A Difficult Decision

A few days ago I sent the email (felt more like the last nail in the coffin) to the editor of A Glitch in the Continuum, thanking him for his efforts in finding a new home for the book but declining to have my story included.  I put a lot of thought into this decision, but ultimately it just wasn't a deal I was comfortable with.

This was a very hard moment for me.  After drafting my email, I asked my husband to see how it sounded.  Up until that moment I'd intended to read it to him, but I suddenly realized that if I voiced the thoughts out loud, I would cry.  So he read it himself, and I cried anyway.

I know this sort of thing happens all the time in the publishing world, but it makes me sad that it happened so early on in my career--only my second acceptance.  I suppose there are people who have it happen to their first sale, and that's sad too.

This in no way changes my convictions toward professional authorship, it just sets me back a little.  It takes me so long to get stories resubbed these days (two boys take up a lot more time than one) that it's a little depressing to have to start over with one that was accepted.  I can only hope that it's previous rapid acceptance means it's good enough for others to want it as well.