Submitting an article to the Stories of Rejection section of the website should be a relatively straightforward process.
As long as the criteria below is adhered to, your article will be published online within a short time frame from receipt.
You will also have live examples on the site itself to help you understand the tone, length, and layout of each section.
The ideal scenario is that your content is proofread and insightful, so that it can be cut and pasted straight into the website.
Links back to your own site / profile pages will be added before your article goes live, and if relevant to another article on the site, internal links will be added too.
10 Key Pointers
500-1000 Words
The ideal length for a story of rejection is 500 words minimum. Contributions of less than 450 words will not be accepted. However, there is no limit to those who wish to go beyond the 500 and write a more extensive feature. The ideal length is between 500-1000 words.
E-mail Only
Please e-mail my@litrejections.com with your contribution.
Subject Heading
To help facilitate the process of having your article read and accepted, all e-mails must use the correct subject heading:
Please put ‘Stories of Rejection’ and ‘Your Article Title' followed by 'Your Name.’
This will enable the e-mails to be easily filtered and responded to much faster.
Document Format
You are welcome to submit your article as a Word document, text file, or pasted into the email. PDF attachments are not accepted.
Be Creative
Your personal stories of rejection are important to this website. First and foremost be creative with your contribution. Make it entertaining. Make it something others will benefit from reading, or even enjoy reading again. This does not mean embellish it with exaggerated details. Use your creativity to make your personal story a well written one.
There is also an emphasis on the personal aspect of this. This is NOT a blog post for generalisations about rejection.
The article can relate to any creative endeavour that later resulted in rejection.
Your contribution should be titled (max 45 characters including spaces), and focus on:
- What rejections you may have had
- How the rejection/s made you feel
- What you did to overcome the rejection
- Why you will never give up on your dream
But the article is not a Q&A. These are merely guidelines for structuring your article.
This section is not a platform for self-promotion. So please refrain from promoting your own creative projects. The article will link back to your work and online profiles, so there is no need to mention them within the article itself. Please see the live examples for a perfect illustration of this.
The same image is used for all contributions to this section but it is personalised during the edit with the contributor's unique title. The reason for this image is two-fold: to symbolise that this is a community of creatives and because it would be too economically challenging to buy a new stock image for every single individual who contributes. Putting the payment of the stock image in the contributor's hands means they may buy a photograph unacceptable or not befitting the design of the website, and this in itself creates additional time consuming issues. Therefore one image for all.
Be Respectful
This is not a website for name calling. Those who submit stories attacking other creatives in a negative way, will never find their articles included on the site.
This website is a reference tool of help, and as such the articles must be professional, non-expletive, and a source of encouragement for those that read it.
Proofread
A maximum of three edits will be provided by the website for any contributions made to help you perfect your article for publication on the site.
Please note: Both American English and British English are acceptable.
You will be sent a preview as a PDF attachment before the article goes live so you can check it or make any changes. Only when you have signed off on it will the article go live on the website.
Links
Links will be added back to your own websites and online profiles.
If you wish to assist in this area, or have specific links that you wish to include, please list them at the bottom of your article so they can be added quickly during the web edit.
If you are on Twitter a ‘follow’ tweet button will be added to the end of your article.
Await Response
Please refrain from chaser e-mails if you have not had a response. There is a 7 day window in which your article is carefully considered along with those from other writers across the world. All attempts will be made to respond within 72 hours, but please allow for the maximum 7 day window.
If you do not have a response after the 7 days have elapsed, you will need to rethink your article or submit a new one.
Resubmit
If your article fails to be included on the website, please do not be disheartened. You are more than welcome to resubmit the same article if it is amended, or write a new one. The website would like to add your voice to the mix, and will do so provided it is in line with the requirements of the site.