No matter how you steel yourself, rejection
after rejection takes a toll. It’s easy to lose confidence and feel
your work isn’t good enough—when what’s really needed is to keep
trying until you reach that one editor (or agent) who loves your work. Rather
than feeling rejected, take heart by using statistics to bolster your stamina. As
the author of over 475 published short stories, poems, art, & articles, and
as literary executor for my father, I’ll share the system that inspires
me to keep submitting, even to the tough markets—and helps
me think about new strategies to build on strengths that might
otherwise go unnoticed.
