Beat Rejection And Increase Chances Of Success

4 min readNov 28, 2020

After spending hours or even days drafting, editing and fine-tuning your work, to have it turned down is painful. And when you receive a rejection after rejection, often with no explanation, it can be tempting to give up.

I nearly did.

But then I thought maybe I should change my tactics. I did that, and it is paying off.

So what exactly did I do?

Develop A Thicker Skin

Having your work critiqued and turned down is part of the parcel for most writers. Not everyone is going to like your work. Even household names like J. K. Rowling are not universally adored. She is well known for having her manuscript for Harry Potter rejected several times. And even after she had sold multiple millions of Harry Potter books, she got rejected when submitting a manuscript under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

If you are expecting universal applause, you will most likely be disappointed. Accept that some people will love your work, others won’t.

When you receive criticism and rejections, instead of letting it get you down, learn from it.

Take Criticism As An Opportunity To Grow

Sometimes your work gets rejected with just a brief note of thanks, but no thanks. Sometimes you hear nothing back. But then there are times when the rejection comes with feedback and helpful suggestions.

Embrace those times. They are an important opportunity to reflect and improve.

When an editor reaches out to you with suggestions, don’t ignore them. Most of the editors will have read hundreds and even thousands of stories, and they know what they are talking about.

Use their suggestions to improve your work. Then resubmit.

And remember their comments when you write your next piece.

Even when you don’t get any feedback, it can still be an opportunity to grow. Ask yourself these key questions. Why did they reject it without an explanation? Was it because your writing didn’t meet their standards? Or was it because your piece wasn’t right for them?

It’s worth keeping in mind when choosing who to submit to, that you are more likely to get feedback from smaller publications.

Do Your Homework

When you submit work to a publication or a literary agent, make sure it is what they are looking for. If you don’t, you are only wasting everyone’s time.

Put simply, do your homework before you submit.

If you are submitting a manuscript, find out which books the agent has represented before. Does your book fit on this list? If not, look for a different agent.

When you want to submit to a publication, read the stories they have published. This will give you a good idea on whether they’ll accept what you want to pitch to them. It is also very important to read their submission guidelines and follow them.

Have Faith In Your Writing

It’s easy to lose faith and let the doubts creep in when facing multiple rejections. I have often asked myself these questions.

Will I ever make it as a writer? What if my writing isn’t good enough?

Maybe I should just give up.

Don’t.

What if C. S. Lewis had finally given up after his 800th rejection? Or if Beatrix Potter had not had the courage to self-publish?

They had faith in their work and went to sell millions of copies.

If you believe in your work, keep going and…

Be Persistent

I’m daring to make the assumption that you have faith in your ability as a writer since you are here now.

But faith alone isn’t enough. You also have to have perseverance.

Use the rejections to evolve as a writer, edit and re-edit your work until you are ready to submit again. Repeat the cycle until you have success. Then celebrate. You made it.

And then begin the whole process again with your next piece.

Remember, not everyone is going to love your work. Or even like it.