This Week We're Talking About Rejection
Join us on the page and for a live video chat as we share helpful advice on how to get back out there after having your pitches passed on, and more.
Lately, we’ve been thinking a lot about every writer’s favorite subject: rejection. So, we’ve decided to spend the whole week writing and talking about it in various ways. How do we manage it emotionally? Does it get easier as we go? Are there strategies we can implement? As both writers and editors, everyone on the Narratively team really feels the pain of rejection from all sides: It’s never fun to pass on a story, especially one we really like but feel just isn’t the right fit for us, and even though we understand what goes into rejecting something, it still often stings when we’re on the other side.
On that note, tomorrow we’ll bring you a craft piece about how to take rejections well and keep going — with expert advice from four prolific and successful writers, including Parisa Saranj, a longtime editor at literary magazine Consequence Forum.
And this Thursday, July 24, at 1 p.m., I’m super excited to be speaking to Parisa for this week’s Open Book, which — you know it — is all about how to brush yourself off after being rejected and keep submitting. In How to Handle Rejection Like a Pro, Parisa will share advice, coping strategies and ideas for reframing that are sure to make the pitching process less painful. Don’t miss it!
BTW: Our chat will be hosted on Substack Live, so head to NarrativelyAcademy.com or open up your Substack mobile app this Thursday at 1 p.m. to join. You can also click here to add this event to your calendar to make sure you don’t miss it.
P.S. We even plan to share some helpful advice that speaks to rejection in this week’s Writers’ Room. If you haven’t joined a session yet, it’s a space to come together and write in silence, with brief check-ins at the beginning and end about what we’re all working on. We’d love to see you there! For more information, and to add our weekly Wednesday Writers’ Room to your calendar, click here.
Looking forward to seeing many of you this week in various capacities!
40 years of publishing book excerpts in dailies, weeklies, monthlies and quarterlies taught me this:
Once you factor out raw talent, submission just becomes a numbers game, consistent work and finding discipline in your joy (not the other way around).
99% of what I WRITE gets published.
99% of what I SUBMIT gets rejected.
The entire way that you choose to frame this speaks volumes to the privilege that you hold, that you can speak about "rejection" as though it means missing out on your top pick and being forced to settle for your second. You don't present it as the grinding agony of years, of having your blood-inked work shot down dozens of times or having the same scummy pack of smooth-handed losers stomp on your face thirty, forty, fifty times in a row. For you, there are no losses, only the briefest of disappointments before victory.
What advice do you have for the person who's been having gatekeepers stomp on his face for a decade and a half? What respite is there for someone who's been ignored for nearly a generation? Can you not understand the utter disregard it takes to tell a person like this that they should regard their agony as a gift and learn from it?
None of us need your insincerity. We need an opportunity. You'll never offer it, not when you can barter it with your friends.