Member-only story

Top 10 reasons your book, or story, gets turned down

It’s not the writing, it’s the bad street food the editor had for lunch

James Jordan
Penny Press
3 min readJan 12, 2025

--

Having your work turned down is painful. There is more to the story. Photo by Asdrubal luna on Unsplash

There are a lot of reasons your submissions to publications might get rejected. Many, maybe most, have nothing to do with you as a writer and are not a comment on your writing ability. When I say publications, I’m not talking about just Medium publications, but anywhere you might send a manuscript or a pitch for actual money.

I have been on both sides of the fence. The one submitting and getting rejections, and I have been the one choosing what to publish or what not to publish. There are many reasons for rejection. Maybe understanding these secrets will soften the low when it happens.

We should stop using the word “rejection” altogether. That isn’t what happens to your submission. They chose someone else’s story or idea. That’s all it is.

This assumes you have grammar check and spellcheck, and that you use this regularly. It also assumes you can basically write. It is possible that you do suck, but it’s highly unlikely. I would even go so far as to say getting published doesn’t mean you are a good writer either. “Good” writing is very subjective.

--

--

Penny Press
Penny Press

Published in Penny Press

a publication for mind, body, life and soul for writers who want to motivate, uplift and inspire

James Jordan
James Jordan

Written by James Jordan

Teller of tales, many of which are actually true. Award-winning journalist, and the William Allen White Award for reporting.

Responses (1)