February 03, 2003
Good rejection
"The Girl Behind the Counter" came back from Fantasy & Science Fiction, with a rejection letter that made me laugh out loud. Easily the best rejection note I've ever gotten. I'll quote a bit from the story first, for context:
My only thread of hope was a handwritten note on the form letter from Evergreen Quarterly, a tiny magazine out in Washington State: "Good luck, Wiliam!" Misspelling and all, I kept that note tacked above my computer. On the days when the words wouldn't come and the characters wouldn't move, it reminded me that somewhere out there, a real person was wishing me well, even if they couldn't get my name right.
The rejection I got, while not precisely a form letter, had, handwritten at the bottom of the letter: "Good luck, Lissa!"
Who says editors don't have a sense of humor?
