Submission Sunday 10.29.23: The Rejection Interview with Camden Noir

Our latest rejection interview: "It's going to happen, and it's going to feel like getting punched in the face, every time."

Happy Sunday, writers! Thank you for subscribing.

After my author interview with Edan Lepucki, who is always admiringly upfront about her rejections, I thought it would be fascinating to ask other successful people about their experiences with rejection. I’m grateful to writers Cecil Castellucci and Kate Maruyama for agreeing to participate in The Rejection Interview series, and next up we have Camden Noir, coming at us from Savannah, Georgia—possibly the only other place in the U.S. that I would live.

Camden Noir was born in Syracuse, New York but grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. Straight out of high school, he fought in back-to-back wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He’s been tattooing in Savannah, Georgia for the last ten years, while writing every day to publish a series of nonfiction humor journals.

Check out his Substack NEVER A DULL MOMENT! Camden responded to one of my earlier calls for writers to participate in this series, and I’m grateful for how generous he was with his time and his thoughtful answers. He’s the creator of a very cool street art project, Label 228, which collected artwork with the one rule that it needed to be on a Priority Mail label from the post office—official parlance, Label 228. The first installment of the book series was published by Soft Skull. [Available here!] He says:

By the way, the second book is formatted and has been ready for print since 2012, if anybody wants to take a chance on it. I’m sure the artists, now probably in their old age, would appreciate their work being unearthed from the archives of the unseen.

He also makes amazing abandoned birdhouses! Let’s get this interview started…

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