Shouldn't I Be More Upset About This Rejection?

Strive to relish rejections. If you're not getting a lot of rejections, you're not getting enough queries out there. Agents reject more than 97%. If you're one of the lucky three to have/get an agent, then publishers will reject your work for various and sometimes comically contradictory reasons. "I loved the characters, but not the plot." "I loved the story, but the characters were not compelling enough."

Best of success in the future. You've got the right attitude.

This is a good thing that you're not sulking over it. It is very healthy to move on from it and continue on with the process. Good Luck. Hopefully the next agent you talk to will want to rep you.

I think it's a sign of maturity. Good for you, and it's nice to see an encouraging rejection.

Yes, good for you!

I've gotten two rejections on fulls so far, and they've both been some of the most encouraging, supportive, reaffirming things anyone has *ever* said about my writing.

I mean, they both absolutely hated the brutality and darkness of the end, which a) could be a taste issue, but b) could also mean I didn't foreshadow and establish tone early and well enough. We'll see what the others say, but honestly, I read them both frequently because they just make me feel so goddamned good, because at least I got them to read til 'the end!'

I've never been able to get upset over rejections. Of course, I've never gotten a really nasty rejection. They've either said something positive about the writing or been form rejections, which are invariably polite.

Sometimes I feel weird for this because pretty much everything else in life upsets and depresses me. Except rejections.

Rejections pretty much all mean "No, thanks", so why get upset. Now, if an agent or editor tells you to burn the manuscript, bury the ashes deep, and to never, ever even think abut writing another word, you might have reason to go pout. Otherwise, nope.

Many rejections are nothing more than sending an agent or editor bacon when they prefer a good steak.

Maybe you knew it was coming, really?

We submit for jobs at work...and there are some which we go for because it would be lovely if we got them, but really, we know it's not going to happen. And there are some which we think "oh, that would be so right for us, we want to do it" and we write the bid already thinking about doing the work.

Not getting the first one is an expected non-issue. Not getting the second always hurts.

Better luck next time!

Seems to me your attitude is great for your mental health. Hard to keep going if you're upset or depressed.

The more pieces you send out into the world, the more rejections you collect, the tougher your hide should get. If it doesn't, you're in trouble.

it's good you're developing a thicker skin! keep it up!

That's the tude! Have you visited The Daily Rejection thread? I loved that place because of the first post by Devil Ledbetter:

Hi. I'm Devil and I'm a reject. It has been 11 hours since my last rejection.

I am learning to live with rejection because rejection means I'm querying, and querying is something I avoided for a very long time. I've managed to double my number of rejections in just two weeks. I did that by increasing the number of queries I'd sent by six times.

My goal is to land an agent in under 200 queries.

It would be nice to know that I'm not alone in rejection. If you were rejected today, please post here.

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224 pages -- not posts, but PAGES later -- the thread is thriving!