Why They Told You ‘No’: Finding the Constructive Criticism in Every Rejection

Rejection is extremely difficult to deal with, whether you’re new to writing or you’ve been doing it for years. No one likes to feel as though they did something wrong or could have done better but didn’t. It’s happening to everyone, but it’s hard to remember that when you’re stuck in your own head.

Many people get one or two rejections and give up because they aren’t sure what they did or didn’t do to get their work passed over. Every editor has their reasons for saying no, but as a former magazine editor, I may be able to offer some much-needed direction.

For starters, let’s be clear on one very important truth: Most of the time, the reason your work did not get accepted has nothing to do with its quality (or lack thereof).

I’ve been an editor in charge of vetting unsolicited article submissions for an online magazine…