OMFG I’m 0-for-3 now!!!

The impossible has happened. I got burned again.
My third attempt to submit a short story was met with a long, dead silence. Curious, I checked out Dark Valentine‘s website again, only to find out that they shut down their ‘zine indefinitely. Now their website is a graveyard-like archive of downloadable back issues, ending with their summer issue.

“All good things must come to an end, and with this, the anniversary issue, we are ending Dark Valentine magazine. The decision to cease publication was not an easy one…”

Why do announcements like this seem like an industry standard these days? Are we not clicking the ‘donate’ button enough or what?

Anyway, guess they figured we’d eventually do our homework and find out the hard way, but a simple Email would’ve meant the world to me … maybe even a nice form letter saying it’s okay to start submitting elsewhere. Because the problem with this is I don’t know if anyone in the industry has bothered to read my stuff or if they’re just throwing it in the trash bin.

This is disheartening, to say the least. Am I the unluckiest writer in the world? There’s a void in my heart that only ~~an acception letter~~ ~~a rejection letter~~ a-response-letter-of-any-kind can fill. I just need to gather the motivation to do it again. But it’s not looking good, since my net gain is zero for the amount of effort I’ve put into it.

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13 Comments »

Dang, bummer on the non-notified shutdown of the website. Similar thing happened to me once, a few years back, but just count it a ‘could have been’ and move on. They may well have published your short, now, we’ll just never know.

Keep our chin up (ironic, me saying that!) and keep at it, something will come of the hard work.

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Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 16th, 2011 at 11:03 am
Hey thanks. Once I thought about it for awhile, I came to the same conclusion. This one was definitely a ‘couldabeen’. You keep your chin up, too.

[Reply]

Comment by Ryan G. Sanders — July 12, 2011 @ 3:15 pm
Wow. Yeah, no kidding. That’s pretty inconsiderate of them to not send out a proper letter to those who entered their pieces. I’m sorry, Nick. :( You know you’re an awesome writer! Like Ryan said — keep at it! Don’t ever give up. Maybe take a break and write something for YOURSELF and not just to submit. :)

And by the way — long time no see! I hope you and the family are well. :D

[Reply]
>
Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 16th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
I just took a look at the photographs on your site, they look amazing! You have real talent. My family’s doing great. Max is starting to repeat things he hears on TV, it’s really cute. :)

[Reply]

Comment by Latrina — July 12, 2011 @ 11:02 pm
I feel you, bro. I’m also starting to feel guilty about getting two responses and then finding out that Dark Valentine blue-balled you. So, I’ve decided to do what it takes to even the score.

If all you want is some proof that your story is in the hands of a living, breathing being, resubmit that story to Title Goes Here: http://www.titlegoeshereonline.com/pages/home.
They don’t just send an auto-response upon submission; they send you a personal e-mail as soon as your story goes on the pile. They say to wait two weeks, but I got my confirmation the same day.

Again, shame about DV; but like you said, that sort of thing is becoming rather common. I decided against submitting a story to one magazine when I found out that their number of monthly submissions was greater than their readership.

[Reply]
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Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Thanks Brian. But first I’ll check out Duotrope again. Maybe this time I’ll try a more established professional publication.

[Reply]

Comment by Brian — July 13, 2011 @ 12:59 am
You’d think they’d have the common decency to inform submitters that they’re ceasing operation. :HUGS: Keep your chin up.

Have you tried Duotrope.com for places to submit? They have a record of response times and acception-to-rejection ratios for every zine/anthology advertised there. Maybe that could help you pick a more suitable place to submit to?

Keep on trucking, and good luck!

[Reply]
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Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 8:01 am
I did use Duotrope for this submission. One of the reasons I chose Dark Valentine was because they had a 100% response rate. haha… Well, at least now I know it’s safe to resubmit.

[Reply]

Comment by J.C. Martin — July 13, 2011 @ 2:34 am
Nick, I have some stats that might make you feel better. 6 sales, 37 rejections in 3 years.

