3 Reasons Why You’re Getting Rejected by Publications

Avoid these mistakes if you want to be a successful writer.

Photo by Ana Tavares on Unsplash

It’s incredibly difficult to get published.

At least, that’s what a lot of writers seem to think. We often work for several hours on an article, as we want our writing to resonate with our audience on a meaningful level. But when it gets rejected by a publication, it’s easy to feel like you’re not good enough, and you did all of that work for nothing.

Right? If you’re anything like my former self, that’s something which has recently crossed your mind. You want the entire world to be in awe at what you’re truly capable of achieving. But for one reason or another, you don’t know how to improve your writing and get publications to love your work.

I know exactly how you feel as I used to get rejected by publications all the time. But instead of complaining, I often spoke to the editor and made an effort to understand how I could improve. As a result of doing this, my acceptance rate massively increased. Like Roy Bennett once said:


So if you want to stop getting rejected by publications, here are several common writing mistakes that you need to avoid. Each of these insights helped me improve my work and create a full-time income as a successful writer. I’m sure they will do the same for you, too.

1. You Don’t Have Any Original Ideas.

If you don’t include any original points in your articles, it’ll probably get rejected. Why? Because there’s nothing unique about it that would compel someone to click and read your work.

The truth is that copying a listicle from the internet about “12 ways to be happy” is not a proven formula for success. As a writer, you want your writing to be exciting and unique for people to read. But of course, that’s impossible when your work has the same title as a thousand other articles.

I know that’s a hard pill to swallow. But it’s true. If you want publications to get excited about your writing, you need to write about things in a completely new and different way to everyone else.

So take a moment to come up with a variety of different headlines that are unique. If you’re stuck for ideas, one strategy that I use is picking two completely different topics, and then finding a way to blend them together. For example, “how traveling the world can make you more creative.”

Since I began submitting unique and exciting articles to publications, my acceptance rate has massively increased. Because when you know how to make your writing stand out amongst all of the other submissions, your chances of getting published will quickly improve.

2. You Don’t Pay Attention To Detail.

Last night, I had a zoom call with the owner of a large publication with several hundred thousand followers. He said that one of the most common reasons for rejecting an article was due to loads of spelling and grammar mistakes throughout the piece.

Look, your writing is probably going to be rejected if it has loads of mistakes. There’s no question about it. Why? Because if you don’t pay attention to detail, you obviously don’t care enough about your work to read it through and fix any errors.

I run all of my articles through Grammarly before submitting to a publication to ensure there aren’t any spelling or grammar mistakes that can easily be fixed. But of course, there’s a variety of other software out there which can do the job.

When your work is absolutely flawless and doesn’t have any mistakes, the odds of getting rejected by a publication drastically decrease.

3. Your Ego Is Too Big.

I used to have a massive ego when it came to writing. The truth is that I often refused to make changes to my articles as I thought they were already perfect. However, I often found myself getting frequently rejected.

But I’ve recently learned that publications often make suggestions because they know how a piece can be improved. After all, they want each submission to be enjoyable, insightful, and a joy for their audience to read.

So whenever an editor says to add more personal experience or go into further detail on a specific point, I always make an effort to listen and follow their advice.

As a result of implementing this strategy, my acceptance rate has massively increased as I genuinely listen to what the editor has to say.

So every day, ask yourself: “What actions can I take right now to significantly improve my chances of getting accepted by a publication?

That’s all you need to do.

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