Submission Accepted. (Advice for those who dread rejection.)

I was recently asked by Suspense Magazine to review books for them. One of the first three they sent me was Twice the Terror, the second collection by online horror magazine The Horror Zine. The book was filled with business cards arranged throughout advertising the magazine and encouraging those who gazed upon it to "Submit your stories poetry, or art."

"What the hell? "I thought. I'd just had a story rejected and since my rule is to resubmit within 24 hours, I chose a story I'd written as a throw-away and sent it along.

It was accepted within 24 hours!

The editor wrote:

Hi Christopher. I read your story Always Say Treat with interest. It is a very good story; highly original. I like it very much and I want to welcome you into The Horror Zine.

Even though the theme of your story is Halloween, since we are a horror magazine, it is Halloween all year round for us. That said, the earliest I can fit you in is April 2011.

Let this serve as some form of inspiration to those who dread rejection. It's part of the process and it is not the end of the world. It's also a numbers game, to some extent. Sending out one thing only won't cut it. At any given time I have five or six stories in rotation.

It's not for the faint at heart, but getting published is the best experience a real writer can have. Keep it up or walk away if you can't handle it.