3 rejections is barely the beginning :) Keep going!

[Reply]
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Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 8:05 am
Aye. Now if only I had actual rejection letters to go with those rejections. lol.

There’s a magazine that only considers publishing your short story if it’s been rejected five times. Of course, to prove it, you need to submit it with five accompanying rejection letters… :D

[Reply]

Comment by Merrilee — July 13, 2011 @ 4:18 am
Oh that bites. Better luck with #4. :D

[Reply]

Comment by KLCtheBookWorm — July 13, 2011 @ 6:27 am
Just a drop in comment, to keep the good luck rolling.

[Reply]
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Nick Enlowe Reply:
August 7th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Thanks, man. I appreciate it.

[Reply]

Comment by Ryan G. Sanders — July 24, 2011 @ 11:03 am

~TrackBack URL~

Dang, bummer on the non-notified shutdown of the website. Similar thing happened to me once, a few years back, but just count it a ‘could have been’ and move on. They may well have published your short, now, we’ll just never know.

Keep our chin up (ironic, me saying that!) and keep at it, something will come of the hard work.

[Reply]

Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 16th, 2011 at 11:03 am

Hey thanks. Once I thought about it for awhile, I came to the same conclusion. This one was definitely a ‘couldabeen’. You keep your chin up, too.

Comment by Ryan G. Sanders — July 12, 2011 @ 3:15 pm

Wow. Yeah, no kidding. That’s pretty inconsiderate of them to not send out a proper letter to those who entered their pieces. I’m sorry, Nick. :( You know you’re an awesome writer! Like Ryan said — keep at it! Don’t ever give up. Maybe take a break and write something for YOURSELF and not just to submit. :)

And by the way — long time no see! I hope you and the family are well. :D

Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 16th, 2011 at 12:35 pm

I just took a look at the photographs on your site, they look amazing! You have real talent. My family’s doing great. Max is starting to repeat things he hears on TV, it’s really cute. :)

Comment by Latrina — July 12, 2011 @ 11:02 pm

I feel you, bro. I’m also starting to feel guilty about getting two responses and then finding out that Dark Valentine blue-balled you. So, I’ve decided to do what it takes to even the score.

If all you want is some proof that your story is in the hands of a living, breathing being, resubmit that story to Title Goes Here: http://www.titlegoeshereonline.com/pages/home.
They don’t just send an auto-response upon submission; they send you a personal e-mail as soon as your story goes on the pile. They say to wait two weeks, but I got my confirmation the same day.

Again, shame about DV; but like you said, that sort of thing is becoming rather common. I decided against submitting a story to one magazine when I found out that their number of monthly submissions was greater than their readership.

Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 8:06 am

Thanks Brian. But first I’ll check out Duotrope again. Maybe this time I’ll try a more established professional publication.

Comment by Brian — July 13, 2011 @ 12:59 am

You’d think they’d have the common decency to inform submitters that they’re ceasing operation. :HUGS: Keep your chin up.

Have you tried Duotrope.com for places to submit? They have a record of response times and acception-to-rejection ratios for every zine/anthology advertised there. Maybe that could help you pick a more suitable place to submit to?

Keep on trucking, and good luck!

Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 8:01 am

I did use Duotrope for this submission. One of the reasons I chose Dark Valentine was because they had a 100% response rate. haha… Well, at least now I know it’s safe to resubmit.

Comment by J.C. Martin — July 13, 2011 @ 2:34 am

Nick, I have some stats that might make you feel better. 6 sales, 37 rejections in 3 years.

3 rejections is barely the beginning :) Keep going!

Nick Enlowe Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 8:05 am

Aye. Now if only I had actual rejection letters to go with those rejections. lol.

There’s a magazine that only considers publishing your short story if it’s been rejected five times. Of course, to prove it, you need to submit it with five accompanying rejection letters… :D