Ouch! Just got my first short story rejection of the year. This one stings a bit, and I have to say I am sad. I thought I was used to rejection after being a journalist for ten years, but it feels different with short stories. And now I am thinking the write1/sub1 challenge could result in 52 stories being rejected. Did I really sign up for a year of rejection?
Hi there! Sorry to hear that you're feeling down after the rejection. I can relate, though, as I was feeling pretty cruddy about my latest rejections earlier this week.
Not to be too blunt, but if you're new to writing short fiction and you're submitting (at least initially) to paying markets, then to some extent -- yes, you did sign up for a year of rejection. Most markets that pay more than a token amount probably take 10% or fewer of the stories they receive. For top-end markets, it's probably more like under 1% in general.
But nearly every short story writer starts with the rejections before getting the acceptances. And though it might sound trite, it really DOES make the acceptances feel special.
I hope this helps and that you hang in there!