Celebrating his first rejection

Paolo · Jun 4, 2005

I got my first rejection letter today from TOR books. I found the way they folded the letter to be completely insulting and demeaning.

Ok, that's a joke. So it was a form rejection letter addressed to "Dear Author" and somebody "RE: my book title" at the bottom in blue ballpoint pen. It's to be expected by a small house that puts out so many books.

They assured me that my book was carefully reviewed. I believe them. I'm not going to lie to you folks, it stings a little. The important thing is that I submitted a manuscript. I put something out there. This is a victory. This is not a defeat.

I'm already working on my next plan that was born from the information I discovered here at Absolutewrite. I'm working on a letter campaign for agents.
But tonight, I plan to celebrate my first rejection letter by going to see Star Wars and drowning my sorrows in a large tub of extra butter popcorn and one of those big sodas that make your kidneys scream.

CACTUSWENDY · Jun 4, 2005

Wish I was going with ya to the movies. Enjoy... :popcorn:

clara bow · Jun 4, 2005

Paolo said:
I got my first rejection letter today from TOR books. This is a victory. This is not a defeat.

Darn straight.

Rose Red · Jun 4, 2005

Paolo said:
But tonight, I plan to celebrate my first rejection letter by going to see Star Wars and drowning my sorrows in a large tub of extra butter popcorn and one of those big sodas that make your kidneys scream.

Sorry to hear about the rejection, but kudos to you for a great attitude about it!

Vanessa · Jun 4, 2005

See you've already got a plan! Great attitude. Enjoy the movie. .

MacAllister · Jun 4, 2005

Paolo, CONGRATULATIONS!

Your first rejection is a milestone. Chin up, be proud, send it back out! Tor rejects terrific people every day--you're in good company.

mommie4a · Jun 5, 2005

Way to go, Paolo!!!

brinkett · Jun 5, 2005

Good going, Paolo. It takes guts to send out your work--some authors never make it that far.

Paolo · Jun 5, 2005

The air conditioning in my house

Something must be wrong with the air conditioning in my house. I'm reading over all these comments and my eyes are getting all watery and ****. My throat feels a bit constricted too. I gotta get that fixed....

AbsoluteWrite is the Jedi Temple. Rock On folks. Give in to the dark side do not, as master Yoda would say.

SeanDSchaffer · Jun 7, 2005

Paolo, congrats on getting your book out. Sorry to hear about the rejection, but like you said, it's a victory, not a defeat.

Enjoy the movie!

:popcorn:

Trapped in amber · Jun 8, 2005

Thanks Paolo, you've just made the idea of submitting a little less terrifying for me.

Paolo · Jun 14, 2005

Interim solution

In the meantime, I'm blogging most of my new stuff as I write it. The style is experimental for me. I can be published right now on my own domain, which is so shamelessly included as a link in my tagline.

So what's new out there in AWLand?

Send me email. Screw the harvester bots: [email protected]

Sophie · Jun 15, 2005

First rejection?

Enjoy the (dis)comfort of knowing it's your first. You're on the road to some kind of success if you realize you'll get lots more, whatever you write or how well you write it. You can write the best whatever in the world, do all the "right" things and still not get an agent or get published. So, it's all in the writing of it. It's how YOU feel when you sit down at the keyboard and loosen your imagination! That's the advice I got from a (still) famous editorial board director of a prestigious publishing house many moons ago when he rejected my novel, even though it was "interesting, original, and well-written." How's that for a rejection letter?

brinkett · Jun 15, 2005

A blogger I regularly read interviewed three agents and two editors (all legit/established) and asked the question:

If you have a brilliant manuscript, your book will find a home/get published. True or false?

Everyone answered false.

smallthunder · Jun 16, 2005

brinkett said:
A blogger I regularly read interviewed three agents and two editors (all legit/established) and asked the question:

If you have a brilliant manuscript, your book will find a home/get published. True or false?

Everyone answered false.

OK, before I throw myself off the balcony -- did the five explain why they replied 'false' to that particular (painful) question?

C'mon, I'm on the edge -- say something nice and encouraging!

MacAllister · Jun 16, 2005

Smallthunder--I wouldn't lose any sleep over what Brinkett said. I can point you to a number of working publishing pros who say precisely the opposite.

Courage!

Just keep writing--otherwise you'll definitely never sell the book, eh?

arkady · Jun 16, 2005

Paolo said:
I got my first rejection letter today from TOR books...

How long did it take them to reject your manuscript?

brinkett · Jun 16, 2005

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be discouraging. In fact, I find it more discouraging when people insist that all good manuscripts will find a home, when the reality is that not all good manuscripts will. I always prefer the truth over wishful thinking.

If you want to read the interviews for yourself, go here:

http://girlondemand.blogspot.com/

arkady · Jun 16, 2005

brinkett said:
A blogger I regularly read interviewed three agents and two editors (all legit/established) and asked the question:

If you have a brilliant manuscript, your book will find a home/get published. True or false?

Everyone answered false.

It's true if -- and only if -- someone who's in a position to get it on the shelves actually reads it.

Other factors (perceived marketability, for instance) can come into play, but just getting someone to read the manuscript is the biggest obstacle for any new writer.

arkady · Jun 16, 2005

smallthunder said:
OK, before I throw myself off the balcony -- did the five explain why they replied 'false' to that particular (painful) question?

I went to the link that brinkett supplied and read the interviews. Here's one exchange:

Girl: Bonus question: True or false-"If you have a brilliant manuscript, your book will find a home/get published."

Editor One: Tremendously false, and though many of my peers feel it is a rather recent phenomenon, I believe it was never true. I would estimate that there are thousands of excellent books that have been lost in the ether for a whole host of reasons. What scares me more is the opposite is true: that if you have a bad book, it does not mean you will not get published. This industry is very arbitrary. My own imprint is guilty of this.

brinkett · Jun 16, 2005

arkady said:
It's true if -- and only if -- someone who's in a position to get it on the shelves actually reads it.

I disagree with this as well. I think you can have a good manuscript (meaning decent story, decent characters, decent writing) that does get read but doesn't get published. Why? One reason is marketability, as you mentioned, which doesn't mean it's not marketable, but that it's questionable enough that a publisher doesn't want to take a risk on it. Another is that the most suitable publishers for the work have full lists, or receive more good submissions than they can publish and go with the best bets. It's a business like any other.

I agree that the biggest obstable for the new writer is getting the manuscript read, but that's only the first step.

jackie106 · Jun 16, 2005

Be careful!

Paolo said:
But tonight, I plan to celebrate my first rejection letter by going to see Star Wars and drowning my sorrows in a large tub of extra butter popcorn and one of those big sodas that make your kidneys scream.

Take it from me: Star Wars is a loooong movie when you need to pee. And I had
the small soda...

I always miss the good parts of movies.

Best of luck with getting your manuscript accepted somewhere else!

Jackie

Wichita · Jun 16, 2005

Do they ever get ACCEPTED?

Do they ever ACCEPT a manuscript?

Really?

I wish there was way that everybody could Celebrate being published.

blacbird · Jun 17, 2005

arkady said:
I went to the link that brinkett supplied and read the interviews. Here's one exchange:

Girl: Bonus question: True or false-"If you have a brilliant manuscript, your book will find a home/get published."

Editor One: Tremendously false, and though many of my peers feel it is a rather recent phenomenon, I believe it was never true. I would estimate that there are thousands of excellent books that have been lost in the ether for a whole host of reasons. What scares me more is the opposite is true: that if you have a bad book, it does not mean you will not get published. This industry is very arbitrary. My own imprint is guilty of this.

Arkady,

Thanks for posting this. It's about the truest thing I've ever read in the context of "advice" about writing. The platitude expressed by "Girl" in the question has always struck me as the silliest piece of useless fluff I've ever seen in the context of "advice to writers".

bird

Greenwolf103 · Jun 18, 2005

Paolo said:
The important thing is that I submitted a manuscript. I put something out there. This is a victory. This is not a defeat.

That's a GREAT philosophy, Paolo!

And take heart: For a big name like Tor, it took guts to submit to them because not a lot of writers, both unpublished AND published, take the gamble of submitting to Tor. (At least, *I* haven't yet, anyway.)

Celebrating his first rejection

Paolo

CACTUSWENDY

An old, sappy, and happy one.

clara bow

Li'l Rug Bug

Rose Red

Vanessa

Writer and Music Producer

MacAllister

'Twas but a dream of thee

mommie4a

Mother of All Addictions

brinkett

Elder Scrolls devotee

Paolo

SeanDSchaffer

Trapped in amber

Paolo

Sophie

brinkett

Elder Scrolls devotee

smallthunder

Ruled by Dachshunds

MacAllister

'Twas but a dream of thee

arkady

brinkett

Elder Scrolls devotee

arkady

arkady

brinkett

Elder Scrolls devotee

jackie106

Wichita

blacbird

Greenwolf103

I'm a grrrl dog, yo