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I’m Proud of Being Rejected Over 100 Times This Year
The only way to become a winner is to be a better loser
I am pleased to announce that this year, I got rejected over 100 times!
(Please, hold your applause!)
How did I do it, you ask?
First, I collected submission guidelines from resources like Sub Club on Substack, Erica Verrillo’s monthly lists of writing contests and upcoming submission windows, and this list of literary magazines in a spreadsheet.
Then I submitted, submitted, and submitted some more. What did I submit? Everything. Poems, short stories, creative nonfiction, reviews. The point was just to write and submit.
I tracked all my submissions to writing contests, lit journals, anthologies, magazines, and other paid writing opportunities using Submission Grinder.
It can take anywhere from a week to 6+ months to hear back about a submission. When I only had one pending submission, I would check it anxiously and be disappointed when it took ages or resulted in rejection.