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Rejections suck. They feel personal, possibly more personal when it's a form rejection. We are human, we have to give ourselves permission to feel bad about it. It's OKAY. The tricky part is getting past that. If you can't shrug it off, don't. Just have a piece of chocolate and a pumpkin latte and let it sit for a while. But then you have to ask yourself something:
WHY WAS IT REJECTED?
Was it really not right for that agent or house? This is a serious possibility. But if you've collected more than one rejection and if you are lucky enough to get a note or two on specifics, take a look again. What the rejection might be saying isn't "no" as much as "not yet."
"But I worked super hard on this book!" you might be saying. "I had beta readers and critiquers. I revised six times and it's taken me two years!!!"
Okay. But maybe, just maybe it's still not quite there yet. Maybe, just maybe it's time to put it in a drawer and write a new book or think about it for a while and tackle it AGAIN. Maybe the seventh time is the right one.
I guess what I'm saying is don't stop working - keep revising. Go deeper. Make it shinier. But more importantly, NEVER GIVE UP. Even if it means putting that book away until the second or third one is published. Because if you've queried 867 agents and stop? It might have been 868 that said yes.
I think that's a great point Lisa. Sometimes agents just aren't looking for the story you're querying. And as you grow as a writer, in a year or two you may see what could make the story stronger and tackle it again. It's important not to give on but to also move on and write the next book.
ReplyDeleteI agree--it's definitely "not yet." But whether it ever becomes a yes also depends to a large extent on constant hard work to improve, because if nothing changes and you've gotten 867 Rs, you shouldn't tell yourself it's only a matter of moving on to the next one. That said, I queried 99 agents with Sanctum (revising after every round), and it wasn't until the final round that I got offers. I'm so glad I kept telling myself "not yet"! Great post, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteYes. Also, during the revising and the submitting, you have to be able to trust in your story. And if you don't trust it, then you should move on.
ReplyDeleteI found moving to the next story because I didn't quite believe in the first one to be a good decision so far.
I agree. Sometimes you just need to work another project first and come back to the one you're querying at a later day. You'll be able to objectively revise it then and make it stronger.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Lisa. And awesome timing. :D
Yes, rejection is hard, but then you learn and get rejected again and learn some more and hopefully, at some point, there's an acceptance waiting at the end of all the hard work.
ReplyDeleteKristen makes a great point about trusting in your story. But when you do trust in your story, the rejections are that much harder too.
ReplyDeleteI've never been rejected. Do you believe me? Come on, say yes. Okay. Okay. I cannot tell a lie. Once I was rejected. All the other times I was politely denied access to publication. Doesn't that sound better?
ReplyDeleteRejection totally stinks, and sometimes I get the "I'm never writing again!" blues. But they pass, and then I write again, and hopefully my skills are improving.
ReplyDeleteAll great points, Lisa. And I think one thing we forget as well is that just because you sell one book doesn't mean you'll sell everything thereafter. Even multi-published authors still get rejected.
ReplyDeleteSo very, very true. For my book #1 it was #47 that finally said yes.
ReplyDeleteWho cleans up after that large jungle beast near the sofa? Writing buddies, that's who. Rejections always drive me straight to my friends (like YOU) who never fail to build me up and allow me the perspective to analyze the reasons behind the "no thanks."
ReplyDeleteI love this post Lisa. You are so right. The difference between unpublished and published authors is that the published authors didn't give up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the motivation! While I love my CPs, sometimes I wish I had a professional and experienced editor among my CPs, just for that little extra edge. It's hard to see in our own work what isn't quite there yet.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Lisa, if you're done with that elephant, my son would like it.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I think sometimes people jump the gun on submitting, and they get rejections for their trouble. And sometimes? They just haven't queried the right person. Hard to know unless they keep revising and/or submitting. Either way, the key is to persist.
ReplyDeleteI want to stand up and cheer for this! Excellent post, we only fail when we give up.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good reminder to have from time to time. It helps a lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa.