Damno mango, that sucks yah got rejected by them. At this point I probably would suggest just pursuing that intimidating idea and seeing what that leads yah. That and also re-reading the rejection emails if they left anything or why it got rejected. Anywho, it might suck and it definitely does feel like a slog but reworking (and resubmitting things) can drastically improve your odds. In any a case, yah probably are going to have to really dig deep into their rules, read what had been accepted (and published) and see if you can tickle their fancies that way while also doing your own thing. Or maybe it’s just not exuding enough authorial confidence within yer work of fiction and it just needs to be there at certain heights and act protracted at others. Who knows, not me. I’m definitely pulling that David Bowie thing here.
Yeah... Beneath Ceaseless Skies was the only one that gave me any real feedback. The editors said they wished the mythology had been revealed more through dialogue and action, rather than narration. I could do that, but it would change the story. At present, I don't feel like making that change; it's not the vision I'm inspired to write. Given enough time, maybe I'll figure out a way to make that work.
One of the stories I resubmitted yesterday has already been rejected, so I guess I'm hanging that one up forever. This week, I'm hoping to get back on my right schedule and work on those difficult story ideas.