Rejections

I received notice today that neither of my short stories were accepted for Rachel Kramer Bussel’s anthology “Best Women’s Erotica of the Year” 2016. This wasn’t my first rejection, nor, I’m certain, will it be my last. Each rejection, however, does put me in a confusing state of mind. I am a self-published author. I go the route of the self-published so I don’t have to put up with the constant wait time for contests and short story publications. I like to write the stories as they come to me, and often these types of publications have wordcount limits which seem stifling. But, if my stories are being rejected by professionals in the field, are they good enough to be self-published? Who knows. I’ll continue submitting for publication and self-publishing my stories. Writing is a passion, not a career at the moment. I’d rather have the freedom to tell my stories the way I want, rather than be stifled by submission guidelines.