I thought I'd seen something like that somewhere...

[agilebrit]

And thus Google is my friend.

Apparently, at least for F&SF Magazine, certain things in the rejection letter do mean things:

As I've learned recently on the F&SF forum, the phrasing does indeed mean something, when coming from JJA. "Didn't grab me" means "didn't get past the first five pages" (he always tries to read at least five pages), "didn't hold my interest" means "read more than 5 but didn't reach the end" and "didn't quite work for me" means "I finished it, but didn't think it was good enough to pass to Gordon." (With thanks to J Schoffstall who posted this interpretation, to which JJA agreed.)

I've gotten two rejections from F&SF. The one for the GargoyleFic was from John Joseph Adams (the assistant editor). The one for the BeagleFic was from Gordon Van Gelder himself--so...I'm thinking this means that one made it past JJA's desk and onto Gordon's.

AND...just found this gem: JJA says that not every story gets a "there was some nice writing here," so that's a good too.

Huh. I think I feel a little better now. One of my stories made it past JJA to Gordon's desk, and the other has "some nice writing." I'll take it.

Comments

[ezagaaikwe.livejournal.com]

That's a good discussion. I bookmarked it, thanks.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

It's so helpful to know what these little things mean, innit? And I love the fact that F&SF actually has a code that's easily cracked, and that both editors post on the forums. Makes them seem a little more accessible rather than these lofty figures. LOL

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Not all rejection letters are created equal. You've actually gotten some very encouraging ones.

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

Huh. It's concrit instead of no thank you. Maybe you're gettting somewhere with them. *crosses fingers*