Hmmm. I can't help but feel there's a real undertone of sarcasm here... I mean, they say thank you and wish me luck elsewhere...But, I guess, it's that middle part that gets me. 'We're afraid we'll have to pass.' It's just informal enough to seem insincere. I can't help but picture 'The Editors' snickering every time I read that line. And it makes everything else seem really insincere. You know, to keep me from hanging in the air wondering, they could have been a little more obvious about it. How about:

Thank you sooooooooooo much for letting us read your play. It was, like the BEST book ever in the history of...art. It's really tooooooo bad we can't publish your...art because it was reallly good and everyone just looooved it. Sooooooooo much. Anyway, the world really needs to hear this story, so I'm sure you won't need any luck finding some other suck--... publishing house to print this fine piece of...art.

My Rebuttal: What's with the name 'The Editors', anyway? What, do they fancy themselves as freemasons or something? A dark society of poetry readers? Do they wear dark cloaks and have secret, literary handshakes? "No! No! You're doing the Chaucer! We've all switched to the Bernard-Shaw this week! Are you sure you're a member of the Literati?" Ha! The Editors? More like...the...the Edi-Tards! ha! BURN!!!