rejection: The Maiden and the Tomb + Layers on the Battlefield

Sep. 7th, 2005 at 8:37 PM

The Maiden and the Tomb -- Strange Horizons (poetry) -- Aug 17 '05 - Sep 03 '05

Dear Kaolin:

Thank you for letting us see your poem and for your
interest in Strange Horizons.
We are afraid we are saying no on this submission.
We wish you the best of luck in your writing and hope
you will continue to consider SH.

Best wishes,

Harold Bowes and M R James
Poetry Editors
Strange Horizons

Layers on the Battlefield -- Strange Horizons -- Aug 17 '05 - Sep 06 '05

Dear Kaolin Fire,

Thank you for submitting "Layers on the Battlefield" to Strange Horizons, but we've decided not to accept it for publication. Among other things, I'm afraid I wasn't really sure what was going on at the end -- is the idea that the computer was left behind by the other side, and has now somehow been coopted by the side that now possesses it? Anyway, the story didn't really work for us.

But we appreciate your interest in our magazine.

--Jed

Two up, two down. 18 pending. Need to get back on it.

Comments

( 13 comments — Leave a comment )

cristafly

Sep. 8th, 2005 04:59 am (UTC)

That sucks, K. At least the second one told you why. Do you know where you're going to send them next?

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kaolinfire

Sep. 8th, 2005 06:16 am (UTC)

Such is my expectation.

What really sucks about the second one is, yeah, he's right on the money for what's happening.

I don't know where I'm going to send either, at the moment. Poetry I don't know the first thing about... semi-genre poetry being doubly tricky.

Layers has been to FarThing, AlienSkin, and Strange Horizons. I think it's a really well written piece, but acknowledge it's a bit of a stretch for the, perhaps, casual reader.

And I'd really like some sort of not-quite-minimal pay or prestige for it. It _might_ actually be short enough for Vestal Review, come to think of it--but I've got my quota two pieces out to them this reading period.

Hmm....

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cristafly

Sep. 8th, 2005 06:19 am (UTC)

Is Layers spec fic? I don't know if your work would fit, but Brent Powers has had some pretty out there stuff published. Have you looked into any of those places?

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kaolinfire

Sep. 8th, 2005 06:25 am (UTC)

It's definitely spec.

I can't say I actually appreciate Brent's stuff, typically, but if nothing else it could be good research for me. Where all does he publish?

I could see someone who liked what he does picking up on this one.

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cristafly

Sep. 8th, 2005 06:35 am (UTC)

Some of his credits are listed in the success forum. He should have some fairly recent posts. Your styles are different, so I don't know if any of the zines will be a match, but I think some of them do publish spec and your non-traditional work might fit. Of course, I'm terrible at finding markets, so.... It's worth a shot, anyway.

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cristafly

Sep. 8th, 2005 06:49 am (UTC)

Eh. The only one I saw that might be a consideration is Dream People. I can't vouch for the quality, though. I haven't read it.

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kaolinfire

Sep. 8th, 2005 07:01 am (UTC)

I definitely appreciate your spending the time on a looksee. I read two of the flash peices on Dream People--one was passable, in a silly, half-formed yet overdone sort of way. The other was just bad--shifting accidentally in and out of tense, a groaner of an ending (but not on par with a proper feghoot), and, well, yeah--just bad.

But still, I appreciate it.

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cristafly

Sep. 8th, 2005 07:04 am (UTC)

Yeah. Oh well. Like I said, I hadn't read it. Plus, I'm leery of zines with angelfire addresses.

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kaolinfire

Sep. 8th, 2005 07:09 am (UTC)

Yeah. I mean, how much of a commitment can they be making towards the zine if they can't get a URL, and they're splatted onto a free hosting service to boot.

Ah, I'm a snob.

An unpublished snob.

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(Deleted comment)

kaolinfire

Sep. 9th, 2005 12:39 am (UTC)

but hosting, simple hosting, is a minimal monetary investment. You can get away with $5/mo, if you try...

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