Strange Funds and Encouraging Rejections

The lovely and talented people at Strange Horizons are in the midst of their Spring Fund Drive. Please support them if you can. They publish great stories and features (check out Deborah Coates' wonderful short this week, and Gavin Grant's instructions on starting a small press, and James Schellenburg's article on Hayao Miyazaki, and . . . just go there, already), and they are all volunteers, and they pay the writers. I'm not spouting hyperbole when I say that I think Strange Horizons is one of the most important genre publications in existence right now. So give them money.

Other news . . . most of the rejections I'm getting lately are of the "This is good and keep sending us stuff but this one isn't quite right" variety. I used to think this was editor code for "You suck, but not quite as bad as the other schlubs in the slush pile and I'm feeling charitable so here's a bone." But I've come to believe it. Some stories just aren't right for some markets, and only the editor knows which ones they are. It's tough, though, because I don't write with markets in mind, so I end up with stories that get glowing rejections because they don't fit anywhere. Hm. This is just a bitchy rant, isn't it? Yup, better stop it now.