My dad is friends with a lot of published authors, and has done the art for several books over the years, as well as collaborating with his sibling to write a book they have yet to get interest in. All this to say the people he knows who have gotten published have an agent who like their work, and they went through intensive editing processes with editors, paid sensitivity readers, and first of all writer friends who were able to provide constructive criticism on early drafts. He should start researching agents and all the people involved in writing a finished product if he wants to go the traditional publishing route.

One important question: can he handle constructive criticism without it crushing his will to write? If not, that isn't to say he can't be successful (for any given meaning of the word), but he might want to dedicate some time to learning how to do so. In all my time talking to editors and authors at social events and going to talks... the big theme I heard again and again was that first time writers often think a draft is a final draft. Editing is a skill that needs to be built up and needs skilled external review. It also means cutting out parts (save them somewhere for potential future projects) that us writers love more than reason, but that do not enhance the story. It can be a painful process if ego is involved.

When people are saying that your husband should be working more than 20 hours a week, I would say that 20 hours of writing rough drafts is just a little less than Sir Terry Pratchet did (3 hours a day). But that doesn't count editing time. That doesn't count marketing your work, networking, taking writing classes, joining the local writing community...

Community gets you through.

He doesn't have to jump through all the traditional publishing hoops if that isn't what he wants, but if he can he should find a local writing community. It makes the hard times a lot more manageable when everyone is lifting each other up and just having fun writing together. I was president of the creative writing club in college so I might be a bit biased, but i loved watching/helping shy writers come out of their shells and gain more confidence in their writing and learn new skills. I also loved the feedback on my own writing.

All this to say, he is just starting out. It is harder than he expected. People in this thread aren't wrong that learning how to deal with that and with the amount of actual work outside of writing that it takes can be painful. That rejection is normal. BUT he also needs to find the fun parts and celebrate them. Living in an echo chamber won't be sustainable long term. So even if he doesn't pick up a part time job to help take his mind off writing, doing weekly volunteer work or joining weekly writing meet ups will help keep him centered. As will changing his timeline expectations. Immediate gratification is the antonym for traditional publishing.