On Persistence

On Persistence

Michael Meyerhofer on Quantifying Rejections

On Persistence

While I'm a big proponent of craft, I was thinking earlier that persistence might be even more important -- especially after noticing that some of my pieces that have gotten the most positive reception are also ones that previously netted a ton of rejections.  So I went back to check my records (mostly through Submittable) and added up roughly how many times some of my more well-known publications/acceptances initially got declined.  For Poetry: 1) “Last Day on the Factory Floor” was taken by The Sun after 5 rejections.2) “Cosmology in Reverse” was taken by Ninth Letter after 8 rejections.3) “The Shapeshifter in Therapy for Survivor’s Guilt” was taken by Atlanta Review after 9 rejections.4) “What My Grandmother Taught Me” was taken by Southern Review after 4 rejections. 5) “Dear Daughter” was taken by Missouri Review after 9 rejections.6) “My Mother’s Autopsy” was taken by River Styx after 6 rejections.7) “Postcard from the Deep” was taken by The MacGuffin after 8 rejections.8 ) “What To Do If You’re Buried Alive” was taken by DIAGRAM after 3 rejections.9) “A Belated Apology to a Transgender Colleague” was taken by National Poetry Review (and appeared on Verse Daily) after 10 rejections. Short Stories (I could only look up a few examples here, since I mostly send to genre magazines that don't have a single Submittable-like equivalent, and accidentally deleted some of my records): 1) “The Ledge” was taken by Dread Machine after 5 rejections.2) “Then, Stars” was taken by Heroic Fantasy Quarterly after 11 rejections.3) “The Glass Onion” was taken by Juked after 4 rejections.4) “A Bed with a View” was taken by BULL  after 9 rejections.  One of my favorite religious parables describes how, upon achieving enlightenment, the Buddha tried to deliver a carefully crafted, mind-blowing sermon to the first person he met--only for said person to walk away, thoroughly unimpressed.  My point is that while craft DEFINITELY matters, and editors (including me) try to be as objective as they can, this is still a tough business -- as it should be. So work hard and don't be afraid to revise, but at the same time, don't expect things to go right the first time, the fifth time, the twentieth time.  Put another way, if you spend all your effort being your own worst critic, you'll never publish. If you spend all your effort being your own biggest cheerleader, you'll be an insufferable jackass. But if you can balance them both, to quote Raymond Carver, now you're cooking with gas.Michael MeyerhoferPoetry EditorAtticus Review

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