What do you do with your rejection slips/letters?

When I was younger I'd paper my walls with the rejection letters. Now the majority of them come through email. Just doesn't look the same printing them out and tacking them into drywall...

Once I've seen it's been rejected, I just delete it and move on. I've had years to steel myself for it, so it doesn't bother me. But I haven't queried lately because I've been working with my current publisher to get The Stars Trilogy out there. Unfortunately, he's hesitant to give a contract for the second, which is a low blow. He wants to, but he feels like it isn't ready. I don't know what I did different for this second book that I didn't do with the first. The first took off without a hitch.

TheDancingWriter said:

Once I've seen it's been rejected, I just delete it and move on. I've had years to steel myself for it, so it doesn't bother me. But I haven't queried lately because I've been working with my current publisher to get The Stars Trilogy out there. Unfortunately, he's hesitant to give a contract for the second, which is a low blow. He wants to, but he feels like it isn't ready. I don't know what I did different for this second book that I didn't do with the first. The first took off without a hitch.

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I have no idea why, but for many writers I've known, that second book is a jinx, and never seems to come off as well as the first. I had the same problem with my second novel.

Second novel jinx is so common I seriously wish someone would do a scientific study of why it happens.

But it usually all seems to work itself out, and you're back in stride with the third novel.

Jamesaritchie said:

I have no idea why, but for many writers I've known, that second book is a jinx, and never seems to come off as well as the first. I had the same problem with my second novel.

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The first novel is more than just the sum total of the time spent writing it, it's also all the time spent living before that novel is even begun. After that first novel is written, the well may be (or merely seem to be) dry and that's a big prat of why second novels are such a disappointment.

I use my rejection letters to wipe my tears.

dahosek said:

The first novel is more than just the sum total of the time spent writing it, it's also all the time spent living before that novel is even begun. After that first novel is written, the well may be (or merely seem to be) dry and that's a big prat of why second novels are such a disappointment.

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That well could be. I hadn't thought about it like that, but it does make sense.

For what it's worth (not much, I'll admit), just today I was making a big editing pass at my home office, which was a mess. In doing so, I found my stash of rejection letters in a desk drawer.

It's big.

And I have no acceptance letter to counter-balance that pile.

And I have no Talisker tonight.

caw

I keep mine in a separate folder in my email account. I like to go back and look at the ones that have said no, because sometimes(very few) they've given some kind of reason as to why they rejected it and I can go back through my novel and see if I can relate to what they're saying. Also I like to keep them for that special day that I get signed, to be able to look back and say, " 'x' amount of rejects and it only took one acceptance to see my dreams come true." or something corny like that.

RensPen said:

I keep mine in a separate folder in my email account. I like to go back and look at the ones that have said no, because sometimes(very few) they've given some kind of reason as to why they rejected it and I can go back through my novel and see if I can relate to what they're saying. Also I like to keep them for that special day that I get signed, to be able to look back and say, " 'x' amount of rejects and it only took one acceptance to see my dreams come true." or something corny like that.

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I don't know where he got them, but back when he started writing, a friend of mine had a pair of small bulletin boards on his office wall. One of them said, "To every thing there is a season." The second one said, "And a time to every purpose under the heaven."

I know this is from Ecclesiastes, but it worked for him as a writer. He pinned his first rejection slip on the first bulletin board, and left the second one empty until he was able to pin his first acceptance letter there.

Looking at that second bulletin board kept him going through a couple of long, rejection filled years.