Number of rejections before breakthrough

[alexvss]

How long until you made your first sell? How many rejections have you received?
I began writing short stories in English back in April, and I received 180 form rejections since then. I'm still unpublished.
I joined critters.org and won an award for most productive member there. I also pay beta readers.
Today, I finally started thinking about giving up...

 

[msstice]

Are these short stories or a novel? Are you pitching to an agent or are you going directly to a publisher?

Rejection hurts, and without specific feedback it's hard to tune things, but don't give up because of the rejections.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well you certainly have demonstrated persistence, which is very, very important.

I wonder, though, how much you are getting from the feedback you have received. I mean, to what extent do you learn from it and apply it? Some people seem to be really open-minded about the critiques they receive, ask questions, are very willing to rewrite, but then they come back with something where the problems others have pointed out really haven't been addressed. It is like something fails to click.

But then, sometimes, too, just when it seems hopeless and time to give up, suddenly something does. When this occurs at a prime moment of timing and luck, all the barriers may suddenly fall at once.

Do you really enjoy writing? Is the process something that gives you great pleasure? Then you should keep it up. If it has become a drag and a slog and a source of discouragement ... I wouldn't say give up, but maybe you need some time off. If the writing itch is still there then after a while you can always come back to it. Or maybe in the interim you will find something that gives you greater fulfillment and success.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I ought to ask: how many stories do those 180 rejections represent? 180 in eight months is a lot. If that's for a handful of stories, then you need to focus less on submitting the same stories over and over and more on exploring new ideas you might like to write about. But if you have been very prolific and have written dozens of stories since April, then maybe you need to slow down and spend more time on each one.

If you have only been writing for less than a year, that's no time at all; the average writer takes about ten years before they make their first sale. But you said, "writing in English," so perhaps you've been working at it for years in another language.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Teresa has hit the nail on the head, @alexvss and I agree with her points. I'd also add that the standard of critique acquired through some online critique forums can be highly variable, especially the ones where you have to critique a number of others to earn your own critique, because sometimes people just go through the motions in order to get their own piece critiqued and don't really have the interest, or possibly the skill, to give good feedback. I should say here that I have no experience of critters.org, and that I'm referring to other sites, but I'd imagine the same could apply.

As a fellow prolific writer, I do feel your pain. The stories are flooding out of you, and you really need to move forwards with them, but you don't yet have the recognition. I can only say, Persist. Perhaps slow down, back up a little, try to read some critiques on here and see what has been said and perhaps critique some yourself. This will give you a better idea of the mistakes others make and help you see similar mistakes in your own writing. It's really hard for writers to see their own shortcomings, and that's something that applies to successful published writers as much as fledgling writers.

I'm aware that I'm advising you to do what you've already been trying to do through critters.org, but this forum has some really successful and experienced writers as active members and by reading their suggestions, you will certainly begin to spot patterns of errors that many authors make and hopefully learn from them. I can't wait until you have your 30 qualifying posts on here and can put something of your own up for critique. I'd like to see your writing.

To answer your actual question, I began writing in April 2014. My first success was a short story published by Kraxon Magazine in October of that year. Like you, I had many rejections before and since, but as I was focussing on a novel and only writing short stories as a displacement activity at the time, I didn't worry so much about them. I never count my rejections. I stick them in a spreadsheet, so I don't inadvertently send the same piece out to the same publisher again later, but then I move on without regret. I'm now a proper author with a publishing contract and all, and I owe much of that success to this forum, but I'm still learning my craft. I still get many, many rejections; I just don't care anymore. In the 6 years I've been writing fiction, I've completed six novels and hundreds of short stories. Only a tiny proportion of these have been published. Sometimes I write a real winner; more often, I write what I believe to be a real winner only to have it rejected everywhere!

It seems likely that you're at a turning point right now. You can either take the attitude that you're a well-rounded writer in your own mind and if publishers can't see that, then to heck with them; or you can knuckle down and learn the serious art and craft of fiction writing. This process takes a lifetime, and it never ends. Even the most successful best-selling authors will tell you that they're still learning (except maybe a couple of well known thriller writers, who are so full of themselves they probably think they have nothing left to learn!).

Good luck. I really hope you persevere.

 

[The Judge]

Hello and Welcome to the Chrons! You've come to the right place for help with writing!

