Through the years as a struggling writer, I looked for validation by going the traditional route, submitting my work to publishers and agents. As the common story goes, I got rejected left, right, top and bottom. Seeking to earn money, but also desperate to break into print, I became aware of all the magazines that publish short fiction which is my specialty. Woman’s World Magazine paid quite well; at the time, $1000 for very short, 1000 word romances. My interest was peaked so I started reading the stories, eager to submit. As I suspected, the stories in Woman’s World were not my style, however I was somewhat familiar with he romantic formula. I found the stories corny, on the brink of ridiculous, totally against what I consider my style of realistic, edgy fiction (hang around enough you’ll see what I mean). Regardless, I was still desperate to break into mainstream fiction and earn a nice buck. I learned Woman’s World style and began to submit.
Woman’s World rejected me. Had the nerve to! They rejected several submissions. I no longer have the rejection letters, but wish I did, I’d post them here. I followed their style to the letter (no pun). I’m willing to admit that my writer’s ego was bruised, however their rejections didn’t make sense. Not once did the editor say my stories were crap or not suited for their magazine which I could better accept, put my head between my legs and move on, but her rejections were vague. My partner at the time told me my stories were too good for them. That could’ve been his emotional response, having shared my disappointment, but it did make me think. What was really behind the rejections? Here we go, my fiction writer’s imagination: Conspiracies? Maybe. Could it be that I was the only male writer (didn’t use a female pen name) submitting to a woman’s magazine? Possibly. As a person that appreciates transparency, the editor could’ve just told me that, unless it went against some EOE policy.
I recall the Woman’s World submission guidelines clearly. It stated they didn’t want fly away, fluffy type romances, but having read them, that’s exactly what they were. I strictly followed their guidelines and still got rejected. I was so hurt and frustrated, vowing to go back to my writing style and come up with the most vile, x-rated work ever. LOL; I eventually calmed down and continued with my normal work. The whole experience is what inspired me to develop “Romance Imperfect”, a one man anthology series that I hope displays some realism in contemporary relationships.
One night I stumbled across the four stories that Woman’s World had rejected. They were just there on my computer. After reading them again, I actually liked them for what they were and decided to publish them as a collection under the header: SSOL: Short Stories Of Love. One of them is posted here entitled, “Flying High”. I also added a fifth story, “Snapped” that wasn’t a part of the Woman’s World submissions. Snapped was an independent, very short romantic themed story I wrote for something else. It has my true signature style. You’ll clearly see that it differs from the other four. Like everything I write, I hope you enjoy them.
The End
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