When you have twelve under your belt, you go for thirteen. You keep writing and submitting, and you never give up. The sad truth is that you can expect to collect at least 50 rejections before you become skilled enough to sell your first work. I wish it weren t so, but wishing doesn t carry much weight in the real world. If you want to be a writer, you must doggedly pursue your goal through all manner of adversity.
Editors are notoriously unable to see just how brilliant our work is at first.
Later they become more perceptive. Often the difference between a successful writer and an unsuccessful one is simply a matter of endurance. As Robert Heinlein told the midshipmen a quarter-century ago, if you follow his Rules for Writers long enough, you will be successful.