Twas a good chat session last night but something came up in the general discussion before we began about rejection letters.
I'd like to know your thoughts on it because you, the reader of this blog, is who I began doing it for in the first place.
Recently I've begun sharing with you excerpts from my rejection letters. My thoughts behind doing so were to give other new writers out there an idea what sort of rejection responses someone else was getting--let you know you're not alone in the world.
Last night it was put to me that this was somewhat unprofessional, that I was stepping over some sort of confidentiality boundary. In short, it was inferred that editors wouldn't appreciate me sharing their responses. I don't get that. An email sent to me, presented on my blog, is entirely up to me to share if I so choose. I don't rag on magazines or editors that reject me, I simply copy an excerpt and comment professionally on it.
In the end, the main point remains: do you find it useful information? If not, if you agree that it is unprofessional for me to be revealing this info, I'll stop. If I receive no comments one way or the other, I'll stop. If you find it interesting or helpful, let me know. Majority wins.
Talk to me.
I'll take no offense and won't be upset, I promise. To those involved in last nights discussion, I took no offense last night, I just found it interesting and thought I'd ask.
BT
Newsletter 16th April 2024
3 days ago
Hmmn. I believe t'was I who said that I refrain from posting the actual text of the acceptances and rejections I receive because I believe it is unprofessional. I probably could have phrased it better than that, in hindsight, as I certainly didn't mean to categorically state "and I think anyone who DOES do it is unprofessional" (which is the logical inference) - it's just a personal comfort zone/philosophy thing for me alone that I apply only to my own conduct. I know you said no offense taken, but nonetheless, apologies BT if you felt I was implying that YOU are unprofessional for doing things differently.
ReplyDeleteThat clarified, my own reasons for not posting the actual text of acceptances and rejections I receive - as a general rule - are that they are correspondence between the editor and myself, and the editor has not given consent for me to broadcast the correspondence. If the editor HAS in fact indicated they're fine with me posting their correspondence publicly, well, ok - no problem (although I still might not be comfortable doing so in every situation). But otherwise, my own personal guidelines are that it's not the done thing - for me.
I do, however, mention whether or not I *have* been accepted/rejected somewhere (I'd have a boring blog if I didn't!), and I may from time to time allude vaguely to what was contained in the acceptance/rejection - withholding all identifying information, of course.
That's just my own code of practice; others may be more relaxed or even stricter. To be honest, I don't think you should worry about what you're doing, BT; as you said, it's not as though you're defaming or insulting anyone or making any judgement calls. I doubt you would cause anyone any offence with what you're doing.
Carry on! :o)
PS: Great chat last night, eh?
I'm interested in seeing your rejection slips but that could just make me a sick voyeur!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why it would be considered unprofessional - is this a privacy angle?