I had over 40 rejections from Glimmer Train before I had a story accepted there. Over 30 rejections from Tin House before they took an essay. I was nominated for a Pushcart 16 times before I won, and the essay that won was rejected over a dozen times at other literary journals. My first essay collection was a finalist or semi-finalist 6 times before being published. I’ve had over 3000 rejections from lit journals.

The most important trait you need as a writer is stubbornness.