You may have followed along last year as I sought to get 100 literary rejections. There’s a nice write-up on the theory and practice of aiming for 100 rejections here. And if you want a recap on my experience you can read more here. The quick stats are:

• I made 143 submissions in 2017
• Got 78 rejections
• 6 acceptances
• Another 6 very encouraging “near misses”

And this year, I’m doing it again! I may actually be overdoing it…

One of the reasons I didn’t make 100 rejections last year is that there’s always a time-lag in responses, and in 2016 I’d only made 45 submissions, so the full flower of the 143 attempts at being rejected I made last year might not be felt until this year. And indeed, between current year rejections and rejections still flowing in from last year’s submissions, so far in 2018 I’ve gotten 39 rejections. I’m well on my way!

Also, since you can’t always be rejected, I’ve had two poems accepted for publication this summer (details TBD as it gets closer), and gotten one of the most encouraging rejections I’ve ever received from Memoir Magazine. I reckon I’ll keep it up. More updates to follow!