Leah Bobet is an up and coming fantasy and science fiction writer whose stories and poems have been published in places like Strange Horizons, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, and a number of prestigious reprint anthologies. In addition to being a great writer, she obviously she has enough name recognition that her submissions don't get buried in the slush piles.
But despite this success, she still receives many more rejections than acceptances. I know this because she tracks her submissions on her website. For example, in 2003 she wrote 101,150 words of fiction and poetry, made 179 submissions, and received 151 rejections and 17 acceptances. As her success has grown through the years, her ratio of rejections to acceptances has improved, but she still receives many more rejects than acceptances. Such is the life of any writer.
I think Leah's submission statistics are a great illustration of the hard work a writer must put in to be successful. I suggest new writers look at her numbers. If you aren't willing to put in that type of effort, don't expect to be successful.
