The writing goal this year was to reach 100 rejections. As a goal it remains simple, clear and direct.

Apparently, however, my goal is not quite achievable, yet the success is in the failure here. I’m in an Escher-scape bind where I win because I am losing…and vice versa. The other things to note: this plan wasn’t my idea, and I only fully committed to it half way through the year.

The 2020 state of the stats:

• Rejections: 76
• Pending: 27
• Acceptances: 13

• Strike rate: 17%

All things considered these figures indicate I’ve subjected approximately 116 publications to my work. It may be a bit less because some saw multiple poems in a single submission, I counted rejections when one poem was accepted and the others rejected or were all rejected.  The 116 figure doesn’t mean 116 different works either. And, I’ve still got a few simultaneous submissions on the go at the moment.

I have another short story coming out soon, hopefully by the end of December, although it is one of my 13 acceptances. Other than that I am awaiting news from all those pending submissions, some of which are getting towards six months old. No matter how often I refresh my email or Submittable however, there’s no hurrying them along.