"We're Sorry But We're Going to Pass." A Writer's Journey Through the Despair of Rejections

One writer's story of pain, perseverance and healing

Welcome to our weekly column on the ins and outs on publishing in lit mags, with guest contributions from writers and editors.

By Yume Kim

Seeing the automated “Your submission was received” notification from Submittable used to give me so much dread. “They’re probably just going to reject my work,” I would often think to myself.

Sadly, after a month or so, a press or journal would email me, informing me that they indeed were going to reject my submission. Seeing such phrases like “this submission is not right for us” or “we’re sorry but we’re going to have to pass” used to feel like ice daggers piercing through my chest, making my writerly heart bleed out from the cold rejection. 

Despite knowing that generally rejection letters usually mean well since it would be remotely impossible for literary presses and journals to accept every manuscript on this planet, I still took those rejections personally. Even though some of my poems had been previously published in some journals and zines, I felt that it just “wasn’t enough.”

Later, throughout the years, I would finally become a published author. My first publication was a poetry chapbook, entitled as Reserve the Right. I remember thinking to myself, when I first learned of the news from my publisher, with the hope of “Oh great, this will open more doors of publication for me!” Yet, that was not the case, since those ice daggers of rejection via Submittable still went after me.   

Of course, you’d think that, even with my first book, I would simply be content and satisfied with what I had. Unfortunately, I was still a bit greedy; I still yearned for more acceptance.

Then of course, 2020 happened, the year where certain aspects in my life changed because of the pandemic. Along with everything, it didn’t help that meanwhile, throughout the world, anti-Asian sentiments began amplifying more that year as well. As a coping mechanism, my social media addiction got worse and so did my negativity as a writer.