Is there a point when you receive so many rejection letters as a writer that it's unrealistic to hope for a change in fortune? I've been sending short stories and poetry out for the past year and the pile of letters is beginning to topple over.Honestly, it depends on what you're getting out of the rejections. Most (all?) successful (and by successful, I mean have ever sold anything, ever) writers have an amazing stack of rejection letters under that first manuscript that went anywhere. So one way to look at is that you've done amazing job at persevering, which is pretty special. Most people give up way before now. Seriously, good keeping at it.
The question is, what are you getting out of these rejections? Are you learning anything, and is your writing improving? Has anyone given you any real feedback, or are they all form letters?
If you've got some personal notes from editors, great. Take their advice to heart and rewrite, and work on new projects. Revision's kind of a crap shoot for us; we really don't get excited about projects that need a lot of it, as so many writers can't do it. Use editorial suggestions to inform new work instead of focusing solely on rewriting one project to death.
If your feedback's remained completely generic, it might mean it's time to really examine the quality of your writing. What does your critique group say? You do have one, right?
Also, poetry and short stories are tough to sell. Make sure you're submitting to publications that want exactly what you're doing. (Odds are overwhelming it's not going in a book.)
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