On rejection - having been on both sides of that writerly rite of passage (receiving form rejects, personalized, and provisional rewrite requests & having written them), I want to share a Pro-tip. If you don't receive a personalized rejection, do not query the editor. 1/

One reason is because if an editor wanted to offer you personalized feedback, they would have done so in the original letter. Most editors can't offer personalized feedback on every story because of the sheer volume of submissions they receive. 2/

I offer personalized feedback when the story is closer to being publishable for me but not close enough where I'd request a rewrite or revisions. Or sometimes bc there's something special in the writing or the storytelling I wanted to highlight. As in, wow, this part was good.

There are many reasons why a story might be accepted & even more reasons why they are rejected. Sometimes to share all of those reasons might not be helpful to writers and may do more harm than good. 3/

Remember, most submissions we receive are from writers we don't know, people we have never worked with before. Receiving that level of detail could be crushing for new, emerging writers, and our goal is to support and encourage, not to harm. 4/

And again, the main reason is *no time.* When you respond to a rejection with more queries, you are generating more administrative work for the editor--on a story they have already determined *isn't publishable*. Don't do this. 5/

Hope this is helpful! Diving back into the portal. Be well and continued strength to your writing hand!