I've taken the summer off from querying, and I just sent a new slew of queries for my middle grade novel this past week. Is it just me, or does the sting of rejection feel particularly fresh when you've abstained from querying for a while?
Oh, man! (Or, a sabbatical from rejections)
- Thread starter GrammarGoddess
- Start date
Hi,
The pain for me is I like to work in large time blocks but, who has those? I have to get motivated to work for an hour or less most days, ugh. Rejections are guranteed. I see every rejection as a bad situation avoided. Contracts are what I want. As the saying goes, "Some do. Some don't. Who's next?"
I sent out some queries about six weeks ago. A few still have to reply. When waiting for responses I always think "this could be the one." "My hat's still in the ring" and so on...
The pain for me is I like to work in large time blocks but, who has those? I have to get motivated to work for an hour or less most days, ugh. Rejections are guranteed. I see every rejection as a bad situation avoided. Contracts are what I want. As the saying goes, "Some do. Some don't. Who's next?"
I sent out some queries about six weeks ago. A few still have to reply. When waiting for responses I always think "this could be the one." "My hat's still in the ring" and so on...
Last edited:
My favorite book about rejections is "Snoppy's Guide to the Writing Life." It is a collection of essays by famous writers about Schulz's cartoons about Snoopy and the writing life. Jack London received over six hundred rejection slips before he sold his first story.
Absolutely. I just started querying my second MG book, and I'd forgotten how much it sucks. It's even worse this time around because I feel like I've learned so much since I wrote my first book. Apparently I haven't learned enough yet!
Y'all make me feel better. And I will definitely check out the Snoopy book. (Especially since my department members at work have decided to collectively dress as Peanuts characters for Halloween this year.)
This is a big problem out there in the publishing world. In all honesty there are way more books, writers, and aspiring writers out there than the industry is able to publish. It has to do with the costs of going through the publishing process, and getting a book printed. There is lots of risk, so a lot of really interesting books get rejected because they pose too high a risk point from the publishers perspective.
Do not take rejection personally, it is just the nature of the industry. There was a neat video clip circling around on the BBC a year or so ago about a mother in the UK who had written and illustrated a number of children's books, and she refused to even try submitting them to a publisher. Her family, friends, and even some people in the industry told her she should try to get published. The reason she wouldn't: she would be heart broken and devastated if her books were rejected.
I myself am big on disrupting this system of mass rejection of content based on risk mitigation. That's why I work for a disruptive publishing company. So take heart, and do not give up on making your books because you are facing a wall of risk mitigation. When in doubt, get creative, and find other ways of getting your book into the hands of kids so you can be read.
Do not take rejection personally, it is just the nature of the industry. There was a neat video clip circling around on the BBC a year or so ago about a mother in the UK who had written and illustrated a number of children's books, and she refused to even try submitting them to a publisher. Her family, friends, and even some people in the industry told her she should try to get published. The reason she wouldn't: she would be heart broken and devastated if her books were rejected.
I myself am big on disrupting this system of mass rejection of content based on risk mitigation. That's why I work for a disruptive publishing company. So take heart, and do not give up on making your books because you are facing a wall of risk mitigation. When in doubt, get creative, and find other ways of getting your book into the hands of kids so you can be read.
Everything I need to know in life and writing I learned from Snoopy
Seriously I think it does sting a little more when you've taken time off from queries and then start again and get rejected
I know that I had high hopes this time around, because I'd spent the time off learning as much as I possibly could. I read books, blogs, worked with critique groups, went to conferences, had really good betas. So I'd like to believe this one is good enough....
In that way, yes, it does sting that I've got 37 rejections and only one request for a partial. On the other hand, all that working has helped me to gain a better perspective. These rejections don't mean that I am a bad writer. They only mean that maybe this project isn't quite good enough yet, and I need to keep working at it.
In that way, yes, it does sting that I've got 37 rejections and only one request for a partial. On the other hand, all that working has helped me to gain a better perspective. These rejections don't mean that I am a bad writer. They only mean that maybe this project isn't quite good enough yet, and I need to keep working at it.