I try to keep as many of my short stories as I can out on submission. I have a fair backlog of unpublished tales now, so any time I hear of an interesting call for anthology submissions, I consider if any of my stories might fit the request. Sometimes the call itself will spark a story idea.

As anyone who has seriously pursued a writing career knows, lots of submissions means lots of rejections. I’d venture that in the short story world maybe one in ten of the stories I submit is accepted. So, yes, lots of rejections. You learn to deal with it, or you find another line of work. I’ve developed ways to deal.

Which doesn’t mean the rejections don’t sting sometimes. The curt “this isn’t for us” is pretty neutral and bites but doesn’t dig the knife in. Sometimes you’ll get an insulting or irritating reply of the “You suck and don’t ever darken our slush pile again” variety.

But I recently got one that said, among other things: “Your assured writing and intriguing concept pulled us in with this one, but in the end we felt that it didn’t quite fit the needs of the magazine, so we have decided to pass on it. We wish you the very best of luck in placing your story elsewhere.”

Wow! Still a rejection, but the nicest one I’ve ever received. Takes some of the bite out of it, for sure.