3 Reasons Your Writing Hasn’t Been Published Yet

Last Updated on January 9, 2020 by Nathaniel Tower

Having your writing published is a huge accomplishment. Whether we’re talking about a short story published in an online journal or a big book deal, any publication is a big deal and should make you proud. Having your writing rejected, on the other hand, can leave you frustrated and make you think you aren’t good enough.

I’m here to tell you that any writer can become a published writer. It isn’t easy, but most good things in life aren’t. Don’t take rejection as a sign that you can’t cut it as a writer. I’ve had 1 novel, 1 novella, 1 short story collection, and over 300 short stories published. Prior to any of those publications, I received a boatload of rejections. At some point in my writing career, all of the below reasons have applied to me.

If you haven’t been published yet, here are the likely reasons why:

You haven’t sent your work to the right place

The best story or novel in the world isn’t going to be accepted if you don’t send it to the right publisher. We all know the stories of famous writers who had their work rejected dozens or even hundreds of times before finally getting their breakthrough acceptance and then going on to sell millions of copies. The simple problem here was that they hadn’t found the right venue to publish their work. No matter what you’ve written, you need to find someone who believes in your writing in order to get it published.

Sending your work to the right place requires a lot of effort. You have to study submission guidelines and get to know a publications aesthetic, which typically requires a fair amount of reading. Alternatively, you can just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks, meaning you can blindly carpet bomb tons of publishers with your submission. This strategy typically leads to a lot of rejection and can ultimately burn bridges. If you send something that’s completely wrong to a particular publisher or agent, they usually won’t invite you to submit again.

On the other hand, if you thoroughly research a publication and send something that feels like a great fit, your chances of acceptance go way up. Even if they reject you, they will likely ask you to submit again.

You haven’t written anything worth publishing

We all know the saying “It’s not you, it’s me.” Maybe it actually is you. Well, not you personally. You as in what you’ve written. Maybe what you’ve written just isn’t good enough to be published by anyone. That’s okay. You’ll get there if you keep trying.

How can you tell if you haven’t written anything that’s worth publishing? Here are a few signs:

• Everything you submit gets rejected without any positive feedback
• You don’t like anything you’ve written
• You can’t find anyone who wants to read your work

None of the above means you aren’t a good writer and won’t ever be published. It just means you aren’t there yet. Maybe you need to scrap everything you’ve done and start with some fresh short story ideas. Or maybe you can salvage your existing writing with some serious revisions. Whatever the case, you will someday write something that’s worthy of publication.

Your work is good but not polished enough to be published

So maybe you have written something worth publishing, but maybe it isn’t quite ready yet. Publishers don’t accept ideas that require tons of work to get ready for publication. They accept completed works that are well on their way to being printed and marketed without tons of work on their end. If you have a great idea that hasn’t been fully realized, you need to whip it into shape before you send it out. If you’ve completed a draft but haven’t thoroughly revised, you need to put in the extra hours to read, reread, and rewrite your work. Just putting “The End” at the end of a manuscript doesn’t mean you’re finished.

Bonus reason: you aren’t sending your work the right way

Another common reason writers don’t get published is because they don’t follow submission guidelines or because they don’t send their work using a professional manuscript format.  Don’t underestimate the importance of the presentation of your writing. Even a great piece of writing will be rejected if you don’t follow a publication’s requirements.

Final thoughts on getting your writing published

If you want to become a published writer, you need to write something that’s worth publishing AND you need to send it to the right venue that wants to publish it. I can’t tell you which one of these is easier, but I can tell you they are equally important. It’s hard to write something great. It’s also hard to find the right fit for your great writing. But it’s all worth it. For a writer, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing our work in print. Okay, maybe it’s more satisfying to get that first big royalty check. And maybe it’s even more satisfying when your first fan tells you how much they love your work. Yeah, this is all worth it.

Are you a published writer? Share your experiences, advice, and frustrations in the comments. And don’t forget to share this post on all your favorite channels.