“What Should You Learn From Rejection Letters?”

9 February 2010

The first article in my new series for Read Write Poem is now available, tackling the painful and often taboo topic of rejection letters head-on. It’s not something poets tend to admit to receiving, let alone talk about with their peers.

Yet rejection is a natural and necessary (albeit sometimes painful) part of the writing business. Asking what you can get out of the experience is just plain smart. So, in that spirit, I have done my best to serve up fairly simple, practical advice with a dash of humor and a healthy side of encouragement.

I hope you enjoy it!

Similar Articles:

  1. Rejection Slip
  2. Interview Online at Read Write Poem
  3. “Should I Do An MFA?” (and Farewell, Read Write Poem)

Liked this? Receive new ones in your inbox.

(You can unsubscribe any time.)

Posted in Community, Humor, Insights, Poetry | Tagged , | Comments (1)

RSS Subscribe    Print Print   

  • Pat the Poet

    I don’t mind getting rejection slips when I submit poems, but how about one without an actual submission? That happened to me.

    I ordered a sample copy of a journal (it will go nameless for obvious reasons) and when I got it I decided not to submit my work. Basically it looked a bit too amatuerish for me.

    Then, about six to nine months later, I received a standard rejection slip from the exact same journal. I can only assume they must have tripped across my information from when I ordered a sample copy and just assumed that I had sent in some work.

    Although this was probably due to carelessness, it kind of made me wonder how many journals (espicially if they are backlogged) just blindly send out rejection slips.

    Anyway, thanks for your article on rejection slips. I am sure a lot of us can relate to it.