Submission Sunday REDUX: A Reader Asks When to Give Up

I keep thinking that the next submission will be the one, but am I fooling myself?

In a 2023 post, I offered to answer questions you might have about submissions, such as whether you should only submit to publications that pay, how long it will take an agent to get back to you, or if you can bring your dog with you to a residency, but only one brave soul asked a question. So for this week’s redux post, here is that question and an attempt at an answer (with a little help from my friends, i.e., other Substack writers).

At what point should I give up, realistically, on getting a story published that keeps getting rejected? I personally think it’s good enough to get published, albeit on the longer side. I just hate giving up on something that I invested so much time writing and editing. I keep thinking that the next submission will be the one, but am I fooling myself? Cut my losses and move on? —KH