Interpreting an editor...

[Steerpike]

My most recent short story submission was rejected by the target market. The editor said he was really on the fence about it, because he liked the story a lot, but in the end decided that the ending was too weak.

I am in the process of revising the ending, as I am in agreement with the editor. Would you take the editor's comments as an invitation to re-submit after revising? I suppose I could e-mail and ask, but I'm curious how the rest of you would view it. He did not explicitly say "Fix the ending and send it back to me."

 

[TWErvin2]

If it were me, I would email/query after you've revised the ending in a reply that contained the original rejection commentary, although it's hard to say. Different editors and markets certainly see this differently. My experience as an editor for a small ezine, that is what would (and has) worked best for us.

 

[Steerpike]

Thanks TW. I think that's a reasonable approach. I'll do that. Now to make sure the ending is as strong as possible

 

[Ravana]

I'd definitely consider it as an encouraging response. I'd either resubmit it with a note that mentions the original rejection and your rewrite, or, as TWErvin2 says, query on it. I'm a bit old-fashioned in this department, but for a short story I'd go for the resubmit–it's a lot easier to blow off an e-mail, and the publisher may be happier having the full copy there in his hands to look over… and, having it in his hands, he'll probably go ahead and take that look at it, out of curiosity if nothing else. At worst, it saves a step for both or you (your message and his response), for the cost of a little postage.

 

[Steerpike]

Thank you, Ravana. Now to get the ending in better shape so I can resubmit and/or submit elsewhere.

The story is unusual for me in that the idea came to me and I sat down and wrote it in one sitting. Other than to fix typos, I didn't do any editing to it - the whole thing just kind of flowed naturally. That said, however, by the time I got to the end I knew my inspiration was flagging a bit and the ending that originally developed wasn't bad but wasn't great either.

Now that I am trying to go back and rework the ending, I'm finding it more difficult than usual because the sense or inspiration, or the muse or what have you, that struck when I began writing isn't there. The original writing was a wholly organic process and experience, and now I have to turn a cold eye back on the manuscript and figure out how to end it

 

[MichaelSullivan]

My most recent short story submission was rejected by the target market. The editor said he was really on the fence about it, because he liked the story a lot, but in the end decided that the ending was too weak.

I am in the process of revising the ending, as I am in agreement with the editor. Would you take the editor's comments as an invitation to re-submit after revising? I suppose I could e-mail and ask, but I'm curious how the rest of you would view it. He did not explicitly say "Fix the ending and send it back to me."

Nothing ventured ... nothing gained ... I would definitely resubmit - and also remind them about their comments and that you took their recommendations and adjusted accordingly. I'm sure you'll almost certainly get a "re-look".

 

[Steerpike]

Nothing ventured ... nothing gained ... I would definitely resubmit - and also remind them about their comments and that you took their recommendations and adjusted accordingly. I'm sure you'll almost certainly get a "re-look".

Thank you Michael. I appreciate the advice. I'm going to resubmit it, and I'll let you all know how it goes!