I receive a lot of rejection notices. In fact, it might be said I seek them out. I got one the other day from Cutbank. Four poems sent. All rejected. They communicate this finality (as do most lit mags) in little rectangular blocks of paper that can easily be mass-produced at the Xerox machine. The logo’d blocks come in an envelope you, the writer, provide for this very purpose—the delivery of your formulaic rejection notice. I have an entire spreadsheet of my rejection notices and a neat collection of these paper blocks.
In direct counterpoint to this official rejection there is the personal encouragement of a friend. My college buddy, DK, a professor of philosophy and force of nature, contributed cold hard cash via my Pay Pal account to support the efforts here. Thanks Deacon!