Hello there! New to this forum so I don’t know if you’ve had any luck since your post, but I saw you had t received a response and thought I’d share what I’ve learned about propagating succulents. Unfortunately, yes the leaves need to have a clean break from the stem. (And after that, they need to dry out and callous for a few days so that they won’t absorb water too quickly and rot.) If the leaves’ ends are damaged or torn/missing, they will just rot. What kind of succulent was it? I may have some leaves (have some with roots already formed!) that I could send your way if you’re interested in retrying!

It was a Topsy Turvey Echeveria, but I can't receive mailed plants now, because it's way too hot in Florida. They just fry in the boxes, and I receive dead plants, so it would be wasted postage. Thanks anyway, but I'm just going to try to find one in the store that is healthy and pay full price for it.

All but one of the leaves rotted, but one tiny one that had it's base, seems to be hanging in there. I'm not hopeful, but who knows? Miracles do happen.

did it survive? if so, pictures?

No, it didn't survive, in fact, only one of the 6 plants in the pack lived. The root rot must have been more advanced than I thought. They looked healthy, but you never can tell. The last one, which I haven't ID'd yet, is getting stretchy, and this is the sunniest window I have, so I may have to give it to someone who can give it a better home.

oh well. poor little things