Maybe I’m an idiot (cue chorus snarking, “Maybe???“), but this one sort of…baffled me. I submitted a personal-reflection-essay-type dealie for a monthly slot in a magazine and…
As you can see, they crossed out all of the “usual suspects” that cause rejection. And in case you can’t make it out, the handwritten note reads:
Barry,
Yours was one of three in the final group vying for February issue. Nicely done.
Maybe next time.
Now, again, maybe I’m an idiot, but… If you had three finalists for the February issue, three pieces you really like, wouldn’t you take the two losers and automatically roll them over into consideration for the March issue? There was nothing timely about my piece, and the column ran every month with the same subject matter.
Maybe I’m missing something.
Anyway, moot point. I did eventually publish a few pieces with ByLine (which was a magazine aimed at aspiring authors), BTW.