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You know how it goes. You submit a piece of work, and the you wait. And wait. And then, just after you'd forgotten all about it, a
The editor regrets . . . email pops into your inbox.
I took the plunge and submitted an 800-word article to the Memory Lane section of
The Oldie, having read a few similar articles and decided that I could do as good a job. One piece was quite poorly written and without much point, which surprised me for such an esteemed publication. Anyway, I sent the thing off at precisely 15.07, and I got a reply email,
thanks so much but not quite right for us. The time of the rejection mail? 15.07. Perhaps the title put him off
Comments
Just checked and there is a £50 award for published pieces but it says, "Readers are invited to send in 400-word submissions."
I think it used to be 800words but there have been quite a few changes.
We are happy to consider unsolicited articles on any subject. Articles shouldbe between 600 and 1,300 words in length.
The guidelines end, rather curiously:
The Oldie is one of the very few magazines in the country who believe in dedicating time and effort from our limited resources to reading all unsolicited pieces, so please do your bit –pay attention to these guidelines and make sure you're familiar withthe magazine. We only read unsolicited pieces one day a week, so replies can take a month or so.
Or a few seconds
I guess they maybe are 'full up' right now, but surely it wouldn't be too much trouble to set up a 'not currently accepting' auto reply, rather than one that implies it was rejected because the material was unsuitable.
In the meantime, the piece has been consigned to my documents folder, where dozens of other articles, stories and short plays sit, unsubmitted and unloved after rejection. I'm now engaged in another project that has a deadline, so there's plenty to keeep me busy. Onward and upward