Pre-rejection depression!

Don't get disheartened! The reality is yes, a lot of good manuscripts never make it, and yes, most people (though not all, there are those frustrating few who get an agent or publisher first try out) get lots of rejections. But for those of us who keep going, who don't give up, there's always hope. You might not get anywhere with your first or even fourth novel, but if you keep plugging away, and go to conferences to make contacts, you'll get there eventually - I believe that, at least.

Just don't give up. That's the worst thing you could do. Besides, you don't even know yet what it's going to be like. You could end up being one of those frustrating people who gets an agent out of the gate! First query!

Good luck!

First off let me say welcome to the Cooler. I am no expert when it comes to being published because I'm still chasing that dream too. I do know one thing and that is just completing a novel is an accomplishment in itself. Many writers never even do that. If I've learned one thing in the past 1.5 yrs. of seriously trying to get published,....you have to grow really thick skin. Rejection seems to be a big part of this process. My first goal was to complete a novel and that took almost thirty years! It felt really good though when I achieved this. I write because I need to. My ultimate goal is to be published, but if that doesn't happen I will still write. I also find I can write a whole book but just thinking about the query fills me with shivers! Do you have any betas that can read your work and help you out? This is a great place filled with tons of knowlege from those who've made it and those who are still chasing that dream. I suggest putting your query and your work in the SYW section for someone else to look at. Good luck and know that you are not the only one out there that feels this way at times. Publishing is a tough industry and I'm finding that only the strong survive.

At a writer's con a couple years back, I attended a panel given by Jim Butcher (he writes the Harry Dresden books, the series SciFi based their Dresden Files TV show on) that became this incredibly inspirational talk about how the odds aren't as against you as it may seem, and how not to give up.

The gist was this: We all hear stories about how finite our chances of publication really are - and by publication, I mean publication by one of the larger houses, with your book being carried by chains like Borders and B&N. Jim Butcher's assessment of those long odds was pretty simple: ignore them. Ignore all the people who say things like "your chances are [insert negativity here]" or "It's all luck" or other variations. As a first time author, you are not competing against published authors, you're competing against all the other first time authors. See, publishers have to always be looking for new authors. They have to, or eventually they would run out of authors and books. In many ways, your second book may have more odds stacked against you than your first, though that's another topic altogether.

The way Jim put it was this: you don't have to be lucky, you just have to be determined and keep trying. Just by completing a novel, you're already ahead of the thousands of other writers out there who start but never finish. Then, by submitting that novel, you're ahead of a bunch more who never, for one reason or another, submit. And by submitting in as professional a manner as possible, following all the guidelines, etc, you are ahead of at least 50% of the rest of the submitting pack, who are unprofessional or don't follow guidelines. You've already whittled down your competition. From there, you must have a good query, a well written book, a great story, engaging characters. And every year you keep writing and keep submitting, your writing gets better, while other peers of yours give up and stop trying. You can see where this is going, right? How your odds keep improving, and you just have to keep at it?

I am not the speaker Jim is, but I can tell you after a long day of hearing depressing query/publication stats, that talk was a bright beacon of hope that has stayed with me for two years. Everytime rejection gets me down, I try to think of those words and pick myself back up to keep submitting.

Don't assume that because you feel bleak and hopeless now that it will last. For me, the emotions surrounding querying are a cycle. Some weeks I feel upbeat and think, "Yes, this book is good enough and my query letter rocks." Other weeks I feel like I'm engaged in an act of the most pathetic sort of futility.

So, keep working on that edit and on your query materials and see if in a few weeks your attitude doesn't improve.

Elladog, just get sockin' and rockin.' Go for it. Forget about that nasty muse who is sitting (actually shitting) on your shoulder. Jump in the pool and be done with it. Then you'll graduate to dejection and rejections or goals and accomplishments. The choice is yours. We're waiting for you.

Tri

Elladog,
Some factoids from one who has been there--started pitching 5 years ago. Over 100 rejections later, found a very fine NYC agent who sent my second novel off to nine houses (she and I are both waiting, as I write this).
The odds of rejection are 100% if you pitch to an agent who has no interest or connections in your genre. The odds of "send me more" are close to 100% if your query is clean with a great concept pitched to an agent who does your stuff. After that, it's the manuscript. Nothing else counts.
Enjoy the ride. It heightens all the senses, makes you old, keeps you young, and if you love to ride (I mean write), THERE'S NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT. g.

Hang tough, sweetie! These feeling visits all of us at one time or another.

You're not a whiner, and your discouragement is completely normal. My only answer is one I've given many times before: Yes, the odds are stacked ridiculously high against you. But if you quit, your chances of getting published are exactly zero.

Elladog said:

Now all I see are stories of fantastic manuscripts rotting under the bed because the synopsis or query letter wasn’t good enough. I hear time and again about the thousands of submissions agents slog through, dismissing for the tiniest of infractions.

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Elladog

When you are up to writing a query, may I suggest you visit the query critique thread under "Share Your Work?" You make a good point about query letters, so why not let the folks here rip it up in a friendly sort of way?

After 17 straight rejections, I went to the query critique thread and did an overhaul. I mailed four new queries and got a request for a partial in less than a week. I'm not published, but I would say something good is going on in that thread.

Hang in there.

Hey ya, Elladog.

I can't add anything better then what has already been said. So instead, let me say that you don't want to write with the sole purpose of getting published. That is the ultimate goal, but worrying about that just corrupts your creativity. Write, submit, write some more, submit some more, repeat as often as is necessary. And most importantly: Have fun!

Pike

Elladog said:

I hate to have my first post be sort of negative,

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Why?

caw