R is For...

Rejection



I know a lot of you have already posted about rejection but I wanted to add my 2 cents worth. Although with the dollar falling it may be more like 1.7220 cents worth.

I must give a disclaimer that I have never had a rejection... YET. However I WANT one badly. A lot of writers feel very personal about rejections. They call them "heart-ripping-soul-sucking" letters of hate.

Do you really? I can understand if the agent/publisher is not professional and rips into you personally but I hope most will be interpreting my writing skills.

My thoughy on rejection is this:

I CAN"T WAIT!!

If someone is sending me a rejection letter then I have finished my book. If someone is sending me a rejection letter then someone other than family and friends is actually reading my work. I can learn from someone NOT required to think about my feelings. A rejection letter will happen. I've heard of writers receiving hundreds of rejection letters but still crank out book after book.

It's just part of a writer's life. Wear them as badges of battle. For me a rejection letter solidifies my status as writer.

At least that's how I'll feel until I get my first one. Then I may be a crying heap of self loathing covered in shame.

How do you feel about rejection? Have you received many rejection letters?

Also please check back tomorrow for a really awesome interview with L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick.

16 comments:

  1. Oy, I hate people who say this kind of stuff. It's not a red badge of courage; it's a scarlet letter saying that the publishing industry thinks you suck. Stop being delusional already!

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  2. Rogue,
    LOL. Delusional is my middle name. For me personally I will welcome a rejection letter. My first one will go in a frame to be hung over my desk. Driving me forward to do better. The rest that follow will go into a lovely three ring notebook to be cherished for all times. Not for the rejection ,but for the humility it brings. For the fact that not everyone will like my work and to remind me that a true writer will keep fighting for what they believe in. Good luck with your writing and rejection letters.

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  3. Now that's a great way to look at it!!

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  4. You have to go through the no's to get a yes.

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  5. I got a rejection on a childrens book I wrote...totally crushed.

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  6. Heard a story just yesterday about a woman who entered a contest submitting 100 pages of her work online. The prize was representation. She got several agents asking for more of her work and an offer of representation. The clincher is that many of them, including the one who offered her representation, had already 'rejected' her proposal through the traditional query system.

    Don't be so quick to imagine that a flurry of passes on your work = you suck as a writer. The current manner in which we query - one of an avalanche of electronic summaries being thrown at a being of finite capacity with no stem in the tide - is definitely stacked against the writer. There are other factors, not just skill and a good story, that determine whether and when you get published.

    mybabyjohn- you just pick your crushed self up and reinflate. There is definitely a child out there who will be influenced by your work. How do I know this? You've finished, you've submitted, you've endured the agony of that pass. You'll keep advancing.

    Two solid cents.

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  7. I have to admit, I kind of look forward to rejections for the same reason. I've gotten some in my day, and they do really suck. But there's always a silver lining of some kind!

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  8. Every one of them hurts a little - but you get used to it. Onward and upwards!

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  9. I have a few rejection letters for short stories.

    I'll have to agree with what you've said. And the very fact that you've received a rejection letter means that you've taken action, you've actually done something, where it comes to your writing. No rejections probably means no submissions.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  10. I totally agree with you. I await my first rejection letter, because that means I have completed a manuscript. And like you, I think I want one now but when the time comes will most likely crawl up into a ball and stay that way until hunger forces me to move.

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  11. Yeah, although I'm not too fond of the rejection letter, it's sort of fun to get them. It means you (and I) are playing the "author" game. It's a fun but difficult game.

    :)

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  12. Lisa- I love your positive attitude. I share your enthusiasm because a rejection means I'm trying. I'm doing something to follow my dreams.

    It will still suck and I'm sure i'll need you and beloved husband to scrape me off the floor and plop me back in front of the computer. I agree with Suze rejection doesn't necessarily mean you suck.

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  13. I too look forward to my first rejection, because at least it will mean I'm out there querying. HOPEFULLY it'll mean that my work wasn't a fit for that person, but is ready to be queried. :P and not that I need to go back and revise revise REVISE!

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  14. Glad to find ya and wish you luck. I've had dozens, approaching hundreds, of rejections. But now they are much less frequent. Don't submit until your work is ready and ready by standards other than your mom.
    The letter hurts, and not a little, but it does teach you to keep plugging at.

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