Blogger: Rachel Kent
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Have you ever received a rejection for one of your projects? I bet that, if you’ve been submitting your project for any longer than two months, you have received a rejection letter.
Sometimes, after we at Books & Such reject a project, we will receive an email back from the author that either is meant to hurt us or that reveals how hurt the writer is because we rejected the project. Even the emails meant to hurt us usually just show us how hurt that writer is by the rejection.
It’s so easy to assume rejections are personal, but I’m here to tell you that it’s not personal! It’s so easy to feel rejected because your project has been passed up, but the truth is that agents can only take on so many clients at a time.
This client number isn’t set in stone, and it’s different for each agent, but all of us agents have the same amount of time each week to work on proposals, submit projects, and negotiate contracts. Those hours can be stretched only so thin, which is why we are selective with the projects we represent. I like so many of the stories I read, but if a book needs quite a bit of work or if my emotions aren’t 100% involved as I read the story, I’m going to have to pass on representation. As you can see, it’s not personal, it’s business.
I know rejections aren’t easy to take, but I hear it gets easier the longer you are in the business. Keep trusting God’s timing and work on developing a tough skin when it comes to critiques and rejections. The writers who persevere are the ones who end up published. If you give up, you’re chances are miniscule.
How do you handle rejections? If you’ve received several rejections, are they easier to take after awhile?
“The writers who persevere are the ones who end up published. If you give up, you’re chances are miniscule.”
Very sound and encouraging advice, Rachel. The longer you write, the better you become, so the rejections tend to come less frequently. That’s been my experience, anyway. And when they do come, they aren’t as painful because you have acceptances to prove others have wanted to print what you’ve written.
Rejection letters always take a toll on my confidence. At first, it took days (or weeks) to regain it, but with each rejection that time shortens.
I don’t like rejection, but it brings to mind the nature of Christ–who was “despised and rejected” (Isaiah 53:3). God uses rejection to make me more like Jesus. Now, if only it wasn’t so painful –sigh–
I think freelancing has helped me understand that rejections are absolutely not personal. 90% of the time, I would say that my stories get rejected because my take on the material doesn’t fit with the editor’s understanding of what their audience wants to read. Sometimes I still pitch stories that I think people SHOULD read, not necessarily ones that they WILL. Editors understand the difference, because the latter sells, and the former does not. If editors don’t get sales, then they lose their jobs.
If I create a pitch that is too much about me (ie, about what I want to write) and not balanced with what people want to read… if I don’t present information in a way that connects to a certain audience’s needs… then I get rejected. That rejection is about me needing to learn to do business better; it’s not at all an indictment of my writing or knowledge. It’s definitely not personal.
🙂 Usually! (So I tell myself.) And I imagine there is some crossover for that rejection pattern with the fiction market.
However, I will add… twice I have editors coming back to me a couple of months later and then asking me to write the story. And three times, I have seen that a staff writer ended up taking on the idea that I originally pitched. ! but, that is how it goes. And they executed it differently than I pitched, too. I just might not have been the right person for the story.
I’ve put my trust in Him on this one.
Rejection does sting, but I learn from each one.
I’ve gotten better about handling them – and yes, I’ve gotten a few. It takes me a bit to get over it, but I move on and figure it isn’t God’s timing, or God’s person, for the project.
Up until I signed with my agent (Wendy), a little over a year ago, I’d had nothing but rejections since the early 1990s. You do grow a tougher skin, and learn to trust God’s timing. The latter being the most important thing I’ve learned as a writer.
The first time my writing was rejected came in the form of a couple of bad scores in a contest. I stopped writing for months. Eventually I was able to look at the feedback and leave my emotions behind.
Now, if I receive feedback with a rejection I dive into the rewrites. Skipping that stubborn, moody phase helps me to focus on improving my writing…instead of improving my sulking. 🙂
Rejection letters bother me for about 24 hours. I don’t have time to waste on moping about them. I was lucky that my research paid off for Little Shepherd. I spent time getting to know the publisher. I reviewed several of their books. I corresponded with the founder during two online writers conferences about what they were looking for and what mistakes they often saw. I also spoke with several of their authors on how they felt about working with them. When I sat down to work on Little Shepherd, I wrote it in such a manner I felt would work into one of their lines. The manuscript was accepted after an additional round of edits.
Article writing wasn’t as successful. I targeted national magazines, which might be part of the problem. The fastest rejection letter I received came within a week of my submission. That stung, but I hope I learned from it.
I think rejections get easier as you push forward. Each time you get a personal note on a form rejection or, better yet, a personal rejection it makes you realize you are one step closer to finding the right place for your work. Perhaps along the way your work is getting better and that will help you find the right place. You have to be prepared for rejections and relish in the small victories. 🙂
Awesome advice, Rachel. 🙂
“Keep trusting God’s timing”
That’s the key, I think. I thank God for rejections. I trust that he will withhold no good thing from me, and if he wants me published, he’ll see to it at the proper time (he’ll give me the skill to write books that should be published, and then he’ll give me the contracts). So to me a rejection is just as good as an offer, because they both come from a God who is ordering my steps perfectly.
Rejections prove I’m a writer and I’d much rather get one than have a submission completely ignored, as many publications that use e-mail now do.
Rejections should be read and then put aside for the night. Come back the next day and read through it. If the reason for the rejection is listed, take a look at your manuscript. Use this time to make it better.
After you’ve edited and learned from the rejection, very best advice is send that baby out again.
And of course, pray about it. 🙂
Rejections aren’t easy…but are a reality and part of the “business” of being an author. I have been so encouraged by this story about Kathryn Stockett who wrote “The Help”…she racked up 60 rejections, but kept pressing on…now her book will become a movie!
http://www.more.com/kathryn-stockett-help-best-seller?page=2
Let us encourage one another…to keep pressing forward and to persevere!
Rejections are simply a part of being a writer. I can’t believe that writer’s send such angry emails.
I’ve gotten close with some of my stories, but with every rejection I reexamine my story to see what I can do to change it or improve it; did I miss any grammar errors? Or I examine the rejection letter to see if there might be a chance of resubmitting after I make changes. An editor okayed a resubmit after I reinquired. Sadly, it was still rejected. I did change the tone and direction of the story. Maybe that was my mistake. Too much rewrite?
The first discussion of my topic with a ‘successful’ author was and has continued to be a huge encouragement.
The second author discussion felt like a wet blanket – in a 3 hour car ride taking him back to airport, he probably said “I don’t mean to be negative, but…” forty times as he listed numerous reasons NOT to write a book.
After returning home I wrote him back saying that even if never published, I’ve grown so much from the process of research/speaking/writing that I didn’t think I could stop.
He immediately wrote back and said “That’s the answer I was looking for! Go for it!” And, yes, he’s committed to endorsing the book.
I think a post several months ago on this blog said something like “if quitting is on the table as an option, you can probably go ahead and do it.”
Do what you’re called to do, and even in the tough times you can’t imagine doing anything else.
Rejection is a part of writing — and life.
Just as, “it is better to have loved and lost, then to have never loved at all,” I say, “it is better to have written and lost, than to have never written at all.”
Write on!
I mapped out two years’ worth of agents to query before sending out the first one. So when a rejection comes in, it hurts, but I know what to do next.