Why we’ve had to reject this time

Why we’ve had to reject this time Why we’ve had to reject this time
I’ve just finished reading a whole pile of submissions. This was for an anthology of stories for infant school aged children. I’ve had to reject several in which there was nothing wrong with the writing. Reasons include:

• The story was too long.
• The writer hadn’t quite got the age group right.
• Some of the language was too complex.
• A though this story is good it is too similar to another which is even better.
• The content goes against the ethos of one of the companies with which we are associated.

And of course, there were some where the writing or the story-crafting just wasn’t up to par. I do have to say, though, that none of the writing was too dire. In every single case it would be worth people trying again – maybe not with that particular text but certainly with another. We learn. We grow. All the time. And we have to keep on trying.