Paying market, RGP Publishing, will pay $150 per true story (about rejection)

Editor seeks true story submissions written in the first person, about a rejection you or someone you know experienced, that ended up turning out for the better in the end, in some way. (Lesson learned, wisdom gained, progress made, happiness found, renewed faith, etc.)



Rejection can be broadly interpreted here - including but not limited to: rejection related to romantic relationships, relationships of any kind with another person or group of people (parental, friend, sibling, etc.), rejection related to job/employment, acceptance to college/university/school/club/organization, or rejection by the bank for a loan, the playground bully, the casting director for a role.



PAYMENT/SELECTION PROCESS:



If the story you wrote is selected to be published by us, you will receive $150.00 and 5 copies of the book it is published in. Nothing will be published without your written permission, so if your story is selected you will be contacted and permission to publish will be requested at that time. The selection process may be as long as 6 months, and if your story is not selected, you will likely not hear anything back.



GUIDELINES:



Think: short story. Stories must have a beginning, middle, and end, and convey not just the negative feelings surrounding the rejection, but also convey some evidence of how, either in hindsight or while it was going on, it became apparent that it either made sense to the big picture of your life, or there was a greater wisdom at play that was evident later, or in some way it worked out for the better.



Stories should start with action, introduce characters and the problem or situation within the story. Include dialogue and the feelings the characters are experiencing.



The story could have happened recently, or years prior, in which case, if it improves the poignancy or understanding of the story, please incorporate it into the story.



The stories should aim to renew a reader's faith when staring into the face of a rejection of his or her own.



The stories may be filled with elements of humor, drama, anger, emotion, vivid imagery, a sense of triumph and/or vindication, and essentially be a story that pulls at the heart strings, makes someone laugh, cry, or get the chills, and feel less alone and hopeless in the face of rejection.



SPECIFICATIONS: Stories should be previously unpublished, 1300 words or less, written by anyone, of any age. The only exception to this would be if the story was published in a very small local town paper, or school or church newspaper, and if it has, please mention that in your email, with the name of the publication.



You may submit more than one story, but each story must be submitted in a separate email. Please, no double submissions of the same story.



DO NOT SUBMIT: essays, school papers, journal entries, letters, term papers, third person accounts, anonymous/unknown submissions.



IMPORTANT: Please keep a copy of your story, as we will not be able to respond to requests for the return of material. Your only record of submission will be your sent mailbox on your email, so if you desire record of submission, please verify that your sent email is set to NOT auto delete your sent e-mails before submitting.



SUBMISSION INFORMATION MUST INCLUDE: Submissions must be a Word doc attachment to an email, and in the body of the email: First and last name and age of writer who wrote the story, city/State/Country information for writer, phone number, and email contact information for writer who submitted story. Subject line should label the type of rejection the story covers - ie. romantic, family, employment etc.



Location: Chicago (any city)



Contact Information:



For inquiries: RGPpublishing@gmail.com



For submissions: RGPpublishing@gmail.com