Ouch
Facing rejection is never easy. Whether it’s not getting a promotion, being dumped by your significant other, having your kid tell you that the dinner you just made is gross, or getting a form letter from your favorite literary magazine saying “unfortunately your work isn’t a good fit for us”, it all can sting.
As creative writers, if and when we decide to submit our work for possible publication, or apply for grants and fellowships, we are going to face a lot of rejection. This doesn’t mean we’re terrible at our craft or we should just quit while we’re ahead and throw ourselves into another creative endeavor that seems far less competitive. It’s simply the reality that getting published and receiving recognition for our creative work is a numbers game. Still, it can rankle. Even the most seasoned writer who has submitted her work hundreds, if not thousands, of times will findthat certain rejections sting a little more.
Publishing Is Subjective
When I first started submitting my work, this was in an era where the primary means of getting your work to the magazine was to mail in a paper copy. This also meant that the rejection letters you received would be physical, tangible things (which, as you may have guessed, we here at Plume happen to love!). I used to hang them on my wall next to my writing desk. While this may sound somewhat masochistic, I didn’t do this to berate myself, but rather to remind myself that I was really doing this thing, that the number of rejections I amassed was a symbol of my perseverance. It was also so that when I did finally place a piece (which for me happened in the last few weeks of my graduate program), I could look back at all the places that didn’t care for that same work, and realize that taste and aesthetic are super subjective.
Rejection as Inspiration
Now that 99.99% of my rejections come via email and I manage my submissions from an app on my phone, my rejection wall is no more. Still, I’ve kept a few of my favorites as reminders. This one hangs on my writing vision board next to my computer:
I mean, it’s a hand-drawn, heartfelt rejection that’s so lovely in its melancholiness, what’s not to love? Also, I just looked at my notes on the back of it and remembered that it was for a story that I have revised on and off for ten years now, and still haven’t given up on publishing one day.
Staying Motivated
Recently, Plume faced another kind of rejection. For months we had been participating in a business plan competition at our alma mater. On competition day, we made it to the final round, but didn’t place in the top three. We knew this was a likely scenario, especially considering the fact that we were trying to convince a panel of judges that consisted of mostly older men that a business for women who write was a viable and necessary endeavor. While some were intrigued, many of the judges seemed to tune out when they realized they weren’t our target market. Of course, we were disappointed by the outcome, but we were at the ready with plan b! We are still moving forward with our plan to launch Plume at the end of this month. We will also be setting up a GoFundMe campaign to help gather some start-up money (More info coming soon, so please stay tuned!).
In the long run, rejection is what you make of it. Every form letter you receive, every awards ceremony you attend where you don’t make it on stage, every time someone tells you “no”, you can wallow (and sometimes this is necessary for a day or so) or you can use that setback as fuel to keep going, keep pushing for whatever it is you want.
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Keep on keeping on!