Submission Sunday 5.4.25: The Rejection Interview with Sara Campbell

Our latest rejection interview: "Make yourself happy; compete with your highest self and the writer you know you can be. Write to please that person and you will never regret it."

Happy Sunday, writers! Thank you for subscribing. Your support is much appreciated always.

Herein I continue my quest to interview successful people about their experiences with rejection. I’m grateful to writers Cecil Castellucci, Kate Maruyama, Camden Noir, Tamara MC, Jennifer R. Edwards, Diana Wagman, and Rachel Kramer Bussel for agreeing to participate in The Rejection Interview series. I’d love to conduct some more interviews with writers coming from a variety of perspectives, so please get in touch!

Next up in our series, we have Sara Campbell—writer, coach, and emerging teacher of Zen Buddhism.

Sara Campbell writes Tiny Revolutions, a newsletter about becoming who you are. Rooted in her practice of Zen Buddhism, her work centers around her personal exploration of how to be more awake, alive, and connected to the truth of your life—and to the world around you. Her writing has appeared in diverse outlets including Essay Daily, Every, Barrelhouse, The Oxford American, The Hairpin, The Rumpus, and Salon.com.

I first met Sara through Writing Workshops Los Angeles over ten years ago and we’ve been friends ever since. Typing her name just now, I was reminded that when we met, I couldn’t believe I met another person bearing the exact same name as my best friend from elementary school. I’m glad that this Sara Campbell is the one that accompanies me in adulthood because she’s a font of wisdom and a fun hang.

Let’s get this interview started…

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SS: Do you fear rejection? Why or why not?

Kind of. Not so much that it prevents me from submitting, but the sting of it doesn’t linger as long as it once did. I’m a way bigger fan of myself these days, praise be, and also I just have a more embodied understanding that it’s not always a value judgment to be rejected. More just like, we are not a match for each other, and that’s OK! (Can you tell I’ve done a lot of online dating, too?)

SS: What does literary rejection mean to you?

It means a lot of people out there who’ve rejected my work have terrible fucking taste! Just kidding. Like I said, I understand more now that my writing is not for everyone. Some days I don’t even like it, so how can I fault anyone else for not being interested? But also, I have a much clearer eye as to what is really happening in an editorial submission process.