It’s officially cherry blossom season in D.C., which, if you’re a local, means you’re enjoying the warm weather and perfumed air while you can before the oppressive heat, humidity, and mosquitoes take over the city.
In other words, spring is HERE, and so is another 1,000 Rejections Challenge monthly report!
🤔 Wondering why I’m writing about rejection? Start here:
My March was filled with lots of Rejections Challenge highs and lows, including:
I schemed to get my freelance tech writing contract extended an extra month (and it worked)!
The lesson I learned here: Be vocal about the work you’re doing in front of the people who make hiring and contract decisions. I had one conversation within earshot of the person calling the shots, which was the catalyst for them asking me to stay on the project longer.
Three job rejections appeared in my inbox in one day 🫠
I applied on a whim to become a bookshop.org affiliate and it worked?! I did not realize this was something one could just do…but hey, if you are in the market for some new books, go ahead and use my affiliate link.
Most exciting of all, I got waitlisted for the McCormack (formerly Tin House) summer workshop. This was a total pipe dream for me and something I really pushed myself to apply for as part of the Rejections Challenge.
For those not in the writing world, workshops like McCormack are highly competitive (last I heard admission was between 5-15%) one- to two-week gatherings of writers from all over the world. You get the chance to have your work reviewed by bestselling authors, read and review others’ work, and meet with agents (a special leg-up in the literary world).
As someone without an MFA and still working on a rough first draft, I was absolutely expecting a rejection. Even getting waitlisted is a total honor and a win on its own. 🥹 And hey, who’s to say I don’t sneak my way in this summer?
I have to admit that as I look back on the first three months of 2026, I can actually feel my attitude toward rejection slowly changing. I'm feeling slightly less like this ⬇️
Also, I’m learning that part of getting opportunities is being delusional enough to even dream of getting them. In some cases, that attitude actually might be enough to get you in the door.
1,000 Rejections Challenge: March by the numbers
Rejection count: 25
“No Response” count: 72
Acceptance count: 11
Waitlist count: 1 🎉
To make things slightly easier on myself (I am going for 1,000 of these, after all), I’m counting my “No Response” towards my rejection goal. So, for progress purposes, I have 84 rejections and six acceptances. That brings my Goal Completion to 9.7% and my Acceptance Rate to 11.34%.
I can’t lie to y’all—1,000 is an insane number to go for in a year. I’ve applied to 113 opportunities (a little over 10% of my goal) so far this year, which feels like a lot on top of full-time work, Substack, and writing my debut novel.
Still, even if I don’t make it all the way to 1,000 by December, running this challenge has been a great motivator to keep going. If you haven’t yet joined me, it’s now or never! You can download a copy of the tracker I use to help you get started.
Community Wins
Shout out to our little community we’re building around here 🥹 I see y’all putting in the work! If you’d like to be featured in next month’s rejection report, send me a DM any time.
Huge congrats to Lisa Cottrell for submitting to literary magazines!! I’ve been following Lisa for a while and it’s been so fun to see her get after it the past few months.
Venkat Suveki is celebrating his first “Strategic No” as part of the 1,000 Rejections Challenge—"No” is just a filter indeed.
Amelia M. Burton originally posted this in January, but I talked to her recently and she told me she’s been keeping up (and continuing to far exceed) her personal goal of submitting a story at least once a month. An excellent goal!
Lia Zneimer got some exciting career news recently [read about it below!] and shared with me that she applied for two jobs in March that she never heard back from... which was a blessing in disguise because it pointed her toward three opportunities that were better aligned with her current needs. 🎉
It’s so exciting to see folks start to view rejection in a different light—who says a silly internet trend can’t get us meaningful results?
And for those of you going on this journey with me, let me know in the comments: How are things going for you so far? Where is your rejection count at for 2026? Let’s celebrate the uncomfortable together!
Rejection is hard. Let’s get through it together.
xoxo Ashley
I’ve been waiting for this one! Congrats on an amazing month!! 🎉
I’ve started to think about some of my Substack work as part of the rejections challenge, too. Like today, I sent out a post reminding my readers about my 90-day paywall and inviting them to upgrade to paid. It’s like a big ask and I’m braced for rejection! But I figured, who knows what’ll happen if I just put it out there? 🤷♂️
OMG CONGRATS on waitlisting at McCormack /Tin House. That is huge!!! I still have not heard anything from my applications, but you have inspired me to go for as many rejections as I can get! lol