Here are my rejection counts for 2023. I had to make separate counts because all my submissions had multiple poems. Letters that included rejections: 54 Letters that were only rejections: 24 Poems rejected: 219 Meanwhile I got 150 poems accepted (including 80 reprints). This was, in part, because I did the 100-rejections exercise.
I know the cost of subscribing to lit mags and journals can add up so I wanted to share a one-day offer from New England Review. For a year subscription (4 issues) you can pay what you want. I paid $5. I don't think it gets much better than that. And this publication has always been a good one in my mind.
Oh yeah, I did some submissions on Sunday. Typically I wait to collect a few before posting, but I'd be waiting a while as I doubt anyone else is going to reject as quickly as Clarkesworld. I am not sure how they do it, but they sent me a form letter rejection in just two days. That's my first of the year.
Just an FYI. New England Review is now having an e-subscription today only for the same deal to pay whatever you want.
My submittable account just lit up today with a whole bunch of "in-progress." This is the exciting moment in the submission process where I can't help but think some good news must follow. Of course, I'm usually wrong about this.
Hell yeah! Thanks pal. Just scored a year's sub. I appreciate your keeping an eye on such things yet again !
Apex is taking submissions for an anthology about strange locations. They are looking for flash fiction. Thought I would share this one because it's sort of a fun challenge, and might be a really interesting anthology. I don't really come across publications where the setting is so central to the stories. I think the deadline in Feb. 15. I already sent something in.
A 499-day higher tier form rejection from Bennington Review. I believe this to be a form, though, there was a line in there that it "came close." That might have been added to the form, but I'm still calling this one a form. 2024 rejection count: 10
Do you ever get a rejection from a magazine and you wonder what makes their accepted stories better than yours that got rejected?
It simply means they had better options. That's all it really comes down to. The short fiction industry is a tough biz. I think the best idea is to keep writing new stories to keep trying the publications you want to get into. That's my approach. But I can't say I've read a magazine that rejected me and thought my story was better than the ones they published. I think I'm pretty good (sometimes), but I'm also fully aware that there are a lot of people better than me and/or with better stories. I do think there is a lot that can be learned for reading the publications we want to see our work in. Truthfully, if I were to read a magazine and I didn't think what they publish was super, I wouldn't submit there. I will fully admit that I aim very high. It's worked out before, but most of the time it doesn't. So, I write more stories. Just want to note there is a lot of competition at every level. And it's not supposed to be easy.
So, this is kind of exciting. I've reached 50 active submissions. I alway aim for staying somewhere between 30 and 50 active submissions, though, at times it's been difficult But I've really been paying attention to submission window for places I want to submit over the last few month.All my submissions are to well-established publications that I would just die if I got into. At the very least, this might be 50 rejections I could count for the year. It's going to be difficult to maintain 50 active submissions. In part because I'm only interested in sending my work places that I am familiar with. I did end up entering two contests. I just couldn't help myself and thought, why not? That's probably it for contest for me. Unless Zoetrope holds a contest. It seems the only way to submit to them is when they have a contest.Please share if you hear anything about Zoetrope. So far this month I have made 23 submissions. I'm also trying to add another story to my roster each month. This is already feeling a bit like a juggling act. But at the same time I think it's kind of fun. I've learned that keeping an eye on submission deadlines is key making sure my awesome stories get to the right editor. And this is sort of new for me. I'm tracking/watching about 100 publications. I'm also almost finished with my packed to apply for artist grants and fellowships. This is something I've been thinking about for years, but I thought no way and that I didn't have a real chance. Well, I'm taking a chance now. Some of the things I'm applying for would really change my life over the course of the year. I'm nervous about these, but I'm going to do it. Last year I was awarded a small grant. These ones now are a much bigger deal. Fingers crossed for all of us, my rejection friends..Are any of you doing something new when it comes to where, what, and when you'll make submissions? Are you writing more stories that will become new submissions?
As the great Wayne Gretzky said, "I miss 1000% of the shots I don't take." Something to keep in mind when submitting
Be careful. You could go crazy figuring out why someone else's story made it into print. Sometimes it has to do with hitting the voice the editors prefer. But the quality level in many lit mags is so mixed, it's hard to know why some stories were chosen over others.
That's why the answer is to always write new stories, write better stories. And send out lots of submissions. My newest story was sent to over 20 places. I think it's my best work so I sent it to all the best publications (that were open) on my list. It helps to know the story is still out there at other places when I get a rejection. And when I do get a rejection, I like to try again right away with a new story. I've been in this game a long time and have sort of worked out a system when it comes to writing shorts and submitting. I don't think knowing exactly why a piece was rejected is all that helpful. I've gotten personal rejections that have in not-so-friendly terms told me why my story was rejected. Is that helpful? To me, not really. Sure, I'll think about what the editor said, but more often than not I usually think they were wrong. And I move on. I don't see the quality as being mixed in the literary journal I read. In fact, I think the quality tends to be pretty consistent. When I read these the journals I am usually like Wow! And from reading them, I think I have learned to write for them. I have been reading literary journals far longer than I've been writing for them. I say if you read a journal and aren't impressed, you probably shouldn't submit your work there. Being selective is a good thing. I'm quite selective and I still have 50 submissions pending. It's not that hard to find good journals. If any one needs some help or has questions about any journals, I'm happy to try and help.
Forget about better. There are a thousand reasons a publisher may pass on a story. They may need to fill a space with a specific word count, and you are too long or short. It could be style, voice, or some body having A bad day. For that matter one of your characters may have reminded them of an ex they hate. There are too many possible reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of writing. So write something new, and submit the rejected story somewhere else.
Yeah, regarding the "bad day" the editorial vetting process is often executed by the very few, depending on the publication. Sometimes one person, which in my world, is like designing a menu that only I would want to eat. Not a good way to do business, but that's a completely different world. And the only quality is whether it will sell or not. Sure that correlates to what we would call overall quality, but not always. And as more and more publications go out of business, the ones who survive will be the ones who know how to sell. That's true of any business at the most elementary level.
That's right. Don't give up on your stories quickly, by any means, but keep writing new ones. I've been going over the stories my "For Sale" folder this month, and I am thinking of retiring a few. Even some that I've only sent a dozen or so submissions for. I can see significant differences in my stories from two years ago, even one year ago. My newer ones are simply much better. Regarding how/why readers/editors accept/reject stories; as others have said, the reasons can vary quite a lot. But the main deciding factor is for sure the quality of the stories being submitted. I haven't been submitting all that long, but most of the places I submit to are accepting something like 1-3% of submissions. It ain't easy out there. And of course there is much subjectivity in play, as they like to mention in their form letter rejections. The dumbest personal rejection I received suggested that if my main character dies at the end, I can't be using first person past tense - for how could this character record the information presented in the story? (as if every narrator has to be the old lady from the Titanic movie) As for the vast majority of rejections that are form letters? Who can tell. Most of them are probably sent because there are better stories than yours available to them in that submission period. And no doubt, some wacky outlier reasons, too. As what's been mentioned already, it's best not to think on it too much and just focus on creating better stories and continuing to submit !
3rd rejection. But it was a nice rejection. "Absolutely beautiful prose" (and gave an example of what they liked) but the story is "not right for us at this time"
