Close, but no cigar

I guess one of the frustrations that comes with being a good genre writer, but not a great genre writer (although I like to flatter myself and think that at my best I have the proverbial "flashes of greatness") is that you sometimes get those "Oh, dude, you were so close!" rejections.

Yesterday was noteworthy because I got two of them.

One said "Yours is one of only a select few stories that made it to the final round of our decision-making process. Unfortunately we do not have room for your story in our upcoming issue. All the editors at (redacted) enjoyed your story and we encourage you to try us again."

The other said, "We have decided to pass on your story. We apologize for the delay in our response. Your story made it into our final round of reading." The editor then went on to solicit a submission for a related publication. adding they would be "excited" if I submitted something there.

Well, if I was a real pro - meaning I lived off my genre writing - I might be concerned. As it is, I'm a casual writer, with a regular full-time job, and I really don't spend a lot of time at the genre writing. It's hard to believe I've had 67 stories published in the past nine years, because honestly, I write very sporadically. For example, I think my production during the past two months is probably less than 4,000 words. So I am flattered by these responses. Since my regular job is as a writer (journalist), I still write every day, so I don't have a problem with getting rusty.