On Duotrope, if you get a poem rejected, they want to know what sort of rejection. Was it form? Was it personal?
Steven Schroeder has a post on his blog that talks about form and personal rejections, too, which is what got me thinking about this today.
My problem is that I'm not entirely sure what these terms mean. I mean, I know what a form letter is. But at what point does a rejection make the switch over to "personal"?
If it's not cut and pasted, but doesn't actually have any specific reference to your work, is it form? If it's addressed to "Dear (your name)" does that make it personal? If it encourages you to submit again?
Examples culled from rejections I have received:
Poet,
We will not be publishing any of the submitted poems.
The Editors
Dear Julie,
Thank you for submitting to Journal X. Sadly, we will not be using any of your work for the upcoming issue.
Regards,
Susan Foosan
Dear Julie,
Thank you for submitting to Journal X. Sadly, we will not be using any of your work for the upcoming issue. Please feel free to submit work again.
Regards,
Susan Foosan
Dear Julie,
Thank you for submitting to Journal X. A few of your pieces came very close, especially "Poem That Doesn't Suck." But in the end, we didn't feel they were right for our journal. Please feel free to submit work again.
Regards,
Susan Foosan
Dear Julie,
These poems are smiggish, morbled, and fufoed--which is both a plus and a minus. I don't want to turn them all down, but I don't feel they fit with our journal. If you have other poems lying around that are more bliburbtious, do send!
Regards,
Susan Foosan
(Apologies to all Susan Foosans everywhere.)
So, which (if any) meet your criteria for "personal"?
How about a print copy returned that has "Try again!" written across it in red ink? I haven't received something like that, but I know someone who has.
Am I making this too complicated?
