It’s the inevitable outcome of submitting your work to magazines. Way back in November I sent five of my poems out in to the world to see what might happen. This last week the last magazine I sent them to rejected them and was also the best rejection note I received.
Most rejection notes are a version of, “No reflection on your or the quality of your poems, but we don’t want them.” One publication went on to quote how many poems they receive per year – like that’s suppose to make me feel better that I didn’t make the cut or perhaps it’s a hint to stop sending them stuff. I haven’t decided yet.
I did get one rejection that was encouraging. The editor wrote: “While these poems do not meet our current needs, we did find much to admire in them and would consider future work.”
Well, thank you – I’ll get started on some new stuff right away.
I mean, I am working on new things, but life has been busy and time for writing has been limited to these Sunday afternoon blog posts. I’d like to do more creative work, but at the moment – life, work, tax session, bought a new cell phone and thinking about driving across the country to start a new life all have had me so busy there isn’t much time for just writing.
Time, that’s one thing we never have enough of.
I do have other places I can send the poems to and as soon as the taxes are done, I’ll send them out. I’ve asked a few poets how they got published and most said, “persistence.” A few answered, “luck.”
So there it is lucky persistence.
I’ll keep you updated on the next batch of rejections.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Pretty hard to keep trying when all it seems to be is one rejection after the other… like you already know the outcome before submitting but I guess if you keep at it, one day it’ll you’ll get the chance
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It can be difficult. There’s a bit of luck involved.
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I haven’t written to any publisher before but I remembered vividly been rejected by my own college mate in high school for school magazine. The whole day came to stop for me. I kept reading my own poem over and over, lol. Trying to see what is wrong with it or me.
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Reject is difficult to deal with.
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“on the next batch of rejections”–Ha! That’s the spirit! 🙂
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Onward into rejection!!!
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I’ve had scientific articles as well as poems rejected. 🙂 My favorite review was for a paper sent to Cognitive Psychology. The review said only: “This is not cognitive psychology.” So… at least you didn’t get one that said, “This is not poetry.” Persist!
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That would be weird to get – glad that hasn’t happened to me.
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I think persistence and luck is about 90% of most authors’ success stories. Keep plugging away, and take the polite rejections at face value: They really ARE no reflection on the quality of your work. 🙂
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It is that way. Whenever I talk to authors, then tell me how many, many times they submitting their work before getting it published.
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That’s not a bad rejection at all – at least they gave you a little hope. I’d say that’s pretty good, and bravo for sticking with it!
Was that just a joke about a move across the country? Because, you know, I did that. 😉
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It was a good reject and moving might not happen this year, but the closer I get to retirement, the closer I get to moving to parts unknown …
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I admire your persistence, Andrew. I think the world of publishing has just become incredibly challenging, and I hope you’ll simply take encouragement from the person who admired your work, even thought the timing might not have been best. So many people with talent don’t even try after rejection, so you stand out with your efforts. You kind of slipped in the comment about questioning a move across country. Hmmmm. You do have a LOT on your mind!
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I can be persistent, sometimes … I do have a lot on my mind – it’s one of those years, lots to think about.
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Those rejections get easier and easier. I’ve got a growing collection, and they no longer pierce my heart. Coincidentally, the very next email I opened after your blog this morning contained this link. https://www.authorspublish.com/29-poetry-markets-open-to-submissions-in-february-plus-9-poetry-contests/ In case you haven’t seen it.
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I’ll check that out, thank you!
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I think poetry is the toughest genre to be discovered in, Andrew. It’s one of several reasons why I stay away from it in my own writing pursuits. Maybe on your travels to that new life you mentioned, you’ll write some poems that can’t be ignored by a publisher.
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I’m hopeful I’ll get something published. The last poetry workshop I attend gave a bit of confidence about my poems.
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I once read the account of a frustrated author who, unable to gain acceptance for his work, copied Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ word for word and sent it out to half a dozen literary agents/publishers. Five rejected it, with varying degrees of dismissiveness, and only one wrote back suggesting he be wary of Plagiarism!
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I’ve heard of similar stories of poets sending out copies of famous poems.
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Getting your poems published in a book,
Just seems to be a matter of luck!
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Especially for a first time poet.
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Don’t be disheartened. No matter the number of rejections, you only need one yes. Just the one. And rejections have a positive effect as well. They toughen us up. Ever since I started writing and pursuing publication, I found myself believing more in my abilities and I have developed a sense of perseverance.
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It does toughen you up. I do think I’ve been doing better at writing.
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Of course you can always put them on your blog. I’m sure we will not reject them
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Sometimes I do, but not as much as I use to.
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After years of submitting I’m now convinced it’s a numbers game, so now rejection affects me less than it used to. Wishing you all the best for your future submissions!
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It is a numbers game. Land the work in enough places and some editor will love it.
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We have all suffered rejection of our work, Andrew. At least you get a response. South African magazines don’t even bother to respond.
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Most of the magazines are using submittable so rejection is just a button click away.
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What you said about time is true. Once my cousin asked me to think about people who do not know what to do with their time !
All the best.
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It is true.
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Don’t give rejection a second thought, Andrew. So much of ‘acceptance’ depends upon hitting an agent at the perfect moment. So little depends on the quality of your work.
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I feel bad for the editors – they/re passing up some good quality poems …
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Luck may play a small part, but persistence is the key!
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I think you’re right there. You get a lot of your stuff out there that way.
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A few poems at a time…
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I’ve got five I’m working through right now.
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I just received an acceptance for a poem that had been rejected 14 times. Persistence!
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Persistence is the word of the week.
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Don’t say the next “batch of rejections.” It’s the next batch of submissions. Think positive!
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okay – I’m positive they’ll be rejected. 😉
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