Reframing the Lit Journal Rejection

They may help us grow as writers in unexpected ways

Last week, I awoke to an email:

Your Submission didn’t make the magazine

Damn. A rejection. Blearily, I rolled over, wishing for an email that delivered better morning news, so I’d wake up on the right side of the bed. Then, I realized the word “but” was at the end.

But? But what? I reached for my phone again and opened the email.

Your Submission didn’t make the magazine but we’d like it for the podcast.

I was awake now. Excitedly, I read the details:

Congrats Melissa!

I liked your piece The Stone in My Stare. It didn’t fit the flow of the magazine but it is too good not to share. I would like to offer a reading of it by our ghost host Martinne for our Blood and Jazz Podcast for our Patreon fans. Your work will be the locked featured piece for the month on our Patreon feed then a month later it will be released on Spotify for the public. The pay is …

Performed Reading. Podcast. Pay. Promotion of my work to a new audience. What’s not to like here?

My Submitting Story So Far …

I started submitting to journals in January 2023. This is my seventh acceptance, and my second acceptance to Last Girls Club, an Indie feminist horror zine and (I now realized) podcast series. The first acceptance was for “Flicker”, a nonfiction prose poem for their Spring ‘23 Issue, formerly published on Medium. Now, they wanted a flash fiction, originally published here as “The Medusa Stare”.

Apparently, I write feminist horror, folks. There’s no denying it now.

This is my fifth acceptance for a reprint of work originally published on Medium (for tips on “repurposing” creative work by submitting to literary journals, read my previous article and a further list of journals accepting reprints).

I’d been wondering what to focus on for my next submission-biz article. I knew I wanted to discuss dealing with rejections at some point, and the circumstances of this rejection errr … acceptance created the perfect opening.

When a Rejection isn’t Rejection

Let’s backtrack for a moment and consider this scenario. This acceptance wouldn’t have happened without the rejection. This exciting paid opportunity to have my work performed via podcast to an exclusive Patreon audience, then later publicly released on Spotify (as the email explained) and also published to their website wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t submitted to the magazine and been prepared to deal with rejection.

My submission wasn’t right for their issue, but the editor wanted to showcase it in another way that wasn’t an open submission call. In other words, there was no other way I could know about the opportunity.

I’m beyond excited, as I love the podcast’s concept (May the shadows embrace you, and the monsters fear you more) and how each episode is moodily musically scored. The podcast host has fantastic dramatic flair and I can’t wait to hear how she’ll interpret my dark feminist reimagining of Medusa’s story, told from 1st-person perspective.

I share this scenario to illustrate how rejections aren’t always rejections. And that’s one reason I’m learning to deal with them more effectively — and you can too.

Rejections May Open Other Doors

Yes, rejections for your work can be demoralizing and discouraging. Perhaps for some of you, the fear of rejection actually stops you from even considering submitting work to journals. I write more about my acceptances, but since I started my submission journey, I’ve also received 12 rejections. Some stung worse than others.

However, your attitude to and perspective on rejections can make a radical difference to how they affect you.

As my experience above shows, a rejection sometimes leads to an acceptance for a publication in another avenue— or other opportunities. The journal editors may think your piece better fits an upcoming issue’s theme and offer to publish it later. Or they may see a place for your work in a future project not yet announced, or not even open to general submissions.

But if you’re not willing to take small blows to your ego, and to put your work out there, you’ll never be considered for these opportunities. You’ll never even know about these potential homes for what you love to write — that can earn you money, broaden your networks and audience, and connect you to further opportunities in the future.

Some Rejections Come with Encouragement

I’ll look at this aspect in more detail in a future post, but you’ll be pleased to know not all rejections are hard no’s. The wording of rejection “forms” (as they’re called) are often tiered in terms of the “no”. Some will actually encourage your writing practice, some will ask or invite you to submit again. Yet, another version of their rejection email (forms) sent to another writer won’t include that encouraging phrase. Hence, the concept of “tiers”.

I’ve received several rejections asking to see more of my work, and a few other higher-tiered “rejections” that are more “no for now”, than “no forever”.

Now, I view these kinds of rejections as cheers from the sidelines to keep going, keep growing. They might not be your biggest fans yet, but they see potential in your work.

