Is a Rejection Always a Rejection?

How to author, James Smith says you can glean from a rejection letter and make it valueable for yourself. He once received a rejection letter that went something like this:

...compelling...well written...really jumps with energy...I encourage you to send it to places like Avon, Bantam or Dell.

He says he photocopied the rejection letter and sent it with his query/sales letter to all of the above-mentioned publishers and Dell purchased it, which was his first novel.

Later that publisher he queried wanted 'in'.

A woman's NO is "NO," but maybe a Publisher's NO is, "NOt right now." And, maybe we writers could learn a lot from our rejections and not take it so personally.

Have you been "rejected?"

We've been rejected many many times

Our best rejection is from an agent who said something about us being a 'whoppingly good writer' . . . which has kept our spirits up for more than a year now.

Oh, I get rejected all the time (for my writing at least...)
I always seem to get something like, "This is great, but we're not going to buy it." :b Guess I'm not that great at researching markets. Or maybe just too lazy to do it correctly.

I know this is OT, but,

ElizabethJames: when you say 'we' are you referring to your writing group, or yourself and your husband, or you and your dog, or what? I'm just curious.

A vast majority of rejections are form rejections which means NO. Even if it says the work is compelling or well-written or something like that. However, if there's customized information, like recommendations, then it's NO, but . . .

I wouldn't include copies of previous rejections with my current submission.

Me neither. You're telling the one you're submitting to that a) you've been turned down already and b) that they weren't your first choice.

Both bad moves!

Cheers,
aq

DON'T DO IT!

Seriously. One of the staple topics at slushkills is, "Why do authors enclose their previous rejection letters? Are they insane?"

Okay, so this guy you cite happened to get a great rejection letter, and he sent it with his next submission and his work got bought. That doesn't mean quoting his rejection letter was a good idea. It means that the same thing that got him the enthusiastic rejection letter -- i.e., the quality of his writing -- got his work bought at the next place he submitted it.

Honest.

Who are we

This 'we' business is weird, isn't it. We'll try to explain. (Seems interesting to post this in "Is a rejection always a rejection.')

Our real name is James. In almost every way you can imagine, we are a regular person with a regular existence. Corporate communications and pr for 20 years. The US Navy before that.

Two years ago we started writing fiction and one of our characters took over our online life. Her name is Liz. We actually killed her off in our first novel (not published), and this is her revenge. For better or for worse, we can't bring ourself to give up James completely. Hence, ElizabethJames. The royal 'we' is just for kicks.

Some people find this whole business insufferable, we know. There is one political blog, for example, where our affectation is most unwelcome. And who knows, we may very well outgrow it. But in the meantime, it is the most fun we've had in 54 years.

That's probably more than you'd ever want to know about Liz, but we'll go ahead with full disclosure. We are happily married to a wonderful professor with a 14 year old daughter and a 28 year old son. The whole family thinks Liz is very cool. They even gave us a Queen Elizabeth Barbie for Christmas.

So there you have the whole silly saga.

Loveliz

Re: Who are we

Navy? Me too! Got out about 17 years ago. Where were you stationed?

Re: Who are we

Hey there.

Here's our quick history: Norfolk on amphibs for three years, then Camp Lejeune jumping out of airplanes with 2nd Anglico for two more. Plus four years at Annapolis.

Lots of sea stories to tell . . . most of 'em lies. Good for adding color though. We used "sucker holes" in our first novel. Is that one you've heard?

Sucker hole: Temporary patch of blue sky in an otherwise endless cloud cover. Frequently observed at sea.

Cheers!

Vet

Sounds like proud Vets. Me too but Army. Hats off to all veterans and their pride.

Re: Vet

Maybe you're right. But I guess nothing can hurt your going the extra mile if you've been rejected. If it's good, quality work, you'll get in...somehow/some way/someday.

Re: Vet

All that a rejection (no matter how plain or fancy, no matter how curt or complimentary) means is "no."

So, send your piece to the next place on your list. Meanwhile, write a better book.

(Great Lakes, Little Creek, Norfolk, Newport, Philly, Norfolk, Montery, Panama, CIVLANT.)