On June 21, 1939, Isaac Asimov waltzed into the offices of the Astounding Science Fiction magazine and asked to see the editor. Upon meeting, Asimov handed John Wood Campbell a bundle of papers. It was his first sci-fi story, and he wanted it published.

Campbell promised to read it.

Two days later, Asimov got a letter. His story was rejected. “He didn’t like the slow beginning, the suicide at the end,” Asimov wrote in his diary. The length, the narration, and the dialog also caused problems. Asimov didn’t give up.

“The thrill of talking face to face…with an idol had already filled me with the ambition to write another science fiction story, better than the first, so that I could try him again,” Asimov writes.

Campbell and Asimov became acquaintances, and years later, Asimov asked Campbell what made him take a chance on someone whose first story “was surely utterly impossible.”

“It was.” Campbell replied. “On the other hand, I saw something in you. You were eager and you listened and I knew you wouldn’t quit no matter how many rejections I handed you. As long as you were willing to work hard at improving, I was willing to work with you.”

There are two lessons from this remarkable story:

1. If you want to meet someone, send them an email.

If you want an editor to read your work, walk into their office. Be proactive. No one owes you anything. No matter how talented you may be – or think you are – you have to put in the work.

2. You must be willing, ready, and able to face rejection.

It will come. Other people will get the likes and shares, and you’ll feel overlooked. That’s rejection. Others will be published in newsletters or promoted on podcasts. That’s rejection. Don’t pout. Learn from it. Asimov’s first story had choppy dialogue; his second didn’t. Little by little, his stories started to take shape and become well-rounded science fiction. That didn’t happen by accident.

That’s how great work gets created. Little by little.