Author: Mark Heath

I'm a freelance cartoonist. My work has appeared in Reader's Digest, Harvard Business Review, American Scientist, Woman's World, and others. I'm also the creator of Spot the Frog, a comic strip you can find at Gocomics.com.

This is Why Rejection Hurts So Much

~ Mark Heath ~ Leave a comment

And by rejection, I mean the sort that arrives in your SASE, if you still submit work by envelope.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Not quite right.

Try again. 

And if you submit by email, or some other hocus-pocus meant to erase stamp and paper from your day, I think the animus of paper never really disappears.*

Whatever it is that animates paper needs to find a new host. I think it occupies its replacement.

Here’s my proof: when an email dismisses, insults or ignores your work, it slices fast and deep.**

It’s the sharp and cutting edge of rejection.

Even without the paper, nothing hurts like a paper cut.

*If you don’t believe that paper has an animal nature, I offer one word: Origami.

**The pain will depend on the thickness of your skin, and the depth of your career.

Why Do Paper Cuts Hurt So Much? – Mental Floss.