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rejection letters
My only quibble: rejections are sometimes (if rarely) personal. It does happen that an author has a history with an editor or a house. I once was confronted with accepting or rejecting something written by a former student of mine, somebody who had not endeared him/herself to me. How can that not be personal on some level? And before you ask: I rejected it. It just wasn't good enough to make me swallow my dislike. And no, I didn't use a photocopied rejection letter. And yes, s/he almost certainly felt affronted/insulted/poorly used.
My own personal favorite rejection letter was from the editor of The Atlantic Monthly, two lines long (and refering to my Other Name) "The Lippi-Green in a story-teller. Try us again?"
February 10, 2004 07:42 PM