October 29th, 2009 / 11:22 am
Behind the Scenes
Blake Butler
Behind the Scenes
Rejected!
Over the past 5 years I’ve amassed quite a hunk of You Suck paper. This is not in addition to electronic You Suck paper, but just the places so far behind the times they still force you to kill trees and lick sugar paper. Here’s a rough sketch of my paper rejections spread into a half-light, see how many from Conjunctions you can find!:
So yeah. What you got? The best commented/linked/submitted photo of creatively arranged paper rejections by end of Friday wins a prize package of books and magazines, like a bunch.
Tags: rejections, you suck
Dang, being a writer looks hard. And sad.
Dang, being a writer looks hard. And sad.
My collection has dwindled rapidly as I’m pretty much too lazy to do non-electronic submissions now.
My collection has dwindled rapidly as I’m pretty much too lazy to do non-electronic submissions now.
My email server usually rejects mine 5 seconds after I hit send, or the mailman just hands it back to me.
My email server usually rejects mine 5 seconds after I hit send, or the mailman just hands it back to me.
Haha, Agni
Haha, Agni
Blake, have you seen Bill Knott’s collection he started posting?
http://billknottpoetry.blogspot.com/2009/10/click-to-enlarge_154.html
and everything in his archive that says “click to enlarge”..
Blake, have you seen Bill Knott’s collection he started posting?
http://billknottpoetry.blogspot.com/2009/10/click-to-enlarge_154.html
and everything in his archive that says “click to enlarge”..
nice
nice
i throw them away. sometimes i crumple them and bite them a little first.
i throw them away. sometimes i crumple them and bite them a little first.
Me too. It’s gotten to the point where I’m like, if you can’t be bothered to get an electronic submissions system, I can’t be bothered with you. Plus I’m never depressed by email rejections, for some reason, but the paper rejections are always so depressing. The crappy cut-not-quite-straight-at-Kinko’s-with-crooked-ass-printing look of them, the you’re-so-unimportant-I-can’t-even-spare-you-a-whole-piece-of-paper aesthetic. Shudder.
Me too. It’s gotten to the point where I’m like, if you can’t be bothered to get an electronic submissions system, I can’t be bothered with you. Plus I’m never depressed by email rejections, for some reason, but the paper rejections are always so depressing. The crappy cut-not-quite-straight-at-Kinko’s-with-crooked-ass-printing look of them, the you’re-so-unimportant-I-can’t-even-spare-you-a-whole-piece-of-paper aesthetic. Shudder.
That’s a great collection, Blake. Glad to see Bill Knott mentioned here as well. I love his policy of opening up his Lulu books with a page or two of truly bad reviews he’s gotten over the years. I bought his THEME POEMS book at Lulu and absolutely loved the bad reviews section, the balloon poems & the rest of it. He’s vastly underrated in both poem and art worlds.
That’s a great collection, Blake. Glad to see Bill Knott mentioned here as well. I love his policy of opening up his Lulu books with a page or two of truly bad reviews he’s gotten over the years. I bought his THEME POEMS book at Lulu and absolutely loved the bad reviews section, the balloon poems & the rest of it. He’s vastly underrated in both poem and art worlds.
Roberto Bolaño wrote a poem about this that I don´t think has been translated. Here´s a very very unofficial just-for-fun (please don´t sue) English version:
My Literary Career by Robert Bolaño
Rejections from Anagrama, Grijalbo, Planeta, certainly from Alfaguara, Mondadori. One no from Muni, Seis Barral, Destino…All the publishers…All the readers…
All the marketing managers…
Under a bride, while it rains, a golden opportunity to see myself
like a snake in the North Pole, but writing.
Writing poetry in the country of idiots.
Writing with my son on my knees.
Writing until nightfalls
with the roar of a thousand demons
The demons that have come to bring me to hell
but writing.
Roberto Bolaño wrote a poem about this that I don´t think has been translated. Here´s a very very unofficial just-for-fun (please don´t sue) English version:
My Literary Career by Robert Bolaño
Rejections from Anagrama, Grijalbo, Planeta, certainly from Alfaguara, Mondadori. One no from Muni, Seis Barral, Destino…All the publishers…All the readers…
All the marketing managers…
Under a bride, while it rains, a golden opportunity to see myself
like a snake in the North Pole, but writing.
Writing poetry in the country of idiots.
Writing with my son on my knees.
Writing until nightfalls
with the roar of a thousand demons
The demons that have come to bring me to hell
but writing.
I throw them away, too, but I think I’d have a pretty good pile, too. I wish I’d saved the couple of personal rejections where an editor took the time to tell me how much they hated the story (this has happened twice!)
I throw them away, too, but I think I’d have a pretty good pile, too. I wish I’d saved the couple of personal rejections where an editor took the time to tell me how much they hated the story (this has happened twice!)
I’m also pretty sure I’ve gotten rejections from magazines that I haven’t sent anything to, but this might be paranoia, that some magazine might preemptively reject my writing.
I’m also pretty sure I’ve gotten rejections from magazines that I haven’t sent anything to, but this might be paranoia, that some magazine might preemptively reject my writing.
I’d also love for magazines to start dispensing with actual rejection slips – just send me my SASE, empty, with the magazine’s return address stamped on the front. Or a postage stamp-sized paper with the word ‘No’ on it.
I’d also love for magazines to start dispensing with actual rejection slips – just send me my SASE, empty, with the magazine’s return address stamped on the front. Or a postage stamp-sized paper with the word ‘No’ on it.
ecotone
haha
ecotone
haha
i’ve been rejected from every publication in existence except for three that don’t exist yet.
except the four which are women and/or white people only.
i’ve been rejected from every publication in existence except for three that don’t exist yet.
except the four which are women and/or white people only.
Yes.
Yes.
I, uh, kind of wish Bill Knott would sort of, like, disappear forever.
No I don’t. Then I wouldn’t have new material to appropriate for my own use. I know how he loves that kind of thing. Second only to his love of copyright laws, and those who enforce them.
I, uh, kind of wish Bill Knott would sort of, like, disappear forever.
No I don’t. Then I wouldn’t have new material to appropriate for my own use. I know how he loves that kind of thing. Second only to his love of copyright laws, and those who enforce them.
You’ve been very mean during Mean Week, Amelia.
You’ve been very mean during Mean Week, Amelia.
I pitch them too. Do most people keep them?
I pitch them too. Do most people keep them?
Noo I just mean I have Agni too. Collect ’em all!
http://ameliagray.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/rej.JPG
Noo I just mean I have Agni too. Collect ’em all!
http://ameliagray.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/rej.JPG
Oh the days of paper submissions – those left a painful impression.
I was talking with someone (Bradley?) about framing the “milestone” ones – like my 500th rejection. Something along that line. Nothing like a good shot of reality hanging on your wall.
Although I have never taken photos of the “rejections of the 90s” I did get one back once with just a “NO” in red crayon on my cover letter. I wish I could remember who those a-holes were.
Oh the days of paper submissions – those left a painful impression.
I was talking with someone (Bradley?) about framing the “milestone” ones – like my 500th rejection. Something along that line. Nothing like a good shot of reality hanging on your wall.
Although I have never taken photos of the “rejections of the 90s” I did get one back once with just a “NO” in red crayon on my cover letter. I wish I could remember who those a-holes were.
haha
artful dodge
haha
artful dodge
artful dodge slip is amazing, i’ll trade you a terminus and a call:review for it
artful dodge slip is amazing, i’ll trade you a terminus and a call:review for it
Throw in that ecotone and you got yourself a deal
This sounds like a great way to waste this evening. No wife. No kid. I was going to write. But now I am going to arrange rejection letters.
Throw in that ecotone and you got yourself a deal
This sounds like a great way to waste this evening. No wife. No kid. I was going to write. But now I am going to arrange rejection letters.
beautifully done jesse
also like the plea of “please don’t sue”
beautifully done jesse
also like the plea of “please don’t sue”
Tangen-Mills Bolaño Tangen-Mills Bolaño Tangen-Bolaño-Mills Tanglaño-Mills.
Very cool.
Tangen-Mills Bolaño Tangen-Mills Bolaño Tangen-Bolaño-Mills Tanglaño-Mills.
Very cool.
You get lots of mail.
You get lots of mail.
Now let’s see a picture showing that you own a copy of every journal that’s rejected you…
Now let’s see a picture showing that you own a copy of every journal that’s rejected you…
Well said Amber. Every lit mag please go electronic.
Well said Amber. Every lit mag please go electronic.
I don’t keep paper rejections either though I do blog about them so I guess its sort of the same thing.
I don’t keep paper rejections either though I do blog about them so I guess its sort of the same thing.
My room looks like this:
http://ericbeeny.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-08-08T19%3A53%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=1
My room looks like this:
http://ericbeeny.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-08-08T19%3A53%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=1
mailman handing it back to me was hilarious!
mailman handing it back to me was hilarious!
[…] Glad to see Bill Knott mentioned here as well. I love his policy of opening up his Lulu books with a page or two of truly bad reviews he’s gotten over the years. I bought his THEME POEMS book at Lulu and absolutely loved the bad reviews … No wife . No kid. I was going to write. But now I am going to arrange rejection letters. reply. October 29th, 2009 / 5:12 pm Mr. Wonderful —. Now let’s see a picture showing that you own a copy of every journal that’s rejected you… …Continue Reading… […]