So You've Received a Rejection Letter

For most authors, receiving a rejection letter is about as common as that bag of potato chips in the pantry; you never eat, nor do you receive, just one.



For me, the first 'many years' of my writing career were spent sending out query and cover letters only to get a typed form letter back addressed, "Dear Author," as if saying "dear" somehow excused the publisher from knowing my name (even though I had to know theirs :)

I could have saved all of my rejection letters like a friend of mine did, and tape them together to use in future teaching opportunities, (rolling it out across the room at the appropriate time) but I was so upset after receiving them, the idea never occurred to me.

Today, I don't write any more queries or cover letters, but I can tell you that the experience will never be forgotten.

What I want you to know is that receiving them isn't the end of your life, whether you receive the form kind, the kind with your name written on the top, the kind that are personally written to you, or even the kind that say, "We love your book, but have concerns about this and this. Re-write and send the book back." Even the kind that come to you with a hand written note on the form letter are something to write home about.

But in the end, you are still receiving a rejection letter of one form or another, and should take a look at the concerns (if any are mentioned) and do your best to get your manuscript out to the next publisher.

I used to have a numbered list. When the manuscript came back, I would check it over, make adjustments as necessary, and send it right off. And I tried to have a few different manuscripts out at the same time so that if one came back I could tell myself, "Well, at least I haven't heard from so and so yet," and that would help me to hang on.

Rejection letters are, simply put, someone else's opinion of your work. They may like it; they may not. What's most important is that you don't give up on selling or publishing your work because someone you may not even know, has given you a thumb's down.



You wouldn't want to quit when your thumb's up may be just around the corner.

Keeping Calm. When That Rejection Letter Comes In

Years ago, when I was trying to get published through a national publisher, I sent out many, many query letters.

And while some of these letters came back, "no interest," there were many other things that happened too, both internally and externally. Allow me to share them with you.



Photo by: The D34n, courtesy of Flickr

1. The first thing I learned right away when receiving a rejection letter, was that I needed to have a new query already ready to send to the next publisher. This helped ease the pain of the rejection, and allowed for hope that the next query would be accepted.

2. I also learned that one publishers opinion was simply that, an opinion. Another publisher might like my story idea and accept it. This happened with A River of Stones.

3. I learned that I needed to be patient with a response to my query. Most answers to queries take roughly 3 months, but they can take up to 6 months or longer. So I learned early on to get many queries out there so that I always had at least one publisher that I hadn't heard from yet.

4. This meant I had to be organized. I needed a way to track what I'd sent out. I used Excel, but you can use whatever works for you.

5. I paid special attention to hand writing in the margins of my query letters. I always paid attention to letters that came back that were personalized; that meant the editor, or editors, had actually read my work. Form letters are the standard rule, but if you get something up and beyond this, be grateful and take notice. 

6. I realized I wouldn't be published overnight, and occasionally, a publisher would say, "We like this, but would like you to make thus and thus changes. Then we'll look at it again." Make sure you are up to the changes; make sure that you agree with them. And don't plan on your book being accepted even after you've made the changes. Even after all of this, the changes may not be quite what the publisher is looking for. But then again, with the changes made, your work may just be accepted.

The most important thing when it comes to rejection letters is that you keep on writing, no matter how many rejection letters you receive, and that you continue to write no matter the perceived barriers to your success receiving them brings.

Happy Writing!

Kathryn

 

Say What? When You Get That Good 'Ole Rejection

For years I sent out query letters, manuscripts (both partial and complete) and spent time perfecting what I was sending out only to be told, "No thanks."

Sometimes the "no thanks" came in the form of a "form" letter. I wondered if the editor had even read my piece.

Less frequently came the form letter with a little handwritten note on it. My favorite: "Nice story, but not strong enough for a book." I still remember that phrase although it's been over 20 years since I received it.

And a few times I received a personal letter. In the letter were ideas on how to improve my manuscript; which I did, only to be told that the story "still doesn't work."

When my first book, A River of Stones, was published in 2002, I thought, "Well, I've finally made it!" What I didn't know was that I'd eventually buy the rights back to that book, change the cover, the price and a couple of mistakes later found within the book's pages.

Since beginning of Idea Creations Press, I've had plenty of opportunities to publish my own books and help others to write, edit and publish their own works through my business, but the thing that still gets me is those good 'ole rejection slips.

Today I primarily get them when I've received a less than favorable review. But I also still get them when a reader questions a sentence or paragraph in the editing phase of my creation. And some folks simply do not get what I write and miss the entire point of the story.

This has happened with Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones. Let's just say a person is ready for a story like this or they're not.

Because rejections come in many forms it's a good idea for every writer to develop a stiff upper lip, and at the same time not close off their heart to instruction. For some instruction is valuable, and some, I dare say, is not.

Keeping an open heart can hurt, but it also breathes in joy.

You know the times. When someone loves your work and gives you a five star rating on Amazon. When you get that letter back from the editor that says, "We want to publish your book." When the comments in that rejection letter may not all be negative, but they are personal and helpful. When someone who has purchased your book for themselves returns to the bookstore and buys books for a friend or two...

Did you receive a rejection today?

Is it a surprise to you?

Don't despair. Just remember to take it all in, discard the unnecessary, and allow the necessary to lift you to a higher writing plane.