I hope they attribute it properly without any hassle, Gar.

I need a hand. Anyone in receipt of a nice rejection letter? I find myself in need of one and can't, for the life of me, think of the right way to say "hell no!" that won't be crushing.

I appreciate your interest in (whatever). Your (insert something from cover or resume here) is an accomplishment to be proud of. However, I have filled the position. (You can put a little more detail if you think there is some constructive criticism here if there is some to offer). Good luck in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
You

Here's a blog post by an agent, about her rejection letter. The previous post has more discussion, too. [link]

I should have specified, it's for publishing their work, but I think I can work with that. Thanks Daisy.

Thanks, Jesse!

I'm weirdly obsessed with agents' blogs.

I read that one too, but I've been a little swamped lately--completely missed that post.

I'm sorry I wasn't here, Deena! I do pretty good rejection letters -- after a while I had it down to a science to include something positive (and specific) about the work, as well as one or two good reasons for why it didn't work for me (por the market).

Not that I ever liked writing them, mind you. Except to the complete wackos who wrote whole novels about their pet lizard's nihilsm, or a pair of sugar-addicted nuns who painted pornographic Easter eggs and made billions, or things like that.

This one doesn't fit in a kind of way that those don't fit. Though not quite that psychedelic, sort of Tailchaser crossed with Animal Farm, with albinism and a lot of anthropomorphism.

I'm close to having something ready for you, Deena, but it involves creating an ending of hope and encouragement, and my muse has been the mood to do defiance in the face of catastrophe.