Much like my love life, my poetry journey is fraught with rejections. This year, I kept a record of my poetry submissions and have some statistics to share.
- This year, I submitted to ๐๐ journals in total, and was rejected by ๐๐ of them.
- ๐ journals accepted my poems, while ๐ are still actively in progress.
- If we omit the ๐ in-progresses, my poetry saw an ๐๐.๐% rejection rate. I’ll take it.
- Most rejections in a row: ๐๐ journals rejected me between Feb to July.
- Out of the ๐๐ rejections, ๐ were personalised rejections, which was very encouraging and heartening.
๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง:
- The Boys in the Lineup (๐๐ times)
- Brittle Nut (๐๐ times)
- Blackbird Gallery (๐๐ times)
*The Boys and Brittle Nut have just been accepted for publication, which I am immensely grateful for. Coming in early 2021.
๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ
- Pedigree (rejected ๐๐ times)
- Sun Chasing (๐๐ times)
- Dear Long Night (๐๐ times)
_______________________________
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ
I feel pretty okay! I have been actively submitting for over two years now, and recognise that literary journals reject a vast majority of work. So the rejections felt okay. (Although I must say, getting rejected by 23 journals in a row was a tad demoralising)
I am also glad that I received more personalised rejections this year. Personalised rejections are a special kind of hell but it also meant that the editors felt bad enough to drop a special rejection; which I will always hold dear.
For my writery friends who are actively submitting and who may feel discouraged, please understand that journal rejections must never be conflated with the quality of your writing. Keep putting yourself out there, and keep getting rejected!
ally chua 