Turning Rejection into Acceptance

I had a couple of articles rejected by a magazine editor recently. They'd both been commissioned months earlier: I'd pitched a couple of ideas and the editor replied saying he'd pay me £150 per piece, to write them up.

I'd worked for him loads of times before (and since), and he'd always accepted my submissions. But two rejections weren't normal. And because it was a commissioned piece of work (which had taken days to write), it was a bit more of a big deal than a Medium editor passing on a speculative submission.

Getting two rejections from one editor was a first. And frankly, I wasn't very impressed. Magazine publishing timescales can be eye-wateringly long and it had taken him 7 months to get around to looking at it, and let me know.

The reason for one of the rejections, was simply that he'd changed his mind about the brief. He wanted something completely different.

Was a kill fee available? No. But if I wanted rewrite them both, taking into account his extensive criticisms, then he'd reconsider his position.

I was fed up

Now I have to admit, I was fed up. I mean, he might have mentioned that there was a problem after I submitted the first article back in April. Then I'd have thought twice about offering him the second!

So I pondered the opportunity to 'rewrite them both' while I got on with some guaranteed paid work. A few weeks later, I decided to have another go at these two articles.

Demoralising emails

I trawled through the demoralising emails, taking in the criticisms, and looking for the positives. What could I do to salvage the situation? I asked more questions of my interviewees, but the answers weren't what the editor wanted to hear.

No, they're not filthy rich. No, they're not famous. No, they haven't become a publishing sensation from contributing to an anthology. But it wasn't supposed to be about that. It was about personal satisfaction, raising money for charity, achieving personal goals, etc.

Anyway, I know this all sounds like a dead loss, but I resubmitted and got an acceptance! Somehow, by rejigging the content, bringing something from the back to the front, adding a few more comments from my own personal experience, and answering some of the questions, it worked. I honestly didn't think that article would be accepted but it was!

The second article was more of an extensive rewrite due to the dramatically different brief, but I had a go at that one too, and remarkably, a week or so later, it was accepted too!

Getting a clear brief

Now, usually if an editor has their own ideas about how an article will take shape, I get a clear brief at the point of commission. Otherwise I just make sure I cover everything that I've suggested in my pitch. It can be a different ball game if you submit work 'on spec', as you do on Medium.

But it's worth remembering that however bleak things appear, if an editor thinks your work has potential, it might be worth putting in that extra work - especially if they're offering to pay you for it, once they're happy.

On Medium, editors are not paying for your time, so I'd be inclined to try a different publication. But you never quite know when you can turn a rejection into an acceptance. Sometimes, a little jigging things around can work wonders. You might surprise yourself.

Good luck!

© Susie Kearley

This has been adapted from a piece previously written and published by me, on my own blog.