11 August 2010
Catharsis, In Minor Key
Dear Leading Journal in my Sub-Field,
I’d like to thank you for your prompt–in fact, virtually immediate–response to the recent re-submission of my article, “Minor Revelations about an Obscure Author and his Even More Obscure Influences.”
That said, it came as news to me that, while both reviewers commended its potential and recommended resubmission in their responses to my first draft, you had omitted the portion of the cover letter where it was specified that this resubmission was encouraged to take place someplace else.
To avoid similar confusion in the future, perhaps you should make such details clearer, and consider including the “rejection” part of the readers’ responses among the feedback made available to the author.
Rest assured that “Minor Revelations” will take its high potential and valuable contributions elsewhere.
Yours most cordially,
Katie J.
Dear Katie J.,
I once eMailed a carefully constructed (so I imagined) “response” to an article in a popular news-weekly magazine. No sooner had I pushed the “send” key, when…poof! There pinged on my computer an IMMEDIATE eMail response from the magazine! Amazed at the alacrity of the magazine, I opened the eMail…only to find a generic solicitation for subscription to the magazine. Ha! I asked myself: “Foo! What did you EXPECT?” Well, I did NOT subscribe. So there!
You should talk to Ray Hsu. He would definitely be able to commiserate with you.
Oh, I’m not really in need of commiseration, Nicole — this was a relatively courteous exchange. Besides, considering the horror stories I’ve heard from the job market, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.