On January 28, 2026, I sent out my first submission of the year. Nearly two weeks later, I received my first rejection letter of the year. I had read to expect a response within 5-8 days, so as the days crept by past that 8-day mark, my expectations went super wonky. Should I expect an acceptance? Is the delay a good thing? A bad thing? My fellow KanMoWriCo peeps (see my “Query Goals” post) had submitted to the same publication and received both acceptances and rejections long before. I was obsessively watching my emails. Every email notification was a rush of “Is this it?” quickly followed by “Nope. Wrong email address.”
Then February 16, 2026, rolled around. At 10:30pm I received an email notification on my phone. I sort of just dismissed it as I was watching TV with my spouse. During a break, I went ahead and looked at the notification – just to clear it, I thought – and saw that it was an email response to my first submission of the year.
“Unfortunately, we have decided to pass on your submission.”
A form rejection. Finally.
My initial reaction: relief.
Seems weird, right?
Real Talk: I didn’t really think it was that great when I submitted it. I don’t know if that says something about my own assessment of my work, or if it’s an expression of my own self-doubt. Somehow it felt nice to have a reinforcement of my own assessment. I’ve been stuck in my submission journey, frozen by the fear that I really am not good enough to be published (despite reading some of the things that do get published). At the same time, I’ve been afraid that I’ve been holding myself back by not submitting. Getting a rejection felt freeing in that regard, that maybe I haven’t been holding myself back as much as I feared.
It’s complicated y’all. And I’m tired. I’m out here watching the world burn, and those who know about my day job know that I’m also watching my world sink into the sewers. My day job also means that I’m hamstrung in many ways about talking about how I feel about the world on fire. It’s a lot. It’s been a lot. This rejection feeling like a release is exactly what I needed.
If I can trust myself to identify when my work isn’t ready, then I can also trust myself to identify when it is. I have several other pieces out on submission now that I really do like. I don’t feel I can make them any better, so I can dedicate myself to finding homes for them. Let’s go friends. I’m on a journey to pursue this passion of mine. I hope y’all will join me.
Note on letter images: I have here and will always black out the name of the market and the name of the person who sent the letter. These posts are not meant to speak about the publications at all. These are about my reactions to the letters and what I can learn from them.
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