Rejections, Rewrites, and Resubmissions

Sometimes I write a story I love so much, and it just doesn’t get any love back. After being a published author for over seven years, a rejection can still sting like BEES, BEES! Especially when it’s for a work I’m really attached to.

I mean, sure, there are many reasons why a work doesn’t get accepted:

It doesn’t really fit what the editors or publishers are seeking. (Fair.)It doesn’t appeal at all to who’s reading it. (Ouch.)It might be so close, but another story just fits that much better. (Aw, rats.)It might actually need some work. (Hmm!)

I’ve sat twice now on the editor side of an anthology, so, I empathize with editors who choose not to accept stories. As a submitting author, I can feel disappointed despite understanding that my works won’t always earn an acceptance.

But again, what if it’s a story I really love? Do I just toss it in a drawer, metaphorically speaking? Well, at first, I let myself feel the feels, maybe seek comfort from fellow authors, then I’ll probably take a little time away from the work.

After that? Something magical happens! Okay, maybe not magical, but calls for submissions eventually head my way, and my enthusiasm returns full force! So, I submit!

Then the rejection comes again. But never fear, because here’s another opportunity!

And another rejection.

Poop.

Sometimes rejections also arrive within lovely letters or scathing criticism. I learn from these responses too because how they are written gives me insight about what it would be like to work with these editors. I kinda store away those perceptions in my brain for future reference.

You might think that scathing criticism would be something my brain auto-yeets, but that’s not always true. Oftentimes, I try to consider what the spirit of the feedback is, and if I can take anything from it to improve the story.

So, onto rewrites! I roll up my sleeves, do the thing, and then I love the story even more!

Now, newly in literary love, I submit my work one more time to another publication and am convinced it will be accepted! Super-duper positive it’s the perfect fit!

Nope!

But by this time, I know the story is where it should be, so I just decide to be patient. Maybe I’ll just keep it for my own short story collection. Completing a work is never a waste of time, in my opinion.

What’s next? Do I take Elsa’s advice and let it go? Well… as expected, there’s one more call that crosses my feed. I can’t help myself! I just have to submit it! I hafta!

And guess what ?

It got rejected.

No, I’m totally kidding! It got accepted!

Hooray!

This particular story is called “Courier of the Skies,” and it will appear in the Spring into SciFi 2024 anthology, published by Cloaked Press in March! I’m really thrilled about it because I got to work with a new publisher and editor, and I’ll read more works by authors I might not know yet! Much excite!

This short space opera stars a queer, disabled, and neurodivergent protagonist who runs courier missions for The Network, a resistance movement who defies the eugenics government system know as the Welliams. You probably know I have a passion for disabled heroes, and there’s a thread of romance between two neurodivergent characters in this story. Maybe not what you’d expect as a romance, but in my brain, it reflects how special it is when someone knows you so well, they’re with you even when they’re not with you.

I’ve had a few experiences of stories that eventually found a home. My first novel, Life in the ’Cosm, was rejected several times, sometimes so fast, my head spun. Then one day, I got lost at a con while dressed as a fashionista dalek and a publisher shouted, “Hey! I like your costume!” A bit of my blurting autistically turned into an accidental pitch and voilá! An invitation to submit (then an acceptance.)

So, what am I saying? Maybe just offering a little encouragement. If you love your work, chances are someone else will too. It might just not have found its home yet. Rejections of your work aren’t a rejection of you (or they shouldn’t be) and any feedback can be valuable whether you take it or not. Sometimes doing a rewrite or revamp can take your work to the next level and you might even impress yourself with what you come up with to improve it!

Rejections are also super subjective. That’s important to keep in mind as well. I highly recommend finding comforting authors to help you process the stings, though. We’ve all been through them. A healthy critique group or critique partners can offer constructive feedback to give you their impressions of your work. That might lead to great inspiration too!

I ask one thing of you. Just one thing. If you feel like giving up being a writer because of rejections, please search deep down to ask if you really and truly want to give up? Because if you still want to be a writer, don’t stop doing what you love.

You could become someone’s favourite author one day.

All the best for arranging the alphabet in 2024!

Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of the award-nominated disability-hopepunk adventure, Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre, disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us (a 2020 Prix Aurora Award finalist) and Nothing Without Us Too (a 2023 Prix Aurora Award winner).