Keep track of the journals that give you encouragement “disguised” as rejections, and when you think your work has changed in style or improved on some level, try sending them some fresh work.

You might just get an acceptance.

An Invitation to Revise your Attitude to Rejections

There’s no doubt an acceptance is always better than a rejection, but cultivating an objective, inquisitive and proactive response will minimize their impact on your writerly self-esteem and motivation. Here are some ways to counteract the negative self-talk and feelings that arise when a rejection email arrives.

1. View rejections as specific, not general

In between my first acceptance and this one for Last Girls Club, they rejected a fiction submission of two stories. If I’d viewed that rejection as a total rejection of my writing, or myself as a writer for that magazine, I wouldn’t have submitted to them again and I’d have missed out on this opportunity.

When a rejection comes in, remind yourself of the specifics:

Journal X rejected three stories, not my entire body of work.

As I said, they may accept something else if you submit again. Remind yourself there are thousands of journals out there.

Every editor’s personal taste is a factor.

Just because this editor didn’t choose your work, doesn’t mean another editor won’t love it.

Journal X rejected these three stories, but it doesn’t mean every journal will.

On the same day, I received an acceptance for a prose poem from one journal and a rejection of it from another. If you believe in your work, don’t be deterred by one rejection. Keep looking for the right home for it.

This journal is rejecting a few of my stories, not myself as a writer.

It’s important to keep reminding yourself of this. Otherwise, you risk becoming disheartened and giving up. The more you submit, research and read different journals, the more you’ll see every journal has a specific aesthetic, and it would be impossible for anyone’s work to be deemed a fit with every journal.

Find the ones that reflect and encourage your voice, your style, your growth. They’re out there. I promise.

2. Rejections can help you better define your work

Cultivating a curious attitude to rejections prompts me to ask all kinds of questions.

For example, I wondered if I should present some of my work differently. Some of my prose poems blur the line between flash fiction and prose poetry. What if I identified the ones with stronger narrative elements, developed them as specifically flash fiction, and started submitting them as flash fiction rather than prose poems?

I found eight pieces that fit this category, including “The Stone in my Stare”! I’ve “rebranded” them as flash fiction and am revising them accordingly.

Rejections can encourage you to take a closer look at the work itself, which may result in revising or rebranding. Also, it may prompt you to get clearer about your particular style, themes, and genres — and look for closer alignments between journals you’re submitting to and your work.

Sometimes a “fit” will be the crucial difference between rejection and acceptance. And it’s harder to find those fits if you don’t have a clear idea of what you’re producing.

3. Rejections are incentives to improve your work

I’ve mentioned a few times already about the value of revising — both when submitting reprints and to improve those rejected stories and poems.

Although another of my stories was accepted, “The Stone in my Stare” was rejected for an anthology call several months ago. Before submitting it again, I revised it (for like the 5th time): moving sections, making a scene clearer, cutting a few superfluous words. That revision may have led to an acceptance this time around.

If you struggle to edit or revise your own work, ask a writing peer for feedback, or hand it over to a critique group. For poetry revision, this article on revising your drafts may assist.

For a submission you’re heavily invested in (eg: an anthology call, or for a high publication fee), consider hiring a developmental editor. The feedback offered on one piece will inevitably be relevant for more of your work — so it can be worth the investment. And you’ll learn things you can apply to other work in future.

Final Thoughts

The submitting game is a constant learning curve and rejections are a necessary part of that learning curve. Besides the exciting wins, I’ve noticed the more I read in journals, the more I learn — and that, in turn, positively impacts my writing.

Learning and growing as a writer on my submission journey make the rejections worthwhile —and yes, even valuable.

I hope these reflections take some of the sting out of rejections for other writers — and like me, you’ll have more creative, constructive responses next time one lands in your In-box.

I wish you all the best of luck on your submitting journey! As a developmental editor of fiction & poetry I am currently accepting queries for new projects. I’m offering a special first-time flat rate for fellow Medium writers. (T&C’s apply) Please leave a comment or DM me @CuriousSeeds on Twitter for more info.

Repurposing your Published Creative Work:

My Medusa Tale: