Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
A while back a friend of mine, a popular multi-published author, delivered a manuscript to the publisher, only to have the editor reject it and send the author back to the drawing board. They didn’t cancel the contract, but they asked for a different book.
Now I know that sounds like your worst nightmare. To finally be a successful author, have multiple contracts, people loving your books… only to have a manuscript outright rejected by the publisher. It can be devastating, and frustrating, and it can make you question a lot of things.
I’ve been involved in several situations similar to this. Sometimes the editor doesn’t reject the book, but requests extensive revisions or rewrites. They might extend the deadline and even the release date, give the author a complete set of notes, and allow them to come back later with a rewritten manuscript.
I’m telling you this because I want you to remember a couple of things:
1. Your work is always going to be subject to what others think. [Tweet this.] On the upside, it means that others force you to do your best work. This may cause you headaches and set-backs, but it will probably be for the best. Whether it’s an agent, a publisher, or your readers, you can take it as an opportunity to improve your craft.
2. It’s not the end of the world. Having a book sent “back to the drawing board” is a possibility, and if it happens to you, try not to feel ashamed and dejected, believing you’re a failure and you must be the only person to whom this has ever happened. It’s not a failure but rather part of your learning curve. [Tweet this.] Many writers have gone through it before you.
Usually if this happens, the publisher is able to adjust their schedule and give you time to fix the book or write a new one.
There is another kind of situation that doesn’t have such a happy ending, and that’s where the publisher outright rejects your book, saying you didn’t deliver what you said you would. They want to cancel the contract and ask for their advance back.
Don’t panic. It rarely happens! But it’s possible. This is why agents are so concerned about representing authors who are truly ready to deliver the manuscripts they say they will.
And this is why many of us push our authors to write as much of the book as possible before we sell it — first, to make it easier to sell, and second, to avoid any unpleasant surprises like a rejected manuscript and canceled contract.
At least if you have an agent, you have someone to go to bat for you and try to negotiate another solution besides paying back the advance.
Bottom line: None of us are ever too old, too experienced, or too great a writer to avoid rejection. [Tweet this.]
A rejection by a publisher doesn’t even mean your book isn’t a good one. It just means it wasn’t what the publisher expected and they don’t think they’d be successful selling it. It’s not necessarily a judgment on your writing.
Darn it, I’m not going to be able to end this post with a happy platitude.
Can anyone help me out? What’s the upside here?
And how will you cope if you’re sent back to the drawing board? [Tweet this.]
peter
Rachelle, I can see that being hard, but the root cause is trying to own our own works. I worked for a firm that was built up by someone, until shareholders could buy in. One day we got into an argument about business principle and she kept saying, “but its my baby” – worse yet, she said that in front of the shareholders. Another so clung to his “baby” that he kept rejecting potential funding partners until all he had was his baby. Rejection would be seen objectively if we did not own our own work. Then it would be more a rejection of what was submitted, not a rejection of the writer. Its worth knowing that the more personally we take feedback, the less ready we are for the real world of publishing – because, actually, its not about us at all. That is especially true of Christian works, which we do for His glory not our own.
Jeanne Takenaka
Good words, Peter. We need to hold “our” works with a loose hand, and invite others into the process of being published.
peter
Nicely put Jeanne
Shelli Littleton
So true, Peter. If we hold too tightly, it can’t be shared with anyone.
Rachelle Gardner
Those are fantastic examples, Peter. Thanks!
Norma Brumbaugh
Often times a person has to dig deep inside themself to find real truth. When we aren’t willing to do that, we fail to see the big picture and our part in it. No man is an island… Peter, your real life example hit all the right notes.
Shirlee Abbott
I go through a mini version of back-to-the-drawing-board panic with every critique response. A part of me hopes that it will deemed perfect in every way. The sensible part of me knows that there is always room for improvement.
* Sometimes my strongest reaction comes when I already know that it isn’t my best work. I want someone to say it is good enough. But as Peter mentioned, it is supposed to be for God’s glory. Less than my best dilutes the glory.
* And when my best work meets with criticism, I try to remember that my response is also supposed to glorify God.
