Writer's Fallout Shelter

The interesting thing is that we did revise the crap out of the story, and then another friend (and managing editor of another magazine) said she prefered a previous version and would've picked it immediately (we're wonderfully blunt with each other's work, so I can trust that statement). Most of the time when I'm adament about keeping something, there's a reason, and the prefered version is the one I had to begin with.

I was more wondering about other people's stories of publishing woe. And I know that practice helps us out of the mediocre lable, but I also know it's a matter of perception. Is there no other way to become non-mediocre without going mainstream?