Posted on January 30, 2026 by Aeryn Rudel
Since I started submitting work seriously in 2013, I’ve sold* 120 short stories. Like the piles of rejections I’ve racked up in that same time, my much smaller heap of acceptances has taught me some valuable lessons about writing and the often arcane process… Continue Reading “Three Things I Learned from 100 Story Sales”
Category: Dubious Writing AdviceTags: Aeryn Rudel, books, fiction, Flash Fiction, Publishing, Rejection Letters, short stories, Submissions, Writing
Posted on January 15, 2026 by Aeryn Rudel
Last year, I set a number of short fiction writing goals for myself that I represented in a bingo card as a fun bit of motivation and to have a snazzy graphic for blog posts. Though, at the end of the year, I did… Continue Reading “2026 Writing Goals Bingo”
Category: My WorkTags: authors, books, fiction, goals, Publishing, rejection, Rejection Letters, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
Posted on January 12, 2026 by Aeryn Rudel
Recently, it came to my attention that when I say “I have almost 800 rejections”, some folks think YOU’VE HAD 800 STORIES REJECTED?! That’s understandable without context, especially if you’re not in the biz. It did get me thinking, though. Just how many distinct… Continue Reading “What Happens to Rejected Stories?”
Category: Rejection LettersTags: books, fiction, Flash Fiction, Publishing, rejection, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, Submissions, Writing
Posted on December 16, 2025 by Aeryn Rudel
So, this is truly the final post in my Ten Years of Rejectomancy series. As promised, I’m gonna give you ALL the numbers for each year and then a total of subs, rejections, and acceptances for the entire decade (plus the years before and… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy – ALL the Numbers”
Category: My WorkTags: Aeryn Rudel, authors, books, fiction, Publishing, rejection, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
Posted on December 8, 2025 by Aeryn Rudel
Welp, here we are. Ten years of Rejectomancy. It’s been a long and bumpy road, and year ten certainly had its ups and downs, but it feels good to say I’ve been doing this for a decade, and I have no plans to stop.… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Ten – A Decade of Denial”
Category: My WorkTags: Aeryn Rudel, books, fiction, Flash Fiction, Publishing, Querying, rejection, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, short stories, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
Posted on November 24, 2025 by Aeryn Rudel
Peaks and valleys. That’s the best way to describe the submission experience and my own meandering path as a writer. I’ve had some exceptional years where it felt like every story I submitted had a legit shot at publication, and then I’ve had years… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Nine – A Question of Querying”
Category: My WorkTags: Aeryn Rudel, books, fiction, Flash Fiction, Publishing, Querying, rejection, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, short stories, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
Posted on October 31, 2025 by Aeryn Rudel
Today on The Daily NO, we’re celebrating Halloween by looking at all the rejections I’ve received on the spookiest day of the year. However, to my shock and surprise, in over 12 years and nearly 1,000 submissions, I have received exactly ONE rejection on… Continue Reading “The Daily NO – Halloween Special”
Category: Rejection Letters, The Daily NOTags: Aeryn Rudel, books, fiction, Flash Fiction, Publishing, rejection, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, short stories, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
Posted on October 28, 2025 by Aeryn Rudel
Although 2021 wasn’t a terrible year for submissions, I definitely went into 2022 hoping to improve, and in some ways I did. Mostly, though, I kind of held course with a solid but not exceptional year. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it was… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Eight – Solid and Serviceable”
Category: My WorkTags: Aeryn Rudel, books, fiction, Flash Fiction, Publishing, rejection, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, short stories, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
Posted on October 22, 2025 by Aeryn Rudel
I’m a car and motorcycle enthusiast, and one of my favorite bits of (now outdated) slang is “hitting the ton”, which means going over 100 miles per hour (usually on a motorcycle). For me, there’s a literary version of hitting the ton, too, and… Continue Reading “Hitting the Ton: 100 Submissions”
Category: Dubious Writing AdviceTags: Aeryn Rudel, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
Posted on September 24, 2025 by Aeryn Rudel
There’s a phenomena in baseball and other professional sports where a player, usually a rookie, has a fantastic inaugural season, goes into the next season with massive expectations, and then, well, puts up mediocre numbers to huge surprise and disappointment. This is often called… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Seven – The Whiplash Effect”
Category: My WorkTags: Aeryn Rudel, books, fiction, Flash Fiction, Publishing, rejection, Rejection Letters, Rejectomancy, short stories, Submissions, Writing, writing tips
