I was going to start this post off by saying "It's not a pretty business," But it's not really that ugly either. Not once you get used to it. Although it's still not the most pleasant subject I suppose. No one likes rejection.
Yet rejection is as much a part of the writing process as actually writing the book.
Why?
Well because once you finish the whole process of writing and editing and re-writing and re-editing your book/story/poem/word craft of choice. What are you going to do with it? Why try to get it published of course! There's a lot that can be written about the process of publishing. Many ways to go about it and so on. But that's not our focus today.
So you have what you consider a nice piece of work, say a 40,000 word manuscript. You novel. Your baby. With all the joy and love of a parent sending her child out into the world for the first time, you send your little guy off in a query letter to an agent. Then you wait with baited breath.
One little suggestion here though. Don't hold your breath too long. Everything in the writing process takes a while and we wouldn't want you to die. Instead, it's always a good idea to keep working on your next project(s)
Six to nine to twelve weeks later, you open up your email. Lo and Behold there is a reply to your query from the agent! Your heart skips a beat, your stomach jumps with excitement because you know, just know that you have written the next Great American Novel. You are the next Austen, Dickens, Rowling. You are sure that this book is worthy of being published and you are sure that as soon as everyone else reads it they will instantly feel the same way.
You open up the letter, your heart lifting. Only to have it come crashing down a few moments later.
Dear Author,
Thank you for querying [Literary Agency]. Unfortunately this project is not right for us. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
[Agent Name]
What? That's it? Well, obviously they don't know what they're talking about. You do some research, find a better match and send another query to another agent. Six, nine, twelve weeks later you get another email. Another moment where your heart leaps until you open it up.
Dear [Author's Name]
We appreciate you sharing your work with us. Though we receive over 100 queries a day, we go over each one personally. Unfortunately your project is not a good match for us at this time. We wish you the best as you continue your writing journey.
Sincerely,
[Agent Name]
Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
And that's just for agents. You could skip the agent process and try to go directly to the publishing house itself, but then your manuscript sits in the slush pile for months until you finally get a letter of similar form. So you get discouraged, and you feel like you must be a horrible writer and soon you stop trying because, what's the point anyway? You lock your manuscript away where it spends years and years just gathering dust and breaking down. Right? WRONG!
If you're a beginning writer, do yourself a favor now. Learn to take criticism. If you can take criticism, you will be able to see your story through different eyes. You will be able to realize the flaws in what you are writing and be able to fix them and make them better.
Which brings me to my next point. The most valuable rejection letters you will ever receive are the personal ones. The ones where the agent/editor/whoever has actually taken the time to read your piece and has made comments on it. Things they liked, things they didn't like. These are the hardest letters to get sometimes, but they give you an idea of what works and what doesn't.
This happened to me recently. I had a piece of flash fiction I'd written and I was quite proud of it. I took it to my writer's group and they for the most part liked it and seemed to get it. Feeling encouraged, I sent it to a place that publishes such little stories online. After waiting three months, I finally heard back from them. It was a personal rejection. At first, I was mortified and upset. Obviously, they hadn't gotten what I was trying to do. As I thought about it though, I realized this was a good thing. Well, it wasn't a good thing that they didn't get it, but it was a good thing to know. I read the letter again and made note of what the editors thought the issues were. They asked questions. It occurred to me that if my point wasn't clear in the way I'd written, then it wasn't an effective piece of writing. Now I know and can go back and adjust what needs to be adjusted.
So, bottom line: Rejection is part of being an author. Get used to it. Even if you're self-published and think you have no reason to fear, get used to it. Not everyone is always going to give you a five star rating. Pay attention to the constructive criticism and use what you can. It's hard to deal with sometimes in our "everyone can do everything and be good at it" society, but it's definitely a valuable resource.
And that's just for agents. You could skip the agent process and try to go directly to the publishing house itself, but then your manuscript sits in the slush pile for months until you finally get a letter of similar form. So you get discouraged, and you feel like you must be a horrible writer and soon you stop trying because, what's the point anyway? You lock your manuscript away where it spends years and years just gathering dust and breaking down. Right? WRONG!
If you're a beginning writer, do yourself a favor now. Learn to take criticism. If you can take criticism, you will be able to see your story through different eyes. You will be able to realize the flaws in what you are writing and be able to fix them and make them better.
Which brings me to my next point. The most valuable rejection letters you will ever receive are the personal ones. The ones where the agent/editor/whoever has actually taken the time to read your piece and has made comments on it. Things they liked, things they didn't like. These are the hardest letters to get sometimes, but they give you an idea of what works and what doesn't.
This happened to me recently. I had a piece of flash fiction I'd written and I was quite proud of it. I took it to my writer's group and they for the most part liked it and seemed to get it. Feeling encouraged, I sent it to a place that publishes such little stories online. After waiting three months, I finally heard back from them. It was a personal rejection. At first, I was mortified and upset. Obviously, they hadn't gotten what I was trying to do. As I thought about it though, I realized this was a good thing. Well, it wasn't a good thing that they didn't get it, but it was a good thing to know. I read the letter again and made note of what the editors thought the issues were. They asked questions. It occurred to me that if my point wasn't clear in the way I'd written, then it wasn't an effective piece of writing. Now I know and can go back and adjust what needs to be adjusted.
So, bottom line: Rejection is part of being an author. Get used to it. Even if you're self-published and think you have no reason to fear, get used to it. Not everyone is always going to give you a five star rating. Pay attention to the constructive criticism and use what you can. It's hard to deal with sometimes in our "everyone can do everything and be good at it" society, but it's definitely a valuable resource.
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