It has been a tough year with many of my favorite markets changing their editors to someone who doesn't buy my work. Or they have reduced the number of submissions they buy or they've closed their doors. A tough, tough year. Maybe that means I should devote my time to fiction....
But still I had hopes that a personal essay I had submitted back in June and under consideration all summer, had made the cut. I sent a follow up email yesterday only to hear, "Sorry, but no...."
It was a personal and heartfelt "Sorry, but no." But it also meant that we continue to struggle without that $800 to pay off the computer we bought to replace the one zapped by lightning.
So what's the next step after rejection? Comfort food and wallowing. Wallowing in "I'm not a writer. Why did I ever think I was a writer." or "This is it, I'm done. No one wants my work...."
I look at the picture of my subversive stitchers and think about escaping to their landscape for awhile. So I jump in to the best thing one can do after a rejection -- work on a new or at least another project. And in the back of my mind I think about the NEXT market to send my little reject to. Somewhere there is a community full of friendly editors just waiting to welcome my little essay. If only I can find them....
Best rejection foods:
- Potato chips and bananas
- Balogna sandwich and potato chips
- Potato chips -- a whole BIG bag
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