Had a lovely rejection from Granta Magazine. I've even been bragging about it, using it as an anecdote: "Yeah, got rejected by Granta..." etc. Badge of honour. I knew it was a long shot sending something to them, so when they replied with -
"Thank you for submitting [story title] to our magazine. We read it with interest and enjoyed it, but ultimately decided that it was not right for our pages. Please keep us in mind for your future projects."
- I was pretty happy. I felt like one of those gameshow contestants who hasn't won but they've had a lovely day out.
It was nice for them to say I should keep them in mind for future projects. It means sub again, right?
Because about a year ago, I sent something else to different magazine, who also rejected the story but also in a lovely way:
"While this particular submission isn't quite what we're looking for, we were very impressed by your writing. We hope you will feel encouraged by this short note and send something else in the near future. We look forward to reading more."
I was really heartened by that. I thought - ooh, they're eager. I'll strike while the iron's hot! 10 days later I sent them something else. Alas, twas too soon. They didn't want it, and they asked me to leave it at least a month next time. I felt less like a gameshow contestant and more like someone who's been dumped and has been asked to give the other person space.
So I'll wait a respectable amount of time before trying Granta again. Don't want to come on too strong.
