Thus Spake Zarathusra...

Dean's notice finally arrived in the mail today, and it was actually a little heartening:

Dear Sean,

While Nikki and I enjoyed elements of “The Whispering” , we regretfully need to pass on it.

Ultimately, it was not a fit for this year’s anthology.

Though we’ve passed on your story, we encourage you to polish and submit it to other markets, such as the Philippines Free Press, Story Philippines and the Digest of Philippine Genre Stories.

Thank you for your interest in Philippine Speculative Fiction. We hope to read something from you next year.

Best regards,
Dean Francis Alfar
Nikki Alfar

The short story in question was a piece of almost three thousand words, written dangerously close to this year's deadline and featured on this little ditty of a blog post. I feared that I got some elements of the story right -- tone and atmosphere, if you must ask -- but that the plot and progression itself was a little sparse.

At first I felt a little defeated by seeing this e-mail message in my inbox. Then, just for reference, I went back to the rejection notice that I received last year for the same publication and noted a few interesting things that immediately piqued my interest (and generally woke me up better then the usually cup of coffee).

In an effort to replicate my thought processes, I'll break down Dean's letter below. Hopefully no one accuses me of being anal-retentive as a result.

Dear Sean,
No, this doesn't mean anything. Dean's rejection letters are simply a lot more personal than other publications', which means that his addressing me by name doesn't automatically imply that the story stood out for him. It probably just means that he knows my name, but that's it.

While Nikki and I enjoyed elements of “The Whispering” , we regretfully need to pass on it.
That's what the story is called, by the way -- "The Whispering". Mentioning that certain elements of the story were enjoyed doesn't imply that much; it could be anything from a sincere expression to a standard boilerplate.

The real find here, however, is the fact that the story got mentioned by name. I find this remarkable, assuming that the anthology gets at least a hundred submissions each year. This, I think, implies that the story must have been interesting in some way, or that Dean decided to become very detailed with at least some of his letters. :)

Ultimately, it was not a fit for this year’s anthology.
This I find interesting, however. Does this mean that there was a certain theme to this year's anthology that I somehow missed? Then again, it could just mean that there were already about twenty other far better stories in their estimation...

Though we’ve passed on your story, we encourage you to polish and submit it to other markets, such as the Philippines Free Press, Story Philippines and the Digest of Philippine Genre Stories.
Still very interesting, mind you. Did the story get their attention to the point where it could be a worthy contender for these publications after a little spit-and-polish? Or was this a standard template that just mentioned the other major venues for local spec fic? If it's the latter, then this was a great way to build awareness for the literary community -- sort of like a "hey, there are three other places to which I can send my works!" realization.

Thank you for your interest in Philippine Speculative Fiction. We hope to read something from you next year.
Just a standard template. The placement of implied timings indicates that Dean has recently resolved a few life-related concerns, though. The complete mention of the anthology's title notes that he is starting to settle back into work from these concerns, and the use of the word "we" punctuates a close spousal relationship at this point. Moreover, the curve of the capital "S" and the deliberate decimal spacing reveals that he likes steak (medium-rare), prefers vodka over gin, and patronizes the Dockers clothing label. :)

And who was Zarathusra, anyway?