First of all, I take it you are being careful to submit the right stories to the right places? ie you're not sending SFF to a magazine that wants romance or vice versa, or pieces of 10,000 words to somewhere that has an upper limit of 2,000. I know that sounds obvious, but it's sometimes an easy mistake to make as not every publisher/magazine has the clearest of guidelines, unfortunately. Added to that, even if a magazine wants SF, it might not want the type of SF you write, so read back through previous editions to see what they aim for. But when it comes to it, there are multiple reasons why good work isn't accepted -- your particular style might not fit with them, or they might simply have too many submissions and don't want anything that isn't absolutely perfect.

As Teresa has mentioned, it would help us if we knew how many stories you'd been submitting to garner those 180 rejections -- if that amounts to 180 stories submitted to only one or two sites, then it's a different matter from, say, 15 stories submitted to over a dozen sites. However, I do wonder if you are confusing quantity with quality -- I've no knowledge of critters.org, but to me "most productive member" simply means "produces a lot" which says nothing about the actual excellence of work produced.

To be honest, if you've only been writing in English since April, then it may well be that the stories themselves aren't yet as good as they could be as you're still learning your craft -- after all, you wouldn't expect someone to say "I began playing golf in April but I've not won any prizes yet." Even if English is your second language and you're an accomplished short story writer in your native tongue, it might not be quite as easy as simply translating word for word as different cultures have different expectations of stories, just as different genres do.

I know you say you've paid beta readers, but are they actually experienced/successful writers/editors in your chosen genre? Do they give feedback which is actually helpful or are they simply telling you what they perhaps think you want to hear?

I've been writing stories since I was a child, which is a great many years ago, and I've been taking it seriously for 14 years now, yet I'm still writing some stories that I think are great but which the two members of my writing group -- both with MAs in writing -- say aren't good enough, so I have to rip the stories up and try again. If the beta readers you've got aren't doing the same for you on occasion then either you are supremely talented and it's a mystery why your stories are rejected, or they're not doing their job.

What I'd suggest is that you stick around here for a while. Once you have 30 counted posts you can put a few hundred words of a story up in our Critiques section where you will get excellent advice and help -- I know you've had feedback at critters, but our advice will be disinterested since there's no requirement on anyone here to critique. Have a look through threads there and you'll see the standard of help we give.

Meanwhile, we have monthly Writing Challenges which you can enter -- you're well in time for December's Challenge which is here DECEMBER 2020 75 Word Writing Challenge -- READ FIRST POST!! Although this is flash fiction of only 75 words, the basics of writing short stories is exactly the same -- a good idea, well expressed, with well chosen words -- and there will be a 300 Word Challenge coming in January which gives more scope for storytelling. You'll get speedy feedback on your work there by way of mentions and/or votes, and when voting is finished you can ask for specific advice if you think the story didn't get the attention it deserved.

So, don't give up just yet. Stay here and let us help you take your work further!

 

[tinkerdan]

One thing you might consider looking at is: whether you've fully studied the publications in which you have submitted.
The reason I say this is that, in reading this book:

Beginning Writers Answer Book: Friedman, Jane: 9781582973654: Amazon.com: Books

Beginning Writers Answer Book [Friedman, Jane] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Beginning Writers Answer Book

www.amazon.com

I found that one of the biggest steps in getting published is to first know the type of articles they publish and the tone or slant of the writing.
It's really easy to say oh this is fantasy and they publish fantasy.
Or this is science fiction and they publish science fiction.
Your work may not come near to the standard they publish, that's not to say the writing is poor, rather it says that the writer hasn't done his homework and sat down and read the articles they publish, nor do they understand the publishers slant or goals.

However, it can take years of rejection for some people to get published.

180 rejections in 8 months might feel like a strong indicator that it is time to quit--however it is more likely that you need to look at your work and compare it with what is being published--where you submit--and from there start to determine what it is that you might be missing. You might even find that you have been submitting to the wrong publications.

Consider also that these publications have known talent to pull from and that means that new talent has to really shine and hit the mark just to get their foot in the door. Part of doing that is to understand what kinds of writing those publications are accepting and then whether you are ready to change what you are doing in order to get published.

I have some fellow writers who don't want to self publish and they have been submitting and facing rejection for years. They either spend time rewriting or they move to the next project and hope that that one hits the mark.

