1. Letters of Note: Onward! The important thing is this: Do not be discouraged by this or any other momentary setback. The road is long; the struggle must go on. This is just so well done. Finding a way to be both kind, supportive, and honest is one of the hardest things in the world. Especially at scale. If this doesn’t seem hard to you right now, just wait. In the same way that crap web hosts oversell the bandwidth they’ve promised their customers, our various social networks, both formal and informal, encourage us to way oversell on familiarity and assumed attention. And, more importantly, they exist primarily to enable unlimited access without doing anything to express, produce, or negotiate a shared expectation. Viz: Imagine a day when every one of those friends (contributors? publishers? aspiring anybodies?) all need you at exactly the same moment, and that each cares intensely about how and when you respond personally. Heck, maybe they even judge you based solely on how well you help them, without knowing how many other folks expect precisely the same treatment. A pebble is just a pebble, right? Exactly. That’s the day you realize what Mr. Junker appears to have learned. That, sometimes, the best kindness you can pay someone is to be candid about what they can expect from you. But, yes, oh gosh yes absolutely, it does help to be very kind about it. Because every word matters when a stranger offers you his pebble. (Man. Somebody should write a book about this stuff.) [via]

    Letters of Note: Onward!

    The important thing is this: Do not be discouraged by this or any other momentary setback. The road is long; the struggle must go on.

    This is just so well done.

    Finding a way to be both kind, supportive, and honest is one of the hardest things in the world. Especially at scale.

    If this doesn’t seem hard to you right now, just wait. In the same way that crap web hosts oversell the bandwidth they’ve promised their customers, our various social networks, both formal and informal, encourage us to way oversell on familiarity and assumed attention. And, more importantly, they exist primarily to enable unlimited access without doing anything to express, produce, or negotiate a shared expectation.

    Viz: Imagine a day when every one of those friends (contributors? publishers? aspiring anybodies?) all need you at exactly the same moment, and that each cares intensely about how and when you respond personally. Heck, maybe they even judge you based solely on how well you help them, without knowing how many other folks expect precisely the same treatment. A pebble is just a pebble, right? Exactly.

    That’s the day you realize what Mr. Junker appears to have learned. That, sometimes, the best kindness you can pay someone is to be candid about what they can expect from you. But, yes, oh gosh yes absolutely, it does help to be very kind about it.

    Because every word matters when a stranger offers you his pebble.

    (Man. Somebody should write a book about this stuff.)

    [via]

And, then, you were all...

  1. ewilcox reblogged this from petersantiago and added:
    Hey, thanks! I take comfort in the fact that with a mess of a rejection like that, it’s pretty clear to me that they...
  2. petersantiago reblogged this from ewilcox and added:
    Wilcox, I’ve read your poetry. And I like it. You’re good.
  3. ewilcox reblogged this from austinkleon and added:
    Yeah, the system is crazy....at least this is a refreshing rejection letter....
  4. austinkleon reblogged this from merlin and added:
    Great “rejection” letter. But gives me pangs in my stomach from when I was trying...a...
  5. bleifus reblogged this from inthefade and added:
    Terry Bain has it wrong. Having been both rejected and published by Howard, I don’t find this letter patronizing at all....
  6. eastling reblogged this from notational and added:
    merlin: Letters of Note: Onward!...This is the most lovely and personal form letter I’ve...
  7. jratlee reblogged this from merlin
  8. consolidation reblogged this from merlin and added:
    What interests me most about...can tell it’s genuine. Howard transcends eye rolls at
  9. jimmyhooker reblogged this from merlin
  10. femmebot reblogged this from notational and added:
    If Photojojo ever had to send rejection notes, I’m sure it would be like this (except theirs would be handwritten.)