Not All Gems Shine Brightly

A few days ago, I posted some good news. I told you that I'd found a gem amongst the junk in my spam box. The message informing me I had made the Finalist list in the Thin Threads anthology series could have been overlooked had I not checked the spam regularly.

The message said that there would be four additional prizes awarded from that list of finalists. I was just pleased to have had my story selected. Any further prize would be a nice bonus.

The shine on that gem is considerably less this morning. I received another letter from the editor asking for a submission release form from the authors of the 100 finalist stories. Upon further reading, it turns out that all of those will not make it into the book, after all. After the release forms are signed and returned, the final cuts will be made. If the original message had included this information, I might not have misunderstood the selection process this publisher uses.

My friend, Kathe Campbell, has three stories in the list, and on Monday, we were both under the impression our stories had made it into the book. Did we not read the message carefully enough? Or did the editor not write the message clearly? It's possible it is a bit of both.

It's almost harder to take a rejection at this point, when you've come so very close to being IN. But all Kathe and I can do is hope for the best, hope our stories rise like cream to the top. And if they don't, we'll send them somewhere else. Perseverance and patience are companions once again!