Just a quick thing today: I’ve given this advice before, but I think it bears repeating. Writing with an eye toward publication means rejection. If a piece gets rejected but the editors or agents gave no notes, unless you yourself really think there’s something needing some tinkering, get that back out on the submission rounds ASAP. Ideally, when you were choosing where to submit to, you picked out more than one market in the first place, so on to the next one. If that file isn’t getting emailed to another editor within the hour, you are going to languish in the morass of “woe is me”-isms and not make any progress.
New writers, seriously. Perseverance is what separates someone with a big publication record from someone without one. Rejection is not about you as a human, you as a cool person, you as a smart person, or you as anything other than the writer of the words on that page. It does not speak to your overall value and may indeed have way more to do with the fit between your piece and that market. Yes, if a piece gets notes back or keeps getting rejected, maybe it’s time to rework it (note I did not say “delete” or “retire” it; a lot of work can be salvaged more than you think). But if you get one “no,” that in no way means the next response won’t be a “yes.” Chill out and re-send it.
K.W. Taylor 