It's Official

I did not win. Turns out I did remember to send a SASE to the folks at Delacorte, because today I received notice that I did not win the prize. I guess that's the bad news. To be honest, it's not really bad news unless you expect something different, and I knew when I sent it that the manuscript had some flaws and needed a few more months worth of editing. Deadlines are deadlines, though.

The good news is that I just now received my rejection when I know others received theirs some time ago. I am telling myself this is because my story at least made it through the weeding out round. That I have no idea if there even is a weeding out round means nothing. Writers need approbation and we're perfectly willing to supply ourselves.

The other good news is something that all writers crave while they're busy being rejected: a personal comment. I was sent the same rejection form as everyone else who lost, but one of the editors added a two sentence hand-written note to the bottom. She commented on how she enjoyed my main character's voice, but the piece as a whole wasn't strong enough to win, which I already sort of knew. She also told me to "Keep writing," which I fully intend to do.