>the following are likely hard sells:

zombies or zombie-wannabes (seriously, I’m not kidding)
sexy vampires, wanton werewolves, wicked witches, or demonic children
stories about rapists, murderers, child abusers, or cannibals
stories where the climax is dependent on the spilling of intestines
stories in which a milquetoast civilian government is depicted as the sole obstacle to either catching some depraved criminal or to an uncomplicated military victory
stories where the Republicans, or Democrats, or Libertarians, or . . . (insert any political party or religion here) take over the world and either save or ruin it
stories in which the words “thou” or “thine” appear
talking cats or swords
stories where FTL travel or time travel is as easy as is it on television shows or movies
stories about young kids playing in some field and discovering ANYTHING. (a body, an alien craft, Excalibur, ANYTHING).
stories about the stuff we all read in Scientific American three months ago
stories about your RPG character’s adventures
“funny” stories that depend on, or even include, puns
stories where the protagonist is either widely despised or widely admired simply because he or she is just so smart and/or strange
stories originally intended for someone’s upcoming theme anthology or issue (everyone is sending those out, wait a while)
your trunk stories
stories that try to include all of the above