Back in March 2006, I got a rejection slip from Weird Tales for my short story "Indications" (which was eventually bought by Pseudopod). The note started out like this:  "Thank you for letting us see your work, ‘Indications’ — and in perfect format, this time around! (emphasis added)".  I thought that second clause was kind of strange, but I just let it go.

Recently, digging through my files, I came across another rejection slip from Weird Tales, this one dated March 2003 and for another short story, "Burying Uncle Albert".  Re-reading that note, I noticed the second paragraph:

Please pity the poor, overworked eyes of editors: we need a standard, legible format.  An offense we see much too often is type that is too small; that is, anything less than 12 point (10 pitch) type line-spaced at less than 24 points (on a typewriter, no tighter than double-line spaced)…

I know that most editors at most markets don’t bother remembering the names of authors or keeping track of everything that people have submitted, but it seems odd to me that, in light of the letter from 2003, the letter from 2006 would include that second clause.  Do they have a file of every submission from every author that crosses their desk?  More likely, they have a database of all rejection slips sent out, and when they send out another one they simply cross-check and see if any other rejections have been sent to the author.

That’s the likely explanation, but I prefer the ego-stroking explanation: that the editor remembered my earlier story as outstanding but not quite right and recognized my name for the second one and remembered, "Hey! That’s the guy with that really great story that didn’t quite work and was formatted badly!"

Thoughts, anyone?

(By the way, I’ve always ensured that my manuscripts are perfectly formatted now, ever since that 2003 note.)