If you want to get your work published, you are going to face a lot of rejection. This can be hard for some people. But it shouldn’t be. Here are some reasons why:

• Some stories aren’t ready for publication and they need work; rejections give you an opportunity to do that
• Writing skill develops over time; you should expect to get a ton of rejections early on
• Even good stories by skilled writers will be rejected
• Rejection is the norm; some markets reject 99.9% of submissions
• Everyone has their own opinions
• People reject things for reasons unrelated to the quality of your work (e.g. they already accepted a similar story; they are full for that issue)
• Getting rejections can be fun; I am usually amused to learn the reasons why someone didn’t like a story
• Experimental and/or heavily stylized pieces are commendable, but these are likely to be controversial and receive mixed feedback; often doing something interesting is risky; if your stories are rejected for being experimental, stylized, risky, or creative, that is something to be proud of
• Your motivation to write should be based on expressing yourself and/or telling your story, not whether particular editors like the story enough to buy it