A few years ago in 2013, I finished a short story called "Up That Hill" and began sending it to literary journals. I received several nice notes from editors commending the writing and requesting to see future work, but none accepted it. Over time the piece racked up the highest number of rejections of any story I've placed in journals.

I got 56 rejections.

One would think that if a story gets rejected that often, it must not be very good. Yet in the midst of all those nays, I acquired a really good literary agent, Dara Hyde, of the Hill Nadel Agency. She said the story was probably the best in my collection of linked stories in progress, all of which had found publication. It seemed odd that the story that was in her professional opinion, the most accomplished, was the one I was having the hardest time placing. But it was.

I decided to share this so that if there's a writer out there who's feeling bad about story rejections that person might feel bouyed by my experience. And it doesn't even have to be a writer; it might be anyone trying to do anything and facing repeated disappointment. What I want to tell that person is that if you deep down believe that what you're trying to accomplish or put out there has value, don't give up on it. You're probably right.

It might be that the timing isn't appropriate yet, or that the perfect situation has not thus far presented itself. But that doesn't mean it never will. However, IF you do give up, you won't get the opportunity that's out there, waiting for you. You have to hang in there and keep trying.

I finally got an acceptance after three years. The 57th submission received a yes! The story came out last week in XAVIER REVIEW, which is the literary journal from Xavier University in New Orleans.

It's a print journal and recently, they revamped their website to make the journal accessible online. Here's a link:

https://issuu.com/xavierreviewpress/d...

Hope this post will help encourage someone who's feeling defeated, Keep trying. You may go through periods where it seems like you'll never succeed, but you won't fail unless you give up.