Final update regarding the publisher I was talking with. =(. I got a response:
Hi,
Thank you for working on Simple Submission. I have given it a complete assessment and I'm sorry that I can't give you better news.
Frankly, you aren't that far off the mark. That said, though, it reads as a little choppy--lots of short scenes-- and just not refined enough. I don't know exactly how to tell you what 'not refined enough' means, which I'm sure will frustrate you to no end. There is just something about the tone of the writing that doesn't flow easily and reads a little rudimentary.
Thank you so much for letting us read it. The story itself is a good one, and perhaps another publisher may be interested. I hope so.
Best of luck to you as you move forward honing your craft.
It was heartbreaking when i read it the first time but after i read it another two/three times I realized it wasn't as bad as it seemed at first. They like the story. I guess I need to improve it somehow but...I'll be damned if I know what to do. Maybe I should go take a class or something */*shrug*/*