 

[Serendipity]

How long until you made your first sell? How many rejections have you received?
I began writing short stories in English back in April, and I received 180 form rejections since then. I'm still unpublished.
I joined critters.org and won an award for most productive member there. I also pay beta readers.
Today, I finally started thinking about giving up...

You make it sound like English is not your native language. If that is the case, can I suggest you check that you're not carrying over the grammar of your native language into the stories you're writing. It is far easier to do and not notice than you think (talking from experience here).

The other linguistic trap is assuming that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the words of the different languages. I have come across words in foreign languages for which there is no equivalent in English. This also extends to shades of meaning between a word and its translation. This kind of thing tends to happen for what I call words that are not do with the basics of life.

Other than that, I would say the above advice is all good.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

When I made my first sale it was a different time—the mid 1980s. Not a hundred years ago but a different century in more than just name. Fantasy publishing was booming when I submitted my first work, a novel, and sold it to the second publisher I sent it to. So luck and timing were certainly factors, but I'd been through about 12 drafts over the course of six or seven years, so persistence was part of it, too, and without the benefit of online forums filled with good advice. (Plus, like TJ, I had been writing since childhood. I was about thirty when I began working at it intensively and seriously, and wrote my first three books on a manual typewriter. Another writer I know who was first published about the same time I was and and after some ups and downs went on to become far more successful than I used to write all her first drafts in pencil. The thing about not using a computer is that when it comes time to revise you have to rewrite every single word, which really make you think about whether you want to use that particular word or sentence or paragraph again. No skimping on changes to make things easier, because there is no such thing as "easier." )

But that's the problem with asking old-timers for publishing advice. What happened when we broke into the field may have little relationship to the situation now—and editors may look at authors with a few published books in a different way ever after, and the more books they publish the further removed they become from what it takes for a publisher to take a chance on a newcomer now. Our memories of the old days may or may not be of much use to someone trying to land a sale in the 21st century. But even with your contemporaries, their experiences may turn out not to be like yours either. However, there is one thing that hasn't changed since then, and that is that most writers who eventually are published write about half-a-million to a million words (counting revisions) first.

Some people simply have to write. They HAVE TO write. If they don't have a story they are working on they can't be happy. Nobody has to tell them to keep on writing; they know that they really have no choice. They may in time stop submitting what they write but THEIR HEADS ARE FILLED WITH STORIES THAT WANT TO BE WRITTEN AND NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT FOR THEM. Some of these have been writing on and off as long as they can remember; others come to it more suddenly, like a religious vocation, later in life. There are other writers who can take it or leave it; they like doing it well enough and may even be very good at it, but after a few reverses they walk away. Some don't enjoy the process and don't even care that much about books or storytelling but keep on because having decided to become writers they feel they have to finish whatever they start and to stop before they attain whatever goals they have set for themselves would be an abject failure. So everyone's journey is different.

It comes down to what you really want and how much work you are willing to do to get yourself there. But I will say that I have never met a writer who stuck it out and wrote and wrote that didn't sooner or later enjoy some degree of success.

 

[alexvss]

I ought to ask: how many stories do those 180 rejections represent? 180 in eight months is a lot. If that's for a handful of stories, then you need to focus less on submitting the same stories over and over and more on exploring new ideas you might like to write about. But if you have been very prolific and have written dozens of stories since April, then maybe you need to slow down and spend more time on each one.

If you have only been writing for less than a year, that's no time at all; the average writer takes about ten years before they make their first sale. But you said, "writing in English," so perhaps you've been working at it for years in another language.

Hello, Teresa. Thank you very much for your help.

These 180 rejections represent 14 short-stories and one novelette. I sent them to pretty much every SFWA-qualifying market out there. Now, I'm sending them out to what's left: markets that pay dimes. I'm still getting reject though. I'm currently on the process of outlining three novelettes, but I'm currently in a halt to write my Final Project and study for the finals in Law School.

Although I do consider the feedback I receive, I'm not a guy who rewrites much, no. I adjust some things here and there, but that's it.

Regarding the enjoyment of writing... I used to enjoy the process a lot. Now, after the rejections, writing is becoming painful, because it feels that I'm writing for nothing. I want to be read; if I'm only being read by someone I pay to, or by a slusher who stops midway, then there's no point.

