100 Rejections in a Single Year? Why It’s Actually a Good Thing

Back in 2018, I achieved what I consider a big submission milestone. I received 100 rejections in a single year. Since then, it’s been kind of a secondary goal of mine, and I generally fall short (not for lack of trying), but last year, I managed it for a second time, with exactly 100 rejections. You might ask yourself why I would even want to get 100 rejections. I mean, shouldn’t getting accepted be the real goal? Absolutely, but if you get 100 rejections in a year, some good stuff is happening, too. Let me see if I can explain.

1. If you get 100 rejections, it means you sent at least 100 submissions. In 2025, I actually set my single-year submissions record with 122. One hundred rejections means you’re writing a lot and subbing a lot. That’s a winning combo.
2. If you get 100 rejections, you’ll learn a lot about the markets you’re subbing to. Rejections help you hone your submission targeting. If a good portion of your noes are of the personal or final-round variety, then you’re potentially learning a lot about an editor’s preferences, which means your next submission might result in an acceptance.
3. If you get 100 rejections, you should be getting more acceptances. Submitting short fiction is kind of a numbers game, and the more you send, the more likely you are to get an acceptance. Now, in 2018, the first time I hit 100 rejections, that was absolutely true, and I set my sing-year record for yeses. Last year was a little different. I did manage 11 acceptances, which isn’t terrible, but it’s a tad lighter than I’d hoped. Still, points one and two hold true, and I learned a lot in 2025 that I believe led to me cracking some very tough markets in 2026.

---

Now that you have the reasons why I think you should shoot for 100 rejections, let’s dive into the data and see what 100 rejections really looks like.

1) Total Markets: 65

My rejections came from 65 distinct markets, which is a fair amount. A lot of that is due to sim-subbing, which I did more of in 2025 than I ever have before.

2) Most Rejections from a Single Market: 5

I got five rejections each from The Dark and Flash Fiction Online. That gave me 42 total rejections with no acceptances from FFO and 24 rejections with no yeses from The Dark at the end of 2025. However, I maybe finally learned something useful about FFO’s tastes. I got two acceptances from them this year. Still haven’t managed to crack The Dark yet.

3) Total Stories: 39

I had 39 distinct stories rejected in 2026. Many of them were ones I wrote early that year in an explosion of short fiction creativity where I was writing a new story a week for almost four months. There were also a handful of older stories and reprints mixed in.

4) Most Rejections for a Single Story: 8

Another tie here. Both were stories I wrote in the aforementioned explosion of short fiction creativity. The first was a 7,000-word vampire apocalypse story called “These Darkened Hours.” A story of that length with that many well-worn tropes is like shooting yourself in both feet at the beginning of a race. It’s been a tough sell to say the least. I do really like it, though, and it has gotten close a few times. I have continued subbing it this year, but I am swiftly running out of markets that a) pay and b) will accept a story of that length.

The second story is a weird, speculative crime piece. It’s quirky and funny, and I think it has legs. It’s currently on a short-list hold awaiting a final decision from the editor at Tome and Space. Fingers crossed.

5) Rejections Types: 78 Standard Form Rejections, 22 Personal/Final Round Rejections

Not surprisingly, most of my rejections were of the standard form variety. I used to differentiate between common form and higher-tier form letters, but I stopped doing that, as it’s not as helpful to me at this stage of my career. This is not to say that higher-tier rejections don’t exist—they absolutely do. They’re just not as useful to me now.

I did get 22 personal or final round rejections, and there’s a lot of overlap there. Most of the personals were also final-round rejections. Eight of the final rounders were also form letters, which is not unusual for certain pro markets.

6) Rejected Stories Published: 11

Not counting reprints, I have managed to sell 11 of the 39 stories that were rejected in 2025. That’s not bad, and I think it shows that perseverance does pay off. I believe that number is going to go up by year’s end and into next year.

---

And that’s the tale of my second trip to triple-digit rejection land. I’m currently at 64 rejections for 2026, and with just two months to go, I likely won’t be able to pull another 34 rejections (at least I hope not). I’ll probably land somewhere the 80s, which isn’t too bad.

Thoughts or opinions on getting 100 rejections in a year? Tell me about it in the comments.

One other bit of business. Rejctomancy is now on Substack, too. All new articles go here and there, but on Substack, you’ll also find updated versions of older blog posts and a bit more about my writing and general literary musings. It’s a free subcription, so if you’re so inclined, you can follow me here: Aeryn Rudel’s Rejectomancy.