one reason your submission gets rejected
Julie and I are using fairy tales as our prompts this year, and I get to kick it off with “Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess.” In case you’re not familiar with that one, here’s the summary:
A much-loved baby boy is born to the King and Queen. The boy, Prince Hyacinth, is healthy and nearly perfect, but his nose is gigantic. Like all parents, the King and Queen try to protect their son from ridicule and hurt, so they order everyone in the kingdom to wear fake noses in order to shield Hyacinth from the truth. He goes through life passively assuming that he is just like everyone else, or that they are just like him. Eventually, of course, reality comes home to roost when Prince Hyacinth learns the truth about his unique nose.
The moral of the story may be that different doesn’t mean deficient.
But what I really want to talk about here is
What We Don’t Know Can Make Us Average.
I’m one of the readers for BoomerLit Magazine. We readers screen submissions and send the best ones on to the executive editor, who makes the final decision to publish them or not. Almost all of the submissions that I decline have one thing in common, and I put it in the rejection email: they’re not a good fit.

As far as I can tell, the authors don’t read the journal. Maybe they see the name of the journal and assume we publish nostalgic pieces about life in the ‘50s. Maybe they read the submission guidelines that state the journal has “a home base in the Boomer generation” and think we’re looking for stories about senior citizens’ daily routines. I read a lot of well-written, entertaining submissions, but they are not what BoomerLit publishes. The authors can’t see beyond their own noses because they assume they know what BoomerLit means and they don’t bother to investigate. Or follow the recommendation to “read the journal.”
Whether or not you’ve gotten the “not a good fit” response, I strongly recommend pulling on some noses before you submit your writing to any journal.
Here’s some good advice:
1. Read at least three pieces in the journal you’re submitting to.
2. Analyze them IN WRITING, not just in your head. What’s the style, the genre, the tone? What similarities do you find in all the published work?
3. Create the most honest comparison you can. Maybe ask another person (or several) to read what the journal has already published and then read what you intend to submit, and compare them.
And remember….
A rejection letter is often boilerplate, but it might also be the best feedback you’ll ever get. Here’s the most important thing to remember: when the reader or editor compliments your work, believe it. We’re not just being nice. We don’t have to be nice. We really do appreciate good writing, even when it’s not a good fit.
ONE BRILLIANT THING
Sara and Brittany are Fairy Tale Scholars at the Carterhaugh School.
“Carterhaugh is a (mostly) online school. We give lectures and teach courses on fairy tales, folklore, witches, writing, and more.”
ONE RETRO THING
The first time I heard the story of Prince Hyacinth