People often say that you write because you CAN'T NOT write. That's not true for me though. I don't have the necessity to write. I do it because I like stories, but I won't go mad if I stop.

 

[alexvss]

Are these short stories or a novel? Are you pitching to an agent or are you going directly to a publisher?

Rejection hurts, and without specific feedback it's hard to tune things, but don't give up because of the rejections.

Thank you, msstice.

In English, I only write flash fiction, short-stories and novelettes. I've written a novel in my mother language, Portuguese (I'm Brazilian).

I thought I've developed a thick skin after so many rejections, but the problem is: you have to turn these rejections into acceptances. If you don't, feels like you're just banging your head against a brick wall.

 

[alexvss]

Teresa has hit the nail on the head, @alexvss and I agree with her points. I'd also add that the standard of critique acquired through some online critique forums can be highly variable, especially the ones where you have to critique a number of others to earn your own critique, because sometimes people just go through the motions in order to get their own piece critiqued and don't really have the interest, or possibly the skill, to give good feedback. I should say here that I have no experience of critters.org, and that I'm referring to other sites, but I'd imagine the same could apply.

As a fellow prolific writer, I do feel your pain. The stories are flooding out of you, and you really need to move forwards with them, but you don't yet have the recognition. I can only say, Persist. Perhaps slow down, back up a little, try to read some critiques on here and see what has been said and perhaps critique some yourself. This will give you a better idea of the mistakes others make and help you see similar mistakes in your own writing. It's really hard for writers to see their own shortcomings, and that's something that applies to successful published writers as much as fledgling writers.

I'm aware that I'm advising you to do what you've already been trying to do through critters.org, but this forum has some really successful and experienced writers as active members and by reading their suggestions, you will certainly begin to spot patterns of errors that many authors make and hopefully learn from them. I can't wait until you have your 30 qualifying posts on here and can put something of your own up for critique. I'd like to see your writing.

To answer your actual question, I began writing in April 2014. My first success was a short story published by Kraxon Magazine in October of that year. Like you, I had many rejections before and since, but as I was focussing on a novel and only writing short stories as a displacement activity at the time, I didn't worry so much about them. I never count my rejections. I stick them in a spreadsheet, so I don't inadvertently send the same piece out to the same publisher again later, but then I move on without regret. I'm now a proper author with a publishing contract and all, and I owe much of that success to this forum, but I'm still learning my craft. I still get many, many rejections; I just don't care anymore. In the 6 years I've been writing fiction, I've completed six novels and hundreds of short stories. Only a tiny proportion of these have been published. Sometimes I write a real winner; more often, I write what I believe to be a real winner only to have it rejected everywhere!

It seems likely that you're at a turning point right now. You can either take the attitude that you're a well-rounded writer in your own mind and if publishers can't see that, then to heck with them; or you can knuckle down and learn the serious art and craft of fiction writing. This process takes a lifetime, and it never ends. Even the most successful best-selling authors will tell you that they're still learning (except maybe a couple of well known thriller writers, who are so full of themselves they probably think they have nothing left to learn!).

Good luck. I really hope you persevere.

Wow! Thank you so much, @Kerrybuchanan!

I didn't know this forum had critique threads. Good to know. I'm going to put my Critter skills to use!

You also, Kerry, did hit the nail in the head when you said what I'm at a turning point. It feels like I am a youngster fresh out of college, sending resumés everywhere, but the employers want people with five years of professional experience. But how? I'm just outta college!

Thank you. I'll keep trying and I'll show my writing here on this forum soon.

Cheers.

 

[alexvss]

Hello and Welcome to the Chrons! You've come to the right place for help with writing!

First of all, I take it you are being careful to submit the right stories to the right places? ie you're not sending SFF to a magazine that wants romance or vice versa, or pieces of 10,000 words to somewhere that has an upper limit of 2,000. I know that sounds obvious, but it's sometimes an easy mistake to make as not every publisher/magazine has the clearest of guidelines, unfortunately. Added to that, even if a magazine wants SF, it might not want the type of SF you write, so read back through previous editions to see what they aim for. But when it comes to it, there are multiple reasons why good work isn't accepted -- your particular style might not fit with them, or they might simply have too many submissions and don't want anything that isn't absolutely perfect.

