The Quest for Publication
Clair Dickson
I’m trying to find the holy grail of writing: publication. For years, I’ve been writing stories that get good reviews from my friends and family. Maybe they’re just feeding me a line because all I get when I submit is a neatly typed rejection letter. And the first page of my story in case I’ve forgotten what I sent.
On a wooden chair swiped from my dad when I moved out and before a new LCD monitor decorated by multi-colored sticky notes, I write crime noir-styled private eye stories with a bitter female protagonist. It’s been done, sort of, by some big name authors now. Since I don’t feel that anyone’s done it the way I do, I print my prized story off and stuff it in a large envelope with a couple stamps on it. When the reply returns, with my handwriting on the envelope, I am told to develop my own voice and write new, innovative stories with new, exciting language. And me with only the same words everyone else has to work with. Well, I can live with that and set off writing, full of caffeine. I come up with another story and send that off with a stamp and a wish.
The reply is that, well, the editor didn’t like the language I used. Looking through the other things published, other short PI stories, I find that they write more contemporary and less like the crime noir of the 30’s. Sarcastic and flippant and very modern. I’m all of those things in real life. Back at the computer, I type out another story and send it off with more stamps and more hope.
The hope must have gotten lost in the mail because I got another rejection letter. This time I get told that while my characters are interesting, the story is flat. Good characters, good writing, bad story. No problem. Under the yellow glow of my desk lamp, I tighten the story up so I can send it back out. More stamps, but I didn’t have any hope to spare. Ran out somewhere between five and six thousand words.
Finally, the front page of the story returns with a short note saying it didn’t fit their needs. Too different from the kinds of stories they publish. So I write a story that was more akin to the capers they publish, but with my sassy female PI and flavored with crime noir-stylings and send that off. I almost slipped a twenty in the envelope.
Apparently I should have because the rejection slip comes like clockwork. I’m starting to hate getting the mail. This time, I’m told that they already get many plots similar to this, and they would like something different. I tacked that one on my dartboard. On top of the last letter that said they wanted something closer to what they normally publish.
But at least they used my name.
And they would like to see more of my work. Which, I’ve concluded, doesn’t mean at all that they have any interest in publishing it. They just want to use my submission to decide what they don’t want.
