Ten lessons about publishing from an editor

Publishing an article, essay or book is not easy. I have met a number of people over the years who assume that publishing is only a matter of having a good idea and then sending it off to a journal. In reality, there are many good ideas out there that are not necessarily publishable. There is also limited space and only so many articles can published in a given journal. Those who think that getting something published is easy probably haven't tried. 

Over at Crux Sola Nijay Gupta refelcts on ten lessons he has learned from serving as one of the founding editors for the Journal for the Study of  Paul and His Letters. He offers some good advice for those wanting to submit research for publication. I found his first point to be a helpful reminder that everyone gets rejected.

Rejection is extremely common and happens to everyone regardless of stature. We have gotten articles from well-known scholars and we have received submissions from grad students. Because the process is peer-reviewed blindly (anonymously), preference is not given to the “big names.” As an editor, sometimes I cringe when I see that a reputable scholar has to be sent a rejection email. But – that is part of academia. A rejection is not a reflection on  your qualifications as a teacher or even a scholar. It is just that your one article, on this occasion, did not meet the standards for this journal by the two or three reviewers that we sent it to. Nobody likes rejection, but please do your best not to take it personally. In this world, you will hear “no” a lot more than you will “yes.”

You can read his entire post here. It's a god piece that can help you from making the kinds of mistakes that will earn you a rejection letter.