I usually aim for 50 Rejections each calendar year with my submissions. I entered a lot of poetry contests with state poetry societies for 2024 – Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina – so I hit 50 Rejections pretty quickly (by April). So I changed my goal to 75 Rejections and hit that around August. I went out on a limb and shot for the moon – 100 Rejections – and got my 100th Rejection on December 29, 2024. It was close. I was sweating it out, to be completely honest. I was thrilled to have nearly double the amount I usually try for, but I would have been so disappointed to have missed it by one. I may never see 100 Rejections in a twelve-month period again. And if not, that’s okay. I achieved it in 2024, and that was the goal.
What’s with TRYING to get rejected, anyway, you might wonder? My good friend and mentor, Denton Loving is the one who introduced me to the concept of 50 Rejections. The idea is, if you get 50 Rejections in one year, you’re putting out a lot of work into the world and that means you’re doing the work to see some of it get Accepted in with all those Rejections, too. I had 35 pieces Accepted into publications or that Placed in contests in 2024. That’s an Acceptance Rate of 25.5%, because I submitted 137 pieces in 2024 (2 pieces were Withdrawn for miscellaneous reasons). In 2023, I submitted 62 pieces – I had 43 Rejections, 16 Acceptances, and 3 Withdrawals – so my Acceptance Rate in 2023 was 30.7%, a higher rate, but only half as many pieces as were Accepted in 2024. But the AVERAGE Acceptance Rate in publishing circles is usually 3-5%, so I’m not complaining at all!
A lot of people don’t want to pay to submit to publications or contests. The harsh reality is that more and more places charge at least nominal fees to submit. I paid $216 in 2024 to submit to various places. Not bad overall, since I submitted 137 pieces in all. That’s more than I paid in 2023, but I’m not going to go back and tally up the amount for 2023. I’m lazy and there’s a football game coming on soon that I want to watch. The big price tags were mostly for the membership dues for the state associations for the poetry contests. Technically their contests are free when you’re a member, but the memberships cost anywhere from $25-$40 per year. So I split the membership price tag by the number of contests I enter to arrive at the price per submission and track it that way. Each membership offers you more than just those contest entries, though, if you decide to take advantage of the membership perks like meetings, newsletters, etc.
What did I get for my $216? For the first time ever, I saw some actual payoff in publications, not just in the form of contests. I will say I was blessed and very lucky. Or maybe I’m finding my way along some writing avenues after many, many years of putting in work without a lot of effort on my end. For publications and contests in 2024, my writing earned over $1150. Our CPA may have a coronary! Most of the publications that generated revenue didn’t charge fees. Almost all the contests did, some as much as $15 per entry. Or, if there was no fee, it was connected to a conference where you had to be present to win. Not exactly free when you do the math. I’m not complaining, though, because we all know how much I love conferences and workshops.
Enough of numbers. Where was I published? I had seventeen pieces picked up for publication, although some may actually be published in 2025. I use the calendar of when they were Accepted for this annual process. Here’s the breakdown: Black Moon Magazine; Appalachian Authors Guild (Holiday Anthology, three pieces); Chicken Soup for the Soul: Laughter’s Always the Best Medicine; Jimson Weed (3 pieces); 24 Tales (Howling Hills Publishing); Troublesome Rising Website (Hindman Settlement School, 2 pieces); Untelling; Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel; Red Branch Review; Women of Appalachia Project: Women Speak, Volume 10; Songs of Eretz; and Cutleaf.
Which contests did I place in? There were 18 contests or competitions I placed/advanced in. Here’s the list – and yes, I do count everything I submit work for: Appalachian Authors Guild – Annual Membership Contest – 1st Place; Poetry Society of Tennessee’s Festival – 2nd Honorable Mention, 2; North Carolina Poetry Society – Honorable Mention, 1; Tennessee Mountain Writers – 3rd Place Children’s Lit., Honorable Mention Fiction; Poetry Society of Tennessee Monthly Contests – February 2nd Place, November Honorable Mention; Lonesome Pine Contest – 1st Place Poetry; Appalachian Authors Workshop – Made it into Short Story Class; Chautauqua Festival of Wytheville, VA – 1st Place Fiction, 3rd Place Poetry; Mountain Heritage Lit Festival – 1st Place Fiction, 2nd Place YA; West Virginia Writers Poetry Wall – 3rd Place; Golden Nib Local Chapter Contest – 1st Place Poetry, 1st Place Fiction, 2nd Place Nonfiction.
So, it was a good year – a great year, a stellar year! And I sold more books than usual, too. I’m hoping to get a short story collection revised in 2025 and find it a publishing home. That’s my primary goal beyond the 50 Rejections. If 2025 is half as great for me as 2024 was, then I’ll be just as happy. Thanks to everyone who continues to love, support, and encourage my writing. You make it a lot more fun!
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