The Letters of Note blog has published a letter from the late hardboiled writer John D. MacDonald.
Later in his career, the novelist referenced his past as an aspiring author and wrote a satirical rejection letter to magazine editors who wanted to publish his work. This one is for all the GalleyCat readers who have a stack of rejection letters at home (just like this editor). Don’t give up hope–someday you could be forced to reject an editor!
Here’s an excerpt from the letter: “We would like to write a personal letter to each and every one of you, but the great mass of stories submitted from this office makes such a procedure impractical. Surely you can understand that! If by any chance we have been unable to use your magazine, don’t be discouraged. It may not be due to any particular deficiency in the magazine, but instead to the fact that we haven’t recently been writing the type of THING that you use. Try again, won’t you?” (Via Reddit)