Jeanne Takenaka
Shirlee, I like your reminder that our response to criticism or rejection should also glorify God. So hard to do sometimes, at least for my initial response. 😉
Rachelle Gardner
Shirlee, like you, my strongest response is when I agree that it wasn’t my best work. Great point!
Jackie Layton
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but here are two thoughts.
If the publisher says show me your next story, maybe it’s the right story at the wrong time?
Often after athletes have an injury, they go through rehab and come back stronger. If you have faith in your publisher, just like the athlete has faith in his/her doctors and trainers, and if you follow their suggestions, your book will be stronger than ever.
And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!”
Jeanne Takenaka
I love this mindset, Jackie. 🙂
Jeanne Takenaka
I’m not very good with happy platitudes. But, I’m thinking if we can keep a big-picture perspective it might make it easier to not become overly discouraged by the rejection.
*I’m learning that when readers/critique partners don’t like something I’ve written, it’s an invitation to make it better. Dealing with a publisher’s rejection would be harder, but it would definitely challenge me to evaluate the book and figure out how to write/revise it so it’s a stronger story.
*I agree with Peter. Ultimately, the stories I write are God’s stories, but it’s my responsibility to craft and write them to the best of my ability to bring Him glory.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
I’m sorry for your friend’s trouble, Rachelle.
* It seems to me that the Lost Love Paradigm is a good metaphor for this kind of situation. We enter into relationships – dating and marriage – with the thought that all will turn out well, and that the relationship and the love will endure.
* Yet so often, that isn’t the case, and we’re left with our dreams and hearts broken, wondering if we can ever get there again…because how can something that was so right go so horribly wrong?
* It’s not the end of the world…but in a way it IS, and accepting that – and not minimizing the pain – is the key to recovery. I’ve cleaned out many, many wounds, including my own, and the key is to clean everything…remove the bullet (or fragments), pieces of clothing, pieces of vegetation and so on before closing. The process hurts, but infection from trying to heal over an “unresolved past” hurts more.
* It’s trite to say “it was ultimately all for the best”; we don’t KNOW that, and we can’t. The alternate ‘negative’ future in which the book was accepted or the love endured is our own construct, designed to ease our own hearts. We can’t now what would have happened.
* But we can recognize heartbreak for what it is, and offer it up to God as the sacrifice writ small, a wound that binds our hearts to His, as He gave His Son.
Shelli Littleton
Yes, Andrew. And … can this be salvaged? Can any of it be salvaged? Let’s see what we can salvage. “Offer it up to God” … yes.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Exactly that, Shelli…what can be made of the mess?
* Awhile back, when I could still do such things, I was welding up the horizontal stabilizer for an aeroplane (the horizontal fixed surface at the tail), when I noticed that I had a problem…the heat from welding had caused it to warp at one of the hinge points, and that would never do. After a few minutes of auto-Tourette, I realized that there was a ‘surgical’ fix…I could cut out the affected area, and weld in a replacement.
* It would never again be pristine (the splice would ever be visible), but perfection was exchanged for learning. (And though the area was relatively lightly stressed and didn’t require it, the repair would be the strongest part fo the assembly).
Rachelle Gardner
I really like the analogy to love relationships, Andrew. The feelings are much the same!
Richard Mabry
Although it’s uncommon, every writer should recognize this possibility. Whether they turn around and deliver on the request or fold their hands and sigh separates the true author from the wannabe. I believe it was Nietzsche who said that whatever didn’t kill us makes us stronger. Or, in the words of the hymn writer, “The flame shall not hurt thee. I only design thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” Thanks for sharing this.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Richard, I’m not sure that I agree with Nietzsche…there are things which don’t kill us, but that truly, utterly suck, and leave us to go on as less than we were before. Attitude helps, but attitude isn’t everything, and while the flames may not consume one, the scars from third-degree burns are there to the end of this life.
Richard Mabry
Andrew, I can understand what you’re saying. Everyone’s situation is different, but in the scenario Rachelle describes, I simply feel the mark of a dedicated writer is to pout for a while, have some chocolate, and then embark on doing it again.
James Scott Bell
Here’s your happy platitude: “Never assume that a rejection of your stuff is also a rejection of you as a person. Unless it’s accompanied by a punch in the nose.” — Ron Goulart
Rachelle Gardner
Now THAT’S a platitude I can get behind. Thanks, Jim! 🙂
Iola
Well said. In the same way, critical reviews are criticising a product you produced, not you.
