Rejected is an outlet for me to share my work that was rejected by traditional publishing avenues. Most of the time the rejections are legitimate. Other times it is unclear why a piece was rejected because the rejections is implied by an email that never came. Other times the rejections is simply because it is “not a good fit.” No matter the cause for rejection, I post the rejected work to this page for a few reasons.
The first is to tie a bow on the box. Posting a piece to Rejected is an official agreement with myself that this work is finished. No creative venture is ever really finished but I am choosing to move on to something else.
Rejected is also a way to keep track of my rejection to acceptance ratio. If Rejected has less posts than my published work then I am not putting myself out there enough. I am not taking enough risks. This is also my way to normalize rejection for others who may be struggling with it.
The last reason I post to Rejected is because my success or failure does not depend on whether a magazine or website decided to publish my work. Luckily my survival is not linked to the monetary success of my creative endeavors. So, the simple act of sharing my work with the world makes me successful in my pursuit.
“You’re successful as soon as you send your work out into the world.” – Rick Rubin
