800 Rejections or That Which Does Not Accept You Makes You Stronger

On April 4th of this year, I hit another big submission milestone. I received my 800th rejections since I started recording them on Duotrope back in 2012. As usual, I have some dirty details on my nice round number of noes and not for uses. Let’s get to it!

Rejected Stories

First, let’s talk about the stories that were rejected. I had a total of 171 distinct stories rejected in the thirteen years and change I’ve been submitting. I went on to sell 81 of those rejected stories, which is roughly 47% or within spitting distance of half. That’s not bad, especially when I consider many of the unsold stories come from when I started submitting, and were simply not ready for primetime.

Most Rejected Stories

Below are my top ten most rejections stories.

1. Time Has No Memory* (25)
2. Set in Stone (25)
3. Signs and Wonders (23)
4. Trapping Disaster (22)
5. Paper Cut* (18)
6. The Scars You Keep* (16)
7. Caroline* (15)
8. The Downer* (15)
9. Coffin Shopping (12)
10. Bites* (12)

These are the stories that have racked up the most rejections. The ones marked with an asterisk are ones I eventually sold. One thing these stories all have in common is they’re short stories instead of flash. For whatever reason, I sell flash much, much quicker than I do shorts. That likely has to do with the fact that there are fewer slots available for short stories and they represent a larger investment of both money and time for the publisher. The one I’m most proud of here is “Times Has No Memory” which took me almost five years to sell, with final round rejections from a bunch of pro markets. I eventually sold it to Abyss & Apex last year, and you can read it for free right here.

Rejecting Markets

So, who’s responsible for my 800 rejections? Well, a whole bunch of publishers, actually. A full 178 of them, to be exact. These markets range from tiny for-the-love-of-it publishers to the biggest, most recognizable magazines in the SFF industry. I get around when it comes to rejections. One interesting and kind of sad statistic from this list is that a full 70 of these markets have gone defunct or are on indefinite hiatus. It’s a tough gig to run a genre mag, and no mistake.

Most Rejecting Markets

Below are ten markets that have rejected me the most.

1. The Molotov Cocktail (54)
2. Flash Fiction Online* (44)
3. The Arcanist (31)
4. Apex Magazine* (28)
5. Flame Tree Press (25)
6. NewMyths.com (25)
7. Daily Science Fiction* (24)
8. The Dark Magazine* (24)
9. Factor Four Magazine (23)
10. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction* (17)

The markets marked with an asterisk are ones that I have yet to sell a story to. I know; that FFO number is pretty high, but I keep making it to the final round of consideration, so I’m gonna keep on submitting to them. Apex is a tougher nut to crack, but I’ve made it out of the slush pile enough and to the final round of their monthly flash fiction contest, so I think they’re worth keeping after as well. Of course, Daily Science Fiction is sadly on indefinite hiatus, so it’s unlikely I’ll ever get the chance to publish with them. Now, the numbers for The Molotov Cocktail and The Arcanist look pretty high, BUT I’ve published 17 stories with Molotov and 16 with The Arcanist, so my hit to miss ratio was still pretty good.

Lessons Learned

The big question is what have I learned from 800 rejections? Well, a few things that make getting rejected easier and allow me to put it in its proper perspective. If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, then you’ll have heard me say these things before, but they bear repeating for new folks and as a reminder to the veterans.

1. A rejection is often more about timing than the quality of the story. I mean, look, most of pieces, even my best pieces, received a bunch of rejections before I sold them. You have to put the right story in front of the right editor at the right time. Sometimes, you get lucky and you do that right out of the gate. Other times, like in the case of “Time Has No Memory” you get rejected 26 times before you finally get that combo correct.
2.  Don’t dwell on rejections. Move on. This is one of the most important lessons you can learn from rejection. They sting, especially at first, but most of the time, a rejection doesn’t tell you anything other than the publisher is not going to publish your story. There’s no feedback, and even when there is, it’s often highly specific to that market. So, feel your feels, then get that story back out there. You’ll feel better; I promise.
3. If you believe in a story, stick with it. If you take away anything from his post, it should be that perseverance does pay off, and good stories do find a home eventually. So keep writing, keep submitting, and keep going.

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And there you have it. The crunchy details on 800 rejections. Thoughts and opinions? Tales of your own rejection woes. Tell me about it in the comments.