As Teresa has mentioned, it would help us if we knew how many stories you'd been submitting to garner those 180 rejections -- if that amounts to 180 stories submitted to only one or two sites, then it's a different matter from, say, 15 stories submitted to over a dozen sites. However, I do wonder if you are confusing quantity with quality -- I've no knowledge of critters.org, but to me "most productive member" simply means "produces a lot" which says nothing about the actual excellence of work produced.

To be honest, if you've only been writing in English since April, then it may well be that the stories themselves aren't yet as good as they could be as you're still learning your craft -- after all, you wouldn't expect someone to say "I began playing golf in April but I've not won any prizes yet." Even if English is your second language and you're an accomplished short story writer in your native tongue, it might not be quite as easy as simply translating word for word as different cultures have different expectations of stories, just as different genres do.

I know you say you've paid beta readers, but are they actually experienced/successful writers/editors in your chosen genre? Do they give feedback which is actually helpful or are they simply telling you what they perhaps think you want to hear?

I've been writing stories since I was a child, which is a great many years ago, and I've been taking it seriously for 14 years now, yet I'm still writing some stories that I think are great but which the two members of my writing group -- both with MAs in writing -- say aren't good enough, so I have to rip the stories up and try again. If the beta readers you've got aren't doing the same for you on occasion then either you are supremely talented and it's a mystery why your stories are rejected, or they're not doing their job.

What I'd suggest is that you stick around here for a while. Once you have 30 counted posts you can put a few hundred words of a story up in our Critiques section where you will get excellent advice and help -- I know you've had feedback at critters, but our advice will be disinterested since there's no requirement on anyone here to critique. Have a look through threads there and you'll see the standard of help we give.

Meanwhile, we have monthly Writing Challenges which you can enter -- you're well in time for December's Challenge which is here DECEMBER 2020 75 Word Writing Challenge -- READ FIRST POST!! Although this is flash fiction of only 75 words, the basics of writing short stories is exactly the same -- a good idea, well expressed, with well chosen words -- and there will be a 300 Word Challenge coming in January which gives more scope for storytelling. You'll get speedy feedback on your work there by way of mentions and/or votes, and when voting is finished you can ask for specific advice if you think the story didn't get the attention it deserved.

So, don't give up just yet. Stay here and let us help you take your work further!

Thanks, @The Judge. I already feel welcomed in this Forum. A lot of well-intended people!

I write science fiction, fantasy and horror--the genres they review at critters.org. In that case, it's pretty obvious where to send to: SFWA-qualifying markets. The only one I don't send to is Analog, because they want hard sci-fi--and I write very soft sci-fi (they rejected me six times). I also write literary. I use thesubmissiongrinder to find markets and contests.

In English, I've written fourteen short-stories and one novelette. And some literary flash fiction pieces. I'm Brazilian, so I write directly in Portuguese too. And yes, I have a lot of difficulties when trying to write in a language that's not my own.

Critters.org is a member of critique.org--it is the chapter for Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy, as I've stated. They award the person who critiqued the most with the chance to bump a story to the top of the queue. I won that award last week. The process of critiquing those stories taught me a lot. I didn't know that critiquing would be such a hard exercise.

I know it's not a lot of time--just eight months--, but I'm really invested in it. It's not on and off writing. And I want to be read. I don't "write to myself" as some people do. All of my stories have meaning and hidden messages, so of course that I want to pass them along. If I'm not being read, then writing the next story becomes painful...

Thanks again. I'll try and post my writing here ASAP!

 

[Astro Pen]

ps. I see you told us what genre you write whilst I was typing this

I guess I was lucky, three out of the first four short stories I submitted were published. But here is the rub, -they were all general fiction.
I am having trouble deciding who to submit the sci fi work to? I have this deep underlying feeling that I am writing for yesterdays audience, the era when bookshelves were full of sci-fi short story collections like Analog. I can't help feeling I should be writing fantasy but it just doesn't appeal to me as a genre, and I do enjoy the raw adventure of writing what I do. Finding out 'what happens next' is the force that gets me to the word processor in the morning

So my first question to you is what specific genre are you writing in? Is it a very crowded field like fantasy in which publishers have a huge slush pile to filter through or is it a genre that, perhaps, doesn't have a large market?
Secondly It may be that you need to start sending work to specialist agents rather than publishers. Primarily because agents effectively filter for publishers. That puts you a couple of rungs above the slush pile.
Thirdly, although it may be tempting, avoid the trap of offers from vanity publishers. A friend of mine did that and paid. She got a few physical copies but her book is deep sixed now.

