I got a nice rejection for my story “Bisclavert” yesterday from a Fly in Amber, a more mainstream magazine than I am used to submitting too. The rejection was nice because they gave me some good feedback. I was a bit confused too. They basically said they would have published it if it had been shorter and without the first scene. I have written back to them in the hope that if I did edit it they might reconsider. They kindly suggested that if I did trim it a bit there should be no problem for it finding a home elsewhere. A slightly odd but welcome message (I think?).
I think mainstream mags might be the way to go for submission of my cross-over historical/fantasy pieces. Speculative or fantasy fiction magazines ironically often have quite specific guidelines and ideas of what they want to publish. An odd condition for them to be in when one considers that they claim to be for speculative fiction!
