm sent in rejection number twenty-seven after only twenty-three days. The story rejected was Iowa State Police, one of my oldies.
On the upside, this one had lots of feedback... (Didn't I complain in #26 that there wasn't enough feedback? Awesome!) The stories were judged by three editors so I got three short pieces of feedback from them.
The downside is that not one of them liked it.
Well... one of them almost liked it.
Judge One said:
I found the start just a bit too long winded.
Judge Three said:
Dutch [the main character] is the MC but I don't know him at all.
Judge Two was the one that seemed to be the most positive about it. Bear witness:
I thought the build up of tension at the beginning was much like in the TV shows and cop movies. I liked it. I understood quickly who was the bad guy, and what the immediate problem was.
But then...
The thing that really confused me was the sudden mention of space. The second scene, made my confusion worse. How did they end up in space? We went from cop story with shot guns and pickup trucks to a space ship and I don't know how we got there. That's a big problem.
Yeah, that is a problem.
A very real, very valid problem.
So... I guess I need to look at the story again and see what I can do to clean it up.
And really, thank you, Speculative Realm, thank you. The "why" for the rejection really helps. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. There's nothing worse than not knowing why. So thank you.