Rejection, rejection, my lonely friend

[wgjones3]

I heard once about a writer's conference where the keynote speaker asked the crowd how many had ever gotten a rejection letter on something they'd written. Nearly everyone raised their hand. The speaker put a hand to her chin and surveyed the sea of raised hands. Nodding thoughtfully, she asked everyone to put down their hand, then asked how many had received more than 10 rejection. Again, a multitude of hands went up, but not nearly as many as before. The speaker again asked everyone to put their hands down, then asked how many had gotten more than 20 rejections. Hands went up, but the numbers were waning. She repeated the process, asking if any had received more than 30, more than 40, more than 50, more than 60, until a solitary hand remained aloft. She then asked the author to stand and introduce himself.

It was none other than T. Davis Bunn, who is now one of the most successful writers of Christian fiction in the industry.

If that don't stoke your fire, your wood is wet. :D

[justonevoice]

Thanks for posting that note. I needed it today!

[Merry]

Cool! I know in secular-world rejections are also the name of the game. Stephen King had 300 short stories and four novels rejected before he sold a book. John D. McDonald, whose Travis McGee has been one of the most imitated character's around, had over 1,000 rejections before he 'found' Travis and consequentally, his spot on the NY Times best seller list.

Writer's write.

[DrRita]

I received a rejection last week. My agent has received many (on my behalf) and after a while one can feel very rejected! Thanks for the encouragement.

[cabcat4]

Dr. Rita,
At least a rejection tells you that someone at least looked at your work, thought about it long enough to decide it, not you...wasn't what they needed at this time. But alas ,I know sending our work out into the cold cruel world is a bit like sending one of your children..eh? God give you encouragement and fortitude...you will find your audience or they will find you! :D

[His4ever]

My opinion on rejection: if there were no failures then how would we measure success? It is in fact those failures in life that give us that much more joy and satisfaction when we do succeed :) Write away my friends, and know that no matter what, God will NEVER reject you, and His opinion is the most important! :D

[FireFeet]

Personally, I would prefer rejection to silence...which is all I've gotten so far in reply to my submissions. :(

[Merry]

Fear not, my fanciful friend. Sometimes these guys can take forever to respond. I would send something else out, just show 'em. But don't give up, for you are indeed a most inventive writer.

:cool: :D

[wgjones3]

Personally, I would prefer rejection to silence...which is all I've gotten so far in reply to my submissions. :(

I've gotten rejections back from magazines 7 or 8 months after I sent the article in. I've also gotten rejections within 2 days. :)

Just keep sending stuff out. The shotgun approach is definately the best way to operate as a writer. :D

[FireFeet]

But don't give up, for you are indeed a most inventive writer

Thanx MerzyDoats! :D

[NurseConnie]

SHIRLEY!

I didn't know you as JustOneVoice!! You are another one that has been an inspiration in my little life.. just wanted you to know.



Love ya Sis

NurseConnie

[justonevoice]

Dido on that my friend. I think encouragement has to be a two way street. One day I need it and the next day you need it. We all have to help each other to get through. What fun would it be to cross the finish line with no one there to scream and holler good job.

Shirley

[AngelAzariah]

___I've gotten one nice rejection letter, one cruddy contract that I turned down, and lots of adds for self-publishing presses! I told Tayna (my wife) that I was going to send my book to every last publisher I could find before I self-publish. Still my way of looking at all this is this:
- My characters are loved and easy to connect with.
- My book starts off with a bang and has no end of its new inovative ideas.
- Everyone who has read it wants the next book pronto.
- I hated reading and books, so I didn't chose this path (though I'm starting to love it).
- Even with the rejection letter - I still think I've had nothing but succes!
- I'm going to put everything I can into this because I think God set me to it.
- If nothing else - I'm very happy! :p
___Hope you peeps have some if not all of those feelings.

[Gumpngreen]

Just one comment: Who is T. Davis Bunn?? Very little of typical Christian fiction is of any interest to me but I suppose I should at least attempt to keep up with the industry.

[wgjones3]

I'm not sure what he writes now (romances, I think), but in the early '90's, he wrote a series of books about an American antique dealer in London scouring the former Soviet Bloc for rare antiques.

Speