_____Once you start submitting your work, you've opened yourself up to receive the dreaded rejection letter. It's usually a form letter that's says "no thank you" in a non offensive way. Unlike a critic, it typically does not have any suggestions or tips for you. You may have no idea why your work wasn't accepted.
_____This is why you need to have a thick skin. Feel the momentary disappointment, shake it off, and submit your piece somewhere else.

1. First of all, don't take it personally. Every writer who is actively sending out her work has received them.
   • J.K. Rowling had her first Harry Potter manuscript rejected 10 times.
   • Stephen King had his work rejected for years before he sold Carrie.
   • Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead was rejected 12 times.
   • Anita Bunkley self published her first novel after 32 rejections and being told that "blacks did not read many books."
   • Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book was rejected by 23 publishers.
   • E. Lynn Harris had to self-publish and sell his own books before a mainstream publisher bought his work.
   • A Time to Kill by John Grisham was rejected by fifteen agents and twenty-six publishers.
   • Random House rejected The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison -- at the time she was working there as an editor.
   • For more examples and inspiration, read Rotten Reviews & Rejections.
   As you can tell from the examples, editors aren't always right.
   
   
2. Mistakes writers make that may lead to a rejection letter:
   1. Not following a publication's guidelines for submission
      • For example, the guidelines asks for 1 inch margines but you decide to use .25 instead
   2. bad punctuation/spelling
      • if it's difficult to read, editor won't read it.
   3. piece submitted does not fit the theme/needs of the publication.
      • for example, sending an erotic story to a Christian magazine
   4. weak writing
      • as you continue improving in your craft, you'll be able to look at previous work and re-evaluate it for yourself.
   
   
   
3. Other reasons:
   1. The writing is fine, but editor just didn't enjoy the story.
      • Perhaps you've written a story about a woman who takes back a cheating lover. Though it may be a realistic ending, the editor reading your story may not like it and reject it.
   2. The editor may have been receiving too many of the same stories.
      • An editor planning upcoming editions of a magazine may already have a few articles about challenging gender roles scheduled. When you submit your article about gender roles, there may be literally "no room" for it at the moment.
   3. The editor may feel there is not a "market" for your work - this is especially true for novel writers.
      • Several black writer's were rejected by major publishers because it was thought that white people wouldn't be interested and black people don't buy books.
   
   Again, don't take it personally.
   
   Rejection does not automaticlly mean that
   you are a talentless hack.
   It does, however, make an acceptance much, much sweeter.