Keith Kahn Harris is a published author and yet he often faces the most common disheartening phenomenon that most writers face with. The Silent Rejection. In his essay, What’s worse than rejection?, Harris has often wondered why the polite enquiry elicits a zero response and hours of humiliation. He knows that editors are busybodies but he does not appreciate their reticence. He wants to get their attention somehow even if it means he must turn into an atrocious stalker, not atrocious really, just stalker.
“Editors have always had the power to control access to publishing platforms. Today, though, their power and responsibility is greater than ever. In a world of online noise, the desperation to make one’s voice heard can be overpowering. It’s easier than ever to fire off an email submission. And editors – part of a profession that, in some organisations at least, has been hollowed out and given greater and greater responsibility at a far younger age for less money and job security – have to cope somehow with the flood of supplications to be heard. Too often, editors cope through cultivating a strategic silence. Those who have not submitted work for publication might think that being a writer is a process of acceptance and rejection. Stories of famous writers who succeeded after dozens of rejection letters are common. But this is not a fair representation of publishing today.”
One way that you could negotiate this sphinx-like silence is to request a return receipt or install an email tracking tool. Read this article for more.
