5 Reasons Your Article Got Rejected
By: Kelly Eden
Tags: Life Lessons, Writing, Writing Tips, Creativity, Freelance

As writers, we face more rejection than most people. It’s comes with the job and we need to learn to deal with it well. One way to do this is to understand why our stories are getting rejected in the first place.

I’ve been in the writing industry (mostly magazines) for over 12 years. I’ve faced my fair share of rejection. I’ve also worked as a subeditor, an editor, and in close partnership with other editors. After a while you start to see clear patterns of what stories get accepted and why.

Once you understand the reasons, it stops feeling like a personal attack and becomes something you can work with.

Here are 5 common reasons stories are rejected by editors:

1. It’s not your story, it’s you

Some publications and magazines only want articles by experts and well-known writers. Forbes writers, for example, are mostly well-established professionals who are known in their fields. The New Yorker often runs stories by well-known essayists, journalists, and novelists. They both also have a number of staff writers (as do many publications.) Editors will favor their regular contributors and staff writers — especially at the moment.

Still go ahead and submit your story if you want to, but be aware that getting a rejection from these types of publications is not necessarily anything to do with the quality of your writing — don’t take it personally. Try again later.

2. It’s not you, it’s your story

Many new writers make the mistake of picking topics that are too common. Your story is rejected because the idea is not original. Few ideas are completely original (I know it’s hard!) but if you’ve written another “Healthy living” article about how we need to get sleep, get up early, exercise and eat less junk food, don’t expect it to be accepted.

The value of a story is in its details. If you want to write about healthy living, write about how starfruit transformed your breakfasts, how getting up an hour earlier helped you lose weight, how new research shows that watching the sunrise decreases your risk of depression. Go small and specific.

3. It’s not you, it’s them

Perhaps your story is great, but a huge number of submissions flood the editors inbox at the same time as yours. They reject your story, not because it’s terrible, but because their magazine is full — even online magazines/media sites have a certain number of articles they prefer to publish daily.

At the moment more people are working online, and trying to make a living from freelance writing, than ever before. Your rejection may have been a case of bad timing — persevere!

4. It’s not your topic, it’s your writing

If your story is full of errors and badly written, expect a rejection. No editor wants to see your rough first draft. Was it too technical or wordy for the publication? Does it need a good edit to find the focus? Are your ideas backed up (the ones you’re not an expert on)?

If your writing needs work, take some time to learn: do a course, read, find a mentor. Professional writing is like any other career — there’s a training period. Few people become paid writers instantly.

5. It’s your research, or lack of it

You sent in an article almost identical to one the publication has just run — embarrassing! Or perhaps you sent a personal essay when they only run journalistic pieces, or a “how-to” when they only run first-person confessional stories. Do your research on the publication you are sending your story to. Make sure you read their submission guidelines. Read some of their stories. Do a google search of your topic alongside the name of the publication. Not doing your research wastes your time and theirs.