 

[Juliana]

I sent them to pretty much every SFWA-qualifying market out there. Now, I'm sending them out to what's left: markets that pay dimes.

Just a thought: the publications on the SFWA list are EXTREMELY hard to get into. There are award-winning authors out there who have never made it into places like Clarkesworld. But there are lots of other online publications and anthologies that pay well and are not on that list. Maybe look outside the SFWA list? I belong to two submission groups on Facebook, where open calls are shared. And there are bloggers and sites out there that advertise submission calls. Anthologies in particular are a great place to sub to, and depending on the anthology, they may pay pro rates even though they're not on the SFWA list.

The two I belong to on FB are: OPEN CALL: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & PULP MARKETS and OPEN CALL: HORROR MARKETS

Editing to add: horror author Gwendolyn Kiste does a monthly submission roundup — I've had two anthology sales through her recommendations. Here's this month's: Holiday Fiction: Submission Roundup for December 2020 | Gwendolyn Kiste

 

[alexvss]

Just a thought: the publications on the SFWA list are EXTREMELY hard to get into. There are award-winning authors out there who have never made it into places like Clarkesworld. But there are lots of other online publications and anthologies that pay well and are not on that list. Maybe look outside the SFWA list? I belong to two submission groups on Facebook, where open calls are shared. And there are bloggers and sites out there that advertise submission calls. Anthologies in particular are a great place to sub to, and depending on the anthology, they may pay pro rates even though they're not on the SFWA list.

The two I belong to on FB are: OPEN CALL: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & PULP MARKETS and OPEN CALL: HORROR MARKETS

Editing to add: horror author Gwendolyn Kiste does a monthly submission roundup — I've had two anthology sales through her recommendations. Here's this month's: Holiday Fiction: Submission Roundup for December 2020 | Gwendolyn Kiste

Thank you, @Juliana!!!

I just got accepted into OPEN CALL: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & PULP MARKETS and, while I was scrolling down, I bumped into a short-story award contest for new writers! Gonna participate, oh yeah.

 

[Juliana]

Best of luck with it!!!

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Wow! Thank you so much, @Kerrybuchanan!

I didn't know this forum had critique threads. Good to know. I'm going to put my Critter skills to use!

You also, Kerry, did hit the nail in the head when you said what I'm at a turning point. It feels like I am a youngster fresh out of college, sending resumés everywhere, but the employers want people with five years of professional experience. But how? I'm just outta college!

Thank you. I'll keep trying and I'll show my writing here on this forum soon.

Cheers.

You're very welcome.

Also, what @Juliana said above is very true. If you're only applying to SFWA listed markets, it is extremely competitive, especially for new writers. You'd need to be very professional and developed in your writing to have a chance at those (or very, very lucky!). I'd suggest submitting to a couple of lower-paid markets first and working your way up to the big ones. Once you have a few minor publications on your CV, it can make for a better impression with publishers.

It's not a quick journey, I'm afraid, but it is worth persevering. I wouldn't change a single moment of my journey thus far*, and I'm looking forward to the years ahead.

*Okay, maybe just one thing I'd change. Once I finished writing my first novel, I sent it to every publisher I could find instead of taking my time and making sure it was as good as it could be. At the time I believed it was as good as it could be. It really wasn't! It was an admirable attempt, for a total novice, but it was not fit for publication.

If you haven't found it yet, Submission Grinder is good for finding markets.

 

[AlexH]

Do you submit to Portuguese-language markets? I've seen a few that pay, especially in Brazil. You'd be competing against slightly less people and in your first-language.

I know a couple of pro-published writers who have had success using Critters. I tried something similar and wasn't impressed with the feedback I got - it seemed people were just trying to get their credits.

As for giving up - the writers who make it are the writers who don't give up! I've been submitting for 2-3 years and have around 70 short story rejections from pro or semi-pro markets so far. I set a target to make two pro-level sales, and although writing seems to get harder the more I do it, I'll keep trying until I get there. Then either set new targets... or give up.

 

[Juliana]

I'm Brazilian, so I write directly in Portuguese too.

Oops, I somehow missed that you're Brazilian. Também sou brasileira!