If a publisher sends you a rejection letter, there is no need to reply. A lot of the time, rejection letters are cut and paste—not to be mean, but because it saves time. It was true before the internet and it’s true now. When I first started sending out submissions, I would get a photocopied piece of paper that just had a generic message like, “Sorry but your story isn’t for us,” on it without any further explanation.
When this happens, don’t respond and ask for more details. If a publisher wants to tell you why they don’t want to accept your story, then they will do so. Also, don’t reply and ask who else you might consider sending the story to, as publishers aren’t likely to recommend other presses. Usually they will ignore your message.
But if you get a rejection letter that does expla
