Hey, check out the date on this one, gang: That’s right, your Uncle Barry has been getting rejected since before you were born!
This one is actually a terrific rejection. I had submitted a story to the WildStorm Talent Search, trying to break into comics. And you know what? I richly deserved this rejection letter. I knew nothing about the WildStorm Universe at the time. I just read some descriptions of a couple of time traveling characters and tried to cram them into a time travel story I had already come up with. Ouch. Stupid, stupid Barry!
The rejector (and that kinda sounds like a comic book character, doesn’t it? — The Rejector!) quite rightly (and politely!) points out that my submission had nothing to do with the characters, really. But also takes the time to respond personally…and even gives me a little pep talk towards the end.
You can’t expect this level of engagement from every rejection letter, but when it comes along, it’s wonderful to see.