Ye Olde Rejection Letter: How to Cope with Rejection

“Thank you for your interest in placing your manuscript, xxx, with xxx.

We have reviewed your submission and while we found the writing good and story line very well done, we feel that this story is not right for us.

xxx wishes you the best of luck with your future writing and in placing your manuscript elsewhere.

Sincerely
Submissions Review, xxx”

That was my very first rejection letter. I could write well, and the story was interesting, but it was “not for them”.

In your life as a writer, you will pour your heart and soul into a book, cry tears of blood, and sweat like nothing else in this world has ever sweated over your computer, and bite your nails to a stump when you send that manuscript. In the end, you would still receive a rejection letter.

I’m not saying all of us will be rejected, just that all of us CAN be rejected. Nora Roberts got rejected a lot of times. Sherrilyn Kenyon got rejected. I’m not sure if Stephenie Meyer or J.K. Rowling has been rejected but a lot of great writers have been, and if you do then you are not the first, nor will you be the last. The important thing is what you do after the rejection.

Don’t hide in a cave. You have written a story. You have put your heart and soul into it. You have sweated and bled, and you have accomplished something other people have not. You have finished a book. That’s not something to sneeze at. Be proud of what you have written, and be proud of yourself. That manuscript in your hands (or in your hard drive) puts you above the rest of the human race because not everyone can write, and not everyone who can write can finish a book.

Try again. There are numerous publishing companies out there. Send your manuscript to someone else. Send your manuscript to a lot of someone else. The more people who see your story the greater the possibility that one of them would pick it up. Just because one company says that it’s not for them, doesn’t mean that it’s not good. One publishing company’s trash is another publisher’s treasure.

Write again. Don’t give up writing just because someone gave you the rejection. It doesn’t mean that you’re not talented. Publishers have to think of the bottom line and they know the business more than you do. If they think that a story is not marketable enough, then they will send you that rejection letter. An unmarketable story is NOT a bad story. Maybe it’s just that what’s selling in the market at the moment is about heroes and crime fighters, and your book is about rabbits. A lot of people are interested in rabbits, but it’s just not right for the publisher at that moment in time.

Listen to what the publisher says. If your publisher sends you a rejection letter that tells you what’s wrong with, or what they didn’t like in, your manuscript, listen to them. Maybe, just maybe, they are right. Especially if five out of five publishers tell you the same thing. Maybe you need to edit your grammar or maybe your story needs a better resolution or plotline. Listen to what they have to say or what they suggest, and appreciate the comments and criticisms. It’s an opportunity to learn and perfect your craft.

Believe. The biggest asset anyone, not just a writer, can have is belief in themselves. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and write again. You are a writer. You are a good writer and a good storyteller. If you believe you are, then you are. Don’t let the publishers or the public tell you otherwise because you know better. You can do it.

Rejection is just a normal part of life, like the common cold or traffic. Learn from it and grow from it. You will definitely be a better writer and a better person for it in the long run.

“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” ~ Cyril Connolly