Chuckle, chuckle. Just back from a couple of weeks away on a couple of tiny tropical islands! I have a LOT of catching up to do in SubStack. A very enjoyable read. Well done.
Oh gosh, Terry, this is brilliant! The last one is heartbreaking and hilarious - or is it hilarious and heartbreaking? I loved the notes and learned a great deal from them - this post is not only an experiment in style but also a tips and tricks post, which I appreciate just as much! Awesome, as always. Not only are you keeping this up with remarkable and impressive consistency (how many experiments IS it now?) but they keep getting more interesting/more exciting/funnier/more clever/more WTH? with every posting!
Thanks, Rebecca. That last one was actually a real one I received -- even though I HAD checked the Writers' and Artists' Year Book. Funnily enough, when I replied to tell them that their entry was incorrect they didn't bother to reply.
Oh the comments. I’d like to know the back story of the people/characters commenting. Frustrated writer turned editor? Is one sitting in his Oval Office?
Oval office: LOL. Some of the comments were helpful I thought. Your description is right to some extent in some circs. Certainly as far as some book reviewers are concerned!
It IS arguable! That was the REAL one I'd received, despite the fact that the WAYB stated categorically that the publisher DID take that sort of material.
Oh... well you wouldn't want them as publishers then. If their editors, with whom you would work closely, have no idea of the company's code, I would say a near miss.
This was just an experiment, and it wasn't even about MY writing and it still made my heart sink, my stomach queasy. I actually got a physical reaction, Terry. That last example killed me. After all the rejections I have received over the last 30 years, you'd think I'd be inured. I think all NEW writers should receive a book full of these examples, so they know what they are getting into. Beautiful!
Thahnks, Sharron, and sorry about the reaction. I console myself with the knowledge that LOTS of successful authors were rejected by loads of publishers. I think The Godfather finally made it on the second trawl through the list of publishers. Much depends on who gets toi see the MS, what mood they're in, and whether they've had lunch (reseach has shown that if you're in court the judge is likely to pass a more lenient sentence if he or she has just had lunch. I hope this information proves to be of practial use to you. 🤣)
Ah, you are so right, Terry. Sometimes it is just the luck of the draw. I had five travels articles accepted for publication in the San Francisco Examiner -that editor took everything I sent him. I was in HEAVEN! Then a different man replaced him, who summarily rejected my things as if they were dog poop. Broke my heart ( temporarily, of course.)
Loved this! The last version made me smile hugely, as did "Keep the day job". It would be fun to see your comments to the editors' comments, "Dear Editor(s), you all failed to miss the point as well as my mad writing skills, where I draw the reader in not only to wonder, but to figure stuff out."
Yes. Strangely enough, when I replied saying I HAD looked in the WAYB and that's what it said, they didn't reply. But who want to deal with such a nasty bunch anyway?
Chuckle, chuckle. Just back from a couple of weeks away on a couple of tiny tropical islands! I have a LOT of catching up to do in SubStack. A very enjoyable read. Well done.
Oh gosh, Terry, this is brilliant! The last one is heartbreaking and hilarious - or is it hilarious and heartbreaking? I loved the notes and learned a great deal from them - this post is not only an experiment in style but also a tips and tricks post, which I appreciate just as much! Awesome, as always. Not only are you keeping this up with remarkable and impressive consistency (how many experiments IS it now?) but they keep getting more interesting/more exciting/funnier/more clever/more WTH? with every posting!
Thanks, Rebecca. That last one was actually a real one I received -- even though I HAD checked the Writers' and Artists' Year Book. Funnily enough, when I replied to tell them that their entry was incorrect they didn't bother to reply.
Iligitimi non curunbum.... 😉
You mean illegitimi non corundum I presume, or was that another Holdenism? Most fitting as it happens
Ooopsie! Keyboard butterfingers - I stand both embarrassed and corrected! Thanks, Terry! 🤣
🤣
Liked this post, especially as it appears Ralph Steadman edited your first page!
Thanks, Bryan. LOL
Such a great experiment and role-play. This act could become a short story itself!
Ha! I like the idea! Thank you, Kathleen
Oh the comments. I’d like to know the back story of the people/characters commenting. Frustrated writer turned editor? Is one sitting in his Oval Office?
Oval office: LOL. Some of the comments were helpful I thought. Your description is right to some extent in some circs. Certainly as far as some book reviewers are concerned!
Love the last one. Short, to the point and unarguable!
It IS arguable! That was the REAL one I'd received, despite the fact that the WAYB stated categorically that the publisher DID take that sort of material.
Oh... well you wouldn't want them as publishers then. If their editors, with whom you would work closely, have no idea of the company's code, I would say a near miss.
Almost exactly what I thought, Prue: a lucky escape
One of the best yet! 🤣👏
This is just like how I annotate thesis chapters from my students 😉
What? You tell them not to give up the day job? LOL. Currently bingeing on Dark. I'm in 1953 now, and my brain is doing flip flops. Thanks a bunch. 😂
I've said worse 🤣
So glad you're enjoying ;)
I don't recall using the word "enjoying" 🤣
Oh, those editors...
Quite!
This was just an experiment, and it wasn't even about MY writing and it still made my heart sink, my stomach queasy. I actually got a physical reaction, Terry. That last example killed me. After all the rejections I have received over the last 30 years, you'd think I'd be inured. I think all NEW writers should receive a book full of these examples, so they know what they are getting into. Beautiful!
Thahnks, Sharron, and sorry about the reaction. I console myself with the knowledge that LOTS of successful authors were rejected by loads of publishers. I think The Godfather finally made it on the second trawl through the list of publishers. Much depends on who gets toi see the MS, what mood they're in, and whether they've had lunch (reseach has shown that if you're in court the judge is likely to pass a more lenient sentence if he or she has just had lunch. I hope this information proves to be of practial use to you. 🤣)
Ah, you are so right, Terry. Sometimes it is just the luck of the draw. I had five travels articles accepted for publication in the San Francisco Examiner -that editor took everything I sent him. I was in HEAVEN! Then a different man replaced him, who summarily rejected my things as if they were dog poop. Broke my heart ( temporarily, of course.)
Haad the same experience, Sharron. It sucks, as you Americans might say.
Loved this! The last version made me smile hugely, as did "Keep the day job". It would be fun to see your comments to the editors' comments, "Dear Editor(s), you all failed to miss the point as well as my mad writing skills, where I draw the reader in not only to wonder, but to figure stuff out."
Thanks, Mary. That last one was real! I received it from a company that said, in the WAYB, that it DID publish the kind of thing I sent in.
Wowzers! I didn't expect that was the real one. Shocker. 😲
Yes. Strangely enough, when I replied saying I HAD looked in the WAYB and that's what it said, they didn't reply. But who want to deal with such a nasty bunch anyway?
Exactly! Leave those unfriendly dogs lie.
:-)