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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31306
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31306
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Publications don't explain why they reject things because:

a. It takes time.

b. If they do, people will argue with them and call them names.

c. If they do, people will try to fix the piece and send it back, creating even more work for them.

But there are really just three reasons why a publication rejects something:

1. It is too badly written to be salvageable with reasonable effort.

2. It is not a match for their needs. Most authors operate on the basis of trying to find homes for the pieces they want to write. Most publications operate on the basis of publishing material that appeals to a very specific interest group in a very specific way. Writers who study the needs of specific publications and write what the editors need have a very high success rate. Writers who write what they want and then shotgun it to every publication in Writer's Digest market books have a very low success rate. 

3. Their pipeline is full. Yes, they publish halloween recipes in their October issue, and yes you sent them a yummy recipe for pumpkin spice cookies, but they already have enough yummy pumpkin spice cookie recipes on file to last till kingdom come. 

Many authors seem to think that if only they could fix the writing, they would get published. But most of the time is is not the quality of the writing that is the problem (and if you cannot tell if it is the quality of your writing that is the problem, you are a very long way from publication). The problem is that you have sent them a piece that does not meet their needs or that they already have more of than they need.

This is why every editor, on their website and market listing, lists exactly what they are looking for (and not looking for) and urges writers to read the publication before submitting. Because most of the submissions they get are not on topic for them or are already over subscribed.

Alas most writers write before they market, and thus end up sending in the MS anyway hoping against hope and reason that the brilliance of their work will blow the editor away and make them throw all their guidelines out of the window. And thus they waste both the editor's time and their own.

So, chances are the publications told you exactly why your work was rejected, and told you in advance, before you ever sent it in, before you even wrote it. You just did not pay attention.

And, for the record, I am guilty of this as much as anyone.

Original score: 39