Hit 50 rejections on short story submissions today and it finally clicked

I've been sending out short stories to lit mags for about 18 months now. Today I got my 50th rejection email, which is exactly half of what I've sent out. The weird thing is I stopped counting after 20 because I figured it was pointless. But seeing that number made me realize I've been submitting to the wrong places - big journals with 1% acceptance rates instead of smaller zines. I spent 3 hours last night looking at Duotrope stats and found 8 markets that accept over 10% of submissions. Has anyone else had a milestone number change how they approach submissions?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_wilson89d ago

Did those smaller markets end up having a better vibe for your style of writing, or was it more about just wanting to see something get accepted?

the_ben8d ago

Actually smaller markets just mean lower bars, not better feedback.