The first rejection

A few posts ago I told you guys that I was submitting my short story to a couple of literary magazines, and I told you I'd keep you updated on the results. Well, I got my first rejection the other day. You can tell as soon as you open the mailbox - big manila envelope, your address in your own handwriting - the dreaded SASE. You know how in college thin envelopes mean rejections and fat ones mean you got in because they are full of registration materials? Well for writers its the opposite. Big manila envelopes means your manuscript is coming back to you. I am pretty good about taking rejections in stride though. I do like to see if they send any personal messages, or sometimes they encourage you to send other stuff even though this particular piece wasn't right. But this letter was short and sweet, nothing special. Oh well. We'll see if the other journal has anything better to say.