Shelli Littleton
A multi-published author? Wow. That’d be like Max Lucado. I can’t imagine anyone saying that to him. Or rejecting his work. Upside? Well, they are multi-published and probably have an agent for help. More than many hopefuls. But I know that would be discouraging. I’m not saying this is the case, but truth is, we all can get lazy … misunderstand … have hard seasons to write in … little time (putting too much on our plates) … our heart just not in our work for some reason … our brain just feels like mush. 🙂 Sometimes we have to refocus. And yeah, like others said, it’s a time to find out what we are made of … can we go deeper than we thought? Press on? But boy, that stings. 🙂
Shelli Littleton
I think most writers know how rejection feels. “No. I don’t like this.” Writers know rejection. I imagine after much success, the unexpected rejection would sting, unexpectedly. It would mentally sling you back to your pre-published days.
NLB Horton
The upside is that each of us is a WIP: spiritually, emotionally, professionally.
In my old career, I was very responsive to clients (because they paid the bills) who used my company for large projects. Although my company did creative work, I could not tolerate an “artistic attitude” on the team, and every one of us had to be able to accept criticism or redirection with grace.
The publisher is my client now. My job is to write my best work and to please them, whatever that means. (And I dearly hope that my work pleases readers.)
In the meantime, the advance will sit in a money market account, untouched until the publisher is happy.
Thanks for such a good post, Rachelle.
Rachelle Gardner
So smart! We are ALL a WIP. Thanks for the wise words!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
A bit hesitant to post this, but it might help illuminate the question, and might give resonance for someone facing something similar. I hope so, and ask your pardon for the rather personal nature of this comment.
* Recently I learned that a very important part of my life had changed, and could never go back to the way it was. It would continue, but the hopes I had were lost, and the memories diminished.
* It was heartbreak, pure and simple, but when I walked outside after the moment of knowing, I had an odd sensation of being ‘taller’, and in this was a challenge. I could slide into bitterness and despair, or I could play the man, even though my soul was shredded. The choice was mine, and while I could not control nor redeem the situation, I COULD control at least my outward reaction, and that decision might one day provide some relief from the sorrow and anger that was consuming me.
* But it’s a process, and the decision to play the game as a gentleman was only the kickoff. The rest is a process, and there have been, and will be setbacks. The efforts I’d taken to maintain morale, in the face of a terminal illness and to find a meaning in what I can still do was undermined, and morale still on life support, as it were. It may return; it may not. Time will tell, but time does not heal all.
* In the meantime, though, I’m trying to keep to the routine that I’d established when things seemed brighter, and above all to attend to the duties I can still undertake, because I suspect that responsibility is the only real road from devastation.
Rachelle Gardner
Andrew, I love these words so much. “I could slide into bitterness and despair, or I could play the man, even though my soul was shredded.” It’s a choice we all face from time to time. And I know your personal struggle is more harrowing than most of us can imagine. Thank you for chiming in here with your wise words born of experience.
Carol Ashby
Rachelle,
Here’s a platitude born of my own experience. When the funding dried up, I had to leave a research area where I often gave invited talks and helped organize conferences. When everything goes too well, it’s alarmingly easy for me to start thinking I’m bigger stuff than I really am. I’m proud of my great humility, but it has its limits.
“A forced change of direction may really be God protecting you from the spiritual hazard of too much success.” – Carol I. H. Ashby (my scientific “pen name”)
Rachelle Gardner
Sounds like more than a platitude, Carol. More like a proverb!
Kristen Joy Wilks
Goodness, that is scary! Hmmm…I’ve always told myself that I would always write the complete book first and then try to sell it rather than be under a deadline/contract to write it…just wondering, would this work? Can this be my super safe and awesome plan or are there difficulties with that as well?
Rachelle Gardner
That’s a great plan for the first book, Kristen. May not work for the ones after that. 🙂
Linda J. White
Here’s the upside: Better to disappoint an editor/publisher in private than a multitude of readers in public. I’ve recently been entranced by a previously unknown-to-me author. I devoured a whole line of her books in rapid succession, then came to a show-stopper: a poorly written, poorly conceived book (the ninth in the series, I think) that sent my view of this best-selling author crashing down. I was not the only on disappointed–the reader reviews are pretty bad. I thought, I wish someone had had the courage to tell her this storyline and the execution of it was simply wrong. Sadly, no one did. So let us be thankful when someone saves us from disaster!
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
I think something similar happened to Tom Clancy; his early and mid-career books were a bit bloated, but very readable, but toward the end of the ‘Jack Ryan’ books the work became something of a hagiography that enshrined the lead character using a voice that became mannered.
Rachelle Gardner
Wow, I love that perspective! “Better to disappoint an editor/publisher in private than a multitude of readers in public.” So true!
Leon Oziel
Maybe this will help. Guess who wrote this.
“A few months later, I sent it to a few more agents. And received a few more rejections. Well, more like 15. I was a little less giddy this time, but I kept my chin up. “Maybe the next book will be the one,” a friend said. Next book? I wasn’t about to move on to the next one just because of a few stupid letters. I wanted to write this book.
A year and a half later, I opened my 40th rejection: “There is no market for this kind of tiring writing.” That one finally made me cry. “You have so much resolve, XXXXXX,” a friend said to me. “How do you keep yourself from feeling like this has been just a huge waste of your time?”
That was a hard weekend. I spent it in pajamas, slothing around that racetrack of self-pity—you know the one, from sofa to chair to bed to refrigerator, starting over again on the sofa. But I couldn’t let go of XXX XXXX. Call it tenacity, call it resolve or call it what my husband calls it: stubbornness.
After rejection number 40, I started lying to my friends about what I did on the weekends. They were amazed by how many times a person could repaint her apartment. The truth was, I was embarrassed for my friends and family to know I was still working on the same story, the one nobody apparently wanted to read.”
This author received sixty, yes sixty rejection letters before her breakout novel.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
J. K. Rowling?
Leon
Not her.
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
Kathryn Stockett?
Leon Oziel
You got it Jennifer, with her book The Help which was also a fabulous movie.
Rachelle Gardner
Tell us the answer! I’m on pins and needles.
Leon
Jennifer guessed it.
DiAnn Mills
Rachelle, Insightful laced with a heavy dose of reality. I look at my editor/publisher as a team. That way when the rewrites come, I can view it as feedback from the team. Otherwise, I’ll crumble. Rejections, rewrites, redirections … are a fact of life if we’re going to change and grow.
Shelli Littleton
That is encouraging to hear from you, DiAnn. 🙂
Rachelle Gardner
DiAnn, you’re a true professional. Viewing the editor & publisher as your team makes it a little easier to deal with. You’re right, it’s all about growing, both as writers and as people.
Chris Malkemes
All I can say is a good work depends on a teachable spirit and if the author can’t have a teachable spirit then life gets tough for the agent, the publisher and even the reader. Good work takes good eyes and a good attitude.
Lara Hosselton
Call me crazy, but I find it somewhat encouraging to know that well known, multi-published authors still get rejections. We are human, only God’s word is perfect and there’s still hope for the unpublished little guy!
Jennifer Zarifeh Major
I just refuse to give up.
And my best work hasn’t happened yet.
NLB Horton
Even without knowing who wrote this, I knew who wrote this. You go, Jennifer!
Marti Pieper
You already have enough platitudes, but the same thing happened to a friend of mine. She rewrote the book and the publisher loved it. It has sold well, and now she’s received a contract from the same publisher for a second book.
I’m not sure about the lesson for her, but the lesson for ME was that I can always keep learning and must remain humble, willing to move forward from critique/criticism rather than allowing it to stop me.
John Wells
The practical side of this is that IF we write for a living, we’re subject to the approval of the person or organization that’s paying our salary, be it a technical paper, news article, short story or novel. Our work has to satisfy the need of the approval authority. If the assignment is unclear or misunderstood, we go to the adage “Money talks, b.s. walks.” Sorry, but that’s the way it is. Rejection is part of the writing experience, and if it’s rejected with explanation, that’s good. If it’s rejected out of hand, that’s bad. Bottom line: A writer(who writes at the professional level) must know what he or she is supposed to be writing about.