Just hit 500 rejections on my short story submissions

I keep a spreadsheet, and the count hit 500 this morning. It started as a joke three years ago, but now it's a real number. Most are form letters, but about fifty had a personal note, which I save in a folder. It's weird, but hitting that round number feels like a badge more than a failure. Anyone else track their rejections and find it helps keep you going?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.robert10d agoMost Upvoted

Felix saying it's proof you're in the game is a nice spin, but come on. It's 500 rejections. That's a lot of time spent for zero yeses. At what point does tracking it just become a way to avoid asking if the work itself is any good?

wood.uma10d ago

That spreadsheet just sounds like a monument to your own failure.

felixhenderson10d ago

Honestly, keeping that spreadsheet is the opposite of failure, it shows serious commitment. Every rejection is proof you're actually in the game and putting your work out there. People like wood.uma might see a number, but you see a record of effort that most people never even start. Saving the personal notes is smart, those are real signals in all the noise. Hitting 500 just means you haven't quit, and that's the only way you ever get to a yes.