Many years ago, I liked a boy.
No, I’m just kidding. This isn’t a blog about relationships, although I admit that some (not all!) of what I am about to say could apply to relationships.
For those of you who are my long-time subscribers, you know that this is the time of year when I review my submission success—the number of times I submitted my work to magazines, and the number of times my work was accepted or rejected—and the lessons I learned along the way. For newer subscribers, welcome to my world of being a writer and getting the big boot (which is what I call it when I get a big ol’ NO).
And let me tell you upfront, this was a year of a lot of big boots.
But let’s start with early 2020, just before the pandemic truly hit, when in early March I got a yes from The Sun, one of my dream publications. I’ve written before about how hugely important this was to me—I had submitted 24 pieces to them over the course of 14 years, so I did whoop it up when I got the yes. And when I say I whooped it up, I mean I WHOOPED IT UP!
This boded well for my year ahead. But, like the pandemic which I had not anticipated to take the turns that it did, the year of submissions did not turn out exactly as I hoped. What followed was a no. And another, and another. I had expected to get more rejections than normal as this was the year I submitted almost exclusively to what I call “reach” magazines—magazines that I had never been able to get my work into before. I knew that if I didn’t try, I had zero chance of getting in, so this was the year of try.
And try and try and try. I might as well give you the number of rejections now to get it out of the way: 88. I usually aim for 100 rejections, but apparently I did not submit enough work because I can assure you with the trajectory I was on, I would have easily made that goal. I got 88 rejections in 2020, almost all in a row. I admit, sometimes it did feel a little like someone was throwing pebbles at my face for days and weeks and months in a row. Some days I got more than one rejection (yippee!).
But here was the big lesson for me: It did not make me give up. And it did not make me think I was not a good writer. Not once.
Sure, I got tired of the big boot, but there were some bright spots even in the sea of rejections: one of my reach magazines (I’ll call them Reach Magazine One) encouraged me to submit again. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the type of rejection you can get, there are typically two: the flat-out NO, and the no-but-we-liked your-work-so-please-try-again. So when Reach Magazine One encouraged me to submit again, I did—another three times because they kept saying no-but-try-again. My fourth submission is still out with them right now. Another reach magazine—Reach Magazine Two—I have submitted to 14 times (!) in the last five years. They are a dream publication, one of my top three journals I want to get into. In 2020, I submitted to them four times: the first two I got back just standard rejections; the second two were no-but-we-liked your-work-so-please-try-again. I consider that progress. I’m waiting for their submissions to open again so I can try. This year will also be the year of try, try, try.
My total number of 2020 acceptances? Two. The Sun back in March, and then another on December 28th, just squeaking in to 2020. I’ll take it.
In the meantime, I’m still writing, I’m still teaching, I’m still very grateful for all the yeses I have gotten in life. So what if some magazine said no? There’s always another. All it takes is one.
Photo credit: Racquel Raclette from Unsplash.com.
Upcoming Workshops
Let’s Write Together!
Having a hard time finding inspiration and motivation to write? Join me for any (or all) of these online one-hour sessions. We’ll talk about a piece of writing, I will give you a prompt, and then you will WRITE. These workshops are part of Press 53’s High Road Festival of Poetry and Short Fiction. Cost: $10/session.
January 12, 2021, noon (EST): Register here
January 26, 2021, noon (EST): Register here
February 9, 2021, noon (EST): Register here
My Bookshop & Doodleshop are always open here.
Postcards and note cards, some 2021 sales, and more cards to come for Valentine’s Day.
