Up until this point, I’ve been very firm in the idea that I should not rewrite old stories. (I’m not sure what the definition of “old” is, in this case, but…)
Well.
I believed quite firmly that “Median Effective Dose” was the single best story I’d ever written when I started sending it out. Rejectomancy, on the other hand, says otherwise; my response times suggest that editors are not particularly tempted by this story, although I’m still getting personalized rejections. I also had a friend tell me that it sucks. 😉
Which is why it’s been rewritten and resubmitted to the Critters queue. This breaks two previously firm rules: 1. Never rewrite anything that received a personalized rejection from My Dream Market, and 2. Never rewrite an old story; make room for new stories. I care too much about this story to waste time with rules.
Of course, I’m now wibbling about resubmitting to those markets. Jed Hartman from Strange Horizons has some advice here that makes me feel better about the whole thing. I was trying to decide whether it would be more boorish to query or to just submit with an abject apology for the rewrite, so I feel a lot better.
Subscribe
