Transcript follows. Enormous thanks to Christopher Lading for supplying this letter.
Recommended reading: The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics.
Transcript
MAD
485 MADISON AVENUE · NEW YORK N. Y. 10022 · PLAZA 2-7685
Dear Contributor:-
Sorry, but we've got bad news!
You've been rejected!
Don't take this personally though. All of us feel rejected at one time or another. At least, that's what our group therapist tells us here at MAD. He says we shouldn't worry about it.
So that should be your attitude: "What-Me worry?"
Besides - although you've been rejected, things could have been a lot worse. Your material might have been ACCEPTED!
Then where would you be?
MAD-ly
(Signed, 'Al Feldstein')
Al Feldstein
Editor
P.S. Our group therapist also mentioned that many people are so rejected by a rejection that they don't try again. And we wouldn't want THAT! We really WOULD like you to keep sending us your article ideas and scripts. . .so we can keep sending you these idiotic rejection slips!
8 comments:
The fine literary journal of my youth.
Mad Magazine was the best. Not so much anymore but it seems like pop culture is a little too in-your-face and whacked out to lampoon anymore. Everything's already a caricature of itself
Y'see, this is a rejection letter you'd want to take and frame. Or carry around on your neck in an oversized locket.
This was a great letter! I should only wish that all rejection letters were like this one. It made me laugh out loud reading it. I like how he starts out with the the delivery of "We've got bad news!" So very funny.
MAD - my fave mag. Have a whole collection of them - in paperback, as well as the regular mag size. I've read this before, of course, but we can never have too much of a good thing, can we?
Thanks. Glad I found your site, and look forward to visiting it often.
I remember my Mad Magazine rejection letter including a 2nd page consisting of a long checklist of potential reasons why my submission could have been rejected. Reasons included "We did it", "We're doing it", and "We don't want to do it!", as well as more prosaic reasons like they work with a 6 month lead time, so seasonal pieces need to be submitted way early.
I also remember that none of the boxes were checked, leading me to try to figure out on my own what the reason was.
Best. Rejection. Ever.
Worst rejection ever. It sounds as if they are making fun of the poor rejected person. Not funny.
Salvora - lighten up. It's a humorous magazine.
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Thanks!