Rejection letters are great, aren’t they? I remember getting one from the Slamdance Film Festival for a short subject film submission I sent way back in 2002. Now that’s a strange one to write about in context of freelance writing, but it was one of the first rejection letters I actually put up as a badge of pride. “See? I TRIED!”

It stayed on my refrigerator for two years. Then one day I spilled some coffee and I looked at that damn thing and decided that its time had come, especially since I had just run out of paper towels.

But there are actually plenty of uses for rejection letters besides the obvious. If you are struggling, maybe a little discouraged and fed up with all the trees being killed to tell you that you aren’t wanted at Publication X Inc, try these cathartic recycling methods to put those rejection slips to good use.

 10. Pranks–cross or white-out your own name and insert the name of another writer you know. Leave all the other details the same, drop it in an envelope and mail it to them. Let ’em wonder when they queried THAT one, and laugh when you finally get the bewildered phone call.

9. Dog Poo Cleanup–what better use for a rejection slip? You’re cleaning your yard and symbolically telling that editor what you think of their rejection letter all at the same time.

8. Art Projects–create an art piece with all your rejection notices. You can cut em up and rearrange all the text to say funny things (what the French call “detournament”) or fold, spindle & mutilate them. Another symbolic way to turn rejection into a statement.

7. Starter Fuel–use em to light a fire in a barcue grill or fireplace. The symbolism, oh, the SYMBOLISM!

 6. Gift Wrap–buy a book for a writer friend and use the rejection slips as wrapping paper. Only they will appreciate the humor in that one.

 5. Gift Cards–shred your rejections and mount the results on gift cards and put funny writer-related sayings in them. Sell these cards in your favorite indie bookstore and make a little money.

 4. Home Office Decor–you can collect enough rejections to paper a small section of office wall or put into a frame and hang. Instant art! Remember, the number of rejections you get is a barometer of your persistence.

3. Fashion Statement–Take the text of your favorite rejection letters and print it on a t-shirt. Or photograph your rejection letter close up and put THAT on a t-shirt. Print a bunch and sell them to other writers. Again, making money from failure is cool.

 2. Cliques–Start the first-ever “You Suck” club where you trade rejection letters with other writers. Sort of like those artsy chain letter clubs back in the 9os where people would send each other clip art, stamp art, collages, all kinds of crazy stuff.

1. Publish–Collect other people’s rejection letters and make a book out of them, sort of like those “Found” books, except this is less salacious and more aimed specifically at those who like to submit stuff to editors. Sure, it’s a niche market…but how much fun would that be? Imagine printing Kafka’s rejection notices, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, and other famous writers alongside the ones you and your fellow writing buddies get?

There must be MILLIONS of other uses for rejection notices…share your own in the comments section! We’d love to know what others are doing with theirs.