Articles on writing

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Rejection Letters
Aren't All Bad

"I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing.
They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in
his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'" ~ Saul Bellow

They Didn't Give Up

Okay, you've gotten a rejection letter from an agent or editor. It feels awful! Maybe it
was your first. Maybe it was number sixteen. Whichever it was, don't despair, you're
standing in really good company, so don't give up. These authors didn't.

If you are a romance writer, and maybe even if you aren't, you've probably read -- or at
least watched -- Margaret Mitchell's story, Gone with the Wind. Over 20 publishing
houses tuned that little story down before it sold.

Who hasn't heard of John Grisham in this day and age. Did you know that the fist
manuscript he wrote, A Time to Kill, was rejected 45 times before it was accepted?

Famous western novelist Louis L'Amour has sold countless books over the years.
Many of his stories have been made into movies, like The Quick and the Dead -- the
old one, not the newer version. His stories earned him over 300 rejections before he
ever sold a book.

Mary Higgins Clark is well known by mystery fans all over the world. She kept wiring
and sending out her novels, even after 40 rejections rolled in.

If you have children, you've probably spent at least a few hours with a Dr. Seuss book
in hand. He was the proud owner of nearly 30 rejections, and that was just from one
story.

Aren't you glad they filed those rejections away, and then kept on trying?

Rejection Letters Have Some Good Points

Getting a rejection from a publishing house -- or agent -- might leave you feeling
depressed, sad, angry, and more. That's okay, let yourself sink into the biggest pity
party known to man. Eat a ton of chocolate, watch a sad love story and cry your eyes
out, sit around in your PJ's until noon, but don't spend too much time on that party.
You have things to do, another publishing house to research, a new agent to check
out, and that manuscript to get back in the mail. There is also that new story you
should be working on.

Believe it or not, there are some good things you should remember about rejection.
What good things? Let me list a few. Oh, and let me add congratulation on that
rejection letter. You should be proud!

1) That rejection letter means you are a REAL writer.
2) You completed a manuscript. A whole story.
3) You wrote both a query letter and a synopsis; something that can be harder than
writing an entire novel.
4) When you were done, you looked through guidelines and found a publishing house
that printed your kind of story, or an agent who accepted the genre you write in..
5) With dreams overflowing, you addressed that envelope and mailed your baby into
the cold, hard world.
6) You used up more patience than you even knew you possessed, watching that mail
box and waiting to hear something, anything...probably for months.
7) When you got that rejection, you didn't give up, or you wouldn't be hear reading
this.

The Steps on the Rejection Ladder

When you at last get brave enough to send out your manuscript, the rejection letter
you might get could be the standard form letter. When I sent my first MS off about ten
years ago, I thought it was filled with great writing! Now looking back, I know it was
awful! It did get me my first rejection letter though.

Dear Author,

Thank you for thinking of DreamOn publishing, but at this time we feel your story does
not fit our needs. Best of luck placing your work elsewhere.

The Editors

Notice I'm an author, but they don't use my name, nor do they mention the title of my
MS, the real reason it was rejected -- it sucked dirt -- or even list an editor by name.
Oh well. I kept writing, joined RWA and went to some meetings, started learning what
I was doing wrong, did a little rewrite, and sent that baby out again.

Next rejection, please, one step up.

Dear Ms. Dillon,

Thank you for thinking of GettingBetter publishing, but at this time your story, Love at
Last, does not fit our needs. Best of luck placing it with another house.

Assistant Editor, April Noname

Lots of work later, I made it to the top step of the rejection letter. Ah the glory of it all.
(Smile) Hopefully, sites like mine will help you skip at least the first kinds of rejection
letters.

Dear Ms. Dillon,

I enjoyed reading Love Again, and find you have an impressive writing style, but I'm
sorry to inform you that we can not accept your story at this time. Although you have
strong characterization skills, and a powerful use of description, too much narrative
slows your overall pace throughout the story. If you have any other manuscripts
available, I would be happy to consider them.

All the best,
Senior Editor, Pattie Loveme

Charlotte Dillon ~ www.charlottedillon.com

Posted by Lisa Renee Jones :: 7:32 PM :: 0 Comments: