I just went through my rejected essay graveyard. There’s one about a white river rafting trip that I sent to every newspaper and magazine I could think of – and it was rejected time after time. Rereading the essay, I can understand why. The ending has everything but the seven dwarfs singing to the birds.

But there’s another essay about a five and a half hour delay in the Phoenix airport. It had been rejected first by a newspaper in Phoenix, And then by a national newspaper that I was so sure would love it that I had taken out all the stuff about drinking margaritas because they won’t publish anything about drinking, drugs or death. And even without the margaritas it was still a pretty good essay. Now I happen to know that there’s a new editor at this paper, so I thought why not try again?  I tightened the essay up a bit and sent it off. I’ll let you know what happens.

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Meanwhile, go through your own manuscript graveyard and see if there’s anything in it you can send out again. Maybe even to the same place.