Hit 100 rejections on short story submissions today

I've been sending out the same fantasy short story to literary magazines for about 8 months now, and my submission tracker just ticked over to 100 rejections. It was a weird milestone because I almost laughed instead of feeling crushed, like wow I actually kept going that long. Has anyone else hit a weird round number of rejections and felt something unexpected about it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jordan16d ago

Respectfully, 100 rejections means the story probably isn't working.

the_mila16d ago

Actually just read something interesting from a literary agent's blog about this exact thing. She said a bunch of famous books like "The Help" and "Water for Elephants" got rejected over 50 times before finding a home. Not saying 100 rejections doesn't matter, but timing and luck play a huge part too. Sometimes it's just landing with the right person on the right day.

wesley38513d ago

Oh, I feel for you on that one. It's rough when someone dismisses a whole string of rejections like that, as if it's all on the writer. The "probably" in that reply really rubs me the wrong way because luck is such a huge factor in this business. I've seen perfectly good manuscripts sit on a shelf for years before someone finally picked them up. Timing, mood, even what the agent had for breakfast can make the difference between a yes and a no. I think people forget that publishing is a people industry, not a math problem. You just never know when the right door will open.