thank you for your rejection letter

7/24/2019 Thank You for Your Rejection Letter

1/14

an absolutely no-bullshit guide to

handling literary rejection,or any kind of rejection really,by

THANK YOU

FOR YOUR

REJECTION

LETTER

AUDREY EL-OSTA


2/14

Dear Mr. Editor, (or Ms. but lets be honest, its usually Mr.)

Thank you for your rejection letter. I

regret to inform you that I will not be

accepting your totally sincereform letter, and

will definitely take this to heart for a day or

two. I will mope and have a cry, and I will

wring my hands to high heaven wishing I

were good enough for you.

Im sorry to say that I will be in

absolute fear of submitting again, as you

encourage me (and no doubt hundreds of

others) to do before you sign off, with your

fancy acronyms. BA. BLitt. EIC. MFA. WANK.

Im just not a good fit for your magazine.


3/14

1. shock: you skim, the eyes find

we regret to inform you, andsenses shut down, the fingers

go numb.

2. self doubt: why am I even

writing? Am I even any good?How much effort, how many

more hours of labouring over

imperfect drafts until I realise

this is futile?

3. depression: what is the fuckingpoint of it?

4. anger: what the fuck do they

know? Im a genius, a great

mind, like Plath or Adrian

Mole.

5. (begrudging) acceptance: sighs

and redrafts.

note: stages may cycle, skip and/orrepeat depending on the stage of

our career.

THE 5 STAGES OF GRIEF


4/14

After a day or two of crying and

wailing and acting like a miserable

sook, Im sorry to say Im gonna start

to hate you. Im gonna hate you and

everything your rag of a literary

magazine because anything with a

domain name and a duotrope listing is

automatically a respectable journal of

arts and culture stands for.

I will hate you for as long as I

need to, as long as that may be.

Maybe until those pieces are accepted

somewhere else, or a completely

different acceptance comes along.

Maybe that is all it takes to chisel you

free from my icy grudge list.

Maybe until you yield to my genius

after an appropriate number of

redrafts. Or ma be forever.


5/14

Have this system in place, in advance. emails are instant.

1. Have a champion. Find them, and talk to them. Achampion is a person who believes in you, your art and yourwork completely. Talk to them and let them remind you of

how wonderful you are.2. Have tea and coffee stores fully stocked. Calming chamomilefor anger and rage, mint and green for shock and despair,and English Breakfast for redrafts

3. Drink lots of water, and stay hydrated. Even if you dontcry all that much, or at all. Drink water!

4. Visit a petting zoo, or failing that, the cutest animal owned

by someone who isnt you. The physical touch, comfort,intimacy and acceptance afforded by a non-human cutie helpsa lot.

5. Treat your self! You work hard, soon you will workharder. Enjoy your break.

SELF CARE


6/14

You can potentially combine steps 1

+ 5, with telepathy and love.


7/14

why hold on to this hatred? why

hold on to a feeling that doesnt

serve me? why hold on to you?

because I gave you something I

poured myself into. I gave you a partof me, my body, my life, that I

worked on for hours and days and

you looked at it for 15 minutes andyou said

naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

the way when someone

declines chinese food whentheyre craving pizza

the way when someone declines a

drink with someone they hate at the

office but dont have the guts to bemean to

the way when someone tries

to be polite but doesnt tryhard enough, & dont care.

the way you get to say no, when itsnot your heart getting told no.


8/14

At least you werent vague, and offer me the

honour of your so very CONSTRUCTIVE

CRITICISM, limited to three words total:

This. Needs. Work.

Yeah, I got that from you not wanting it,

wanna be a bit more specific>? Is it my

voice, my word choice, my structure and

style? Is it my age, and limited life

experience, my bio photo or my more-ethnic-than-yours name? Is it my content,

my subject, my feminist leanings? Is it

something I can fix with practice, or

something I should scrap?

I dont care for it.Thats fantastic, how can I make you care

for it? More characterisation, less

sympathy and pity?

Please read the journal.

I assume you mean again? Because I have,

Ive read and re-read, what more do you

want me to do?

And finally, a speck of specificity:

More prosody.I STUDY LINGUISTICS YOU PIECE OF FUCK,

IVE GOT PLENTY OF PROSODY.


9/14

1. You are not your work. You are a person, andyou are always worthy.2. Your work is wonderful, and will be wonderful.

You are young, in age and in your art. Letyourself grow, and accept when you are remindedof that.

3. A rejection is an opportunity for growth.4. You are not limited by the extent of your success,

you have not peaked.

5. Accept all this, as difficult as it may seem, andaccept yourself as an artist, as a poet, as a writer,and as a human being because for fucks sake, no

one is perfect and youre a fool if you try to be.

SELF WORTH


10/14

Im done deferring to opinion.

Im done searching and yearning

for approval from people who

havent even heard of the women

who inspire my poetry.

Im done defining my worth as a

person and my merit as an artist

by the indignity of rejection from

your journal.

My poetry is beautiful, and

visceral. This doesnt change

when it isnt wanted forpublication.

I must be strong, I must be thick-

skinned. I must be kind, and I

must be forgiving.


11/14

So, Mr. Editor,

Thank you for your rejection letter.

Thank you for promptly letting me know that

my work can be improved.

Thank you for giving me the fire to make my

work better, and better, so much so that it

eclipses your little magazine and is

remembered in years to come.

Thank you for raising my bar,

so I may climb it,

pole-dance on it,

do chin ups with it

and melt it down

when Im done.

Thank you, Mr. Editor. Really.

Kindest Regards,Audrey El-Osta


12/14

Iamagreatmind

though,andyouare

amassivedick-butt.


13/14

Audrey El-Osta is a Melbourne writer, studying

Linguistics & Literature at Monash University.

She is the Poetry Editor of Slink Chunk Press,

Vice President of the Monash Creative WritersClub and Creative Writing Coordinator of grotty

commie,a Monash-based newsletter.

Her work explores femininity, sexuality andmental illness, has won competitions and been

published internationally.

Recent publications include Bop Dead City

(Third Flash Poetry Contest Winner), Horror

Sleaze Trash, Make Your Mark #8, Danse

Macabre andCrack the Spine!

facebook.com/cafegradepoetryaudreyelosta.tumblr.com


14/14

THANK YOU

FOR

READING

YOU ARE MY

FAVE, XO

thank you for your rejection letter

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