One of the earliest pieces I sent out this year was not a speculative piece. It’s a short, literary non-fiction piece. I sent it to a literary magazine, and they said to expect 120 days for review. The rejection arrived on day 121, on 6/5/2026.
This letter is verbose for a form rejection. This makes me wonder if that’s a market difference between genre and literary. They included some links to possibly find a better home for the story, which I do appreciate.
I am thinking that I may revise this particular story a bit before I submit it again. This is mostly because I have thought of a few ways I may be able to strengthen it.
Note on letter images: I have here and will always black out the name of the market and the name of the person who sent the letter. These posts are not meant to speak about the publications at all. These are about my reactions to the letters and what I can learn from them.
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