138 of us got rejections today by a new pub—Steam Ticket: A Third Coast Review. Nothing exceptional about that except that it came as a broadcast email.
The text read…
Dear Writer,
Thank you for submitting to Steam Ticket; we've read your submission carefully, but unfortunately we are not able to find space for it in Vol XVI. Please know that we value your work as a writer, and we hope that you will consider submitting again.
Best wishes,
Steam Ticket staff
Responses, which appeared as reverse broadcast emails were snarky.
One writer wrote back…
Dear Publication,
Thanks for the personal note!
Another writer asked if there would be "more space" in next issue.
Others were far less funny…or kind.
Lots of hostility out there. Lots of anger.
Best way of coming to balance is to just keep working. None of it matters except the story. Pubs die all the time, plenty of them because they deserve to, but a writer’s job is to write. Nothing else. A petty attitude is dangerous and self-destructive.
The editors apologized when the learned about the gaff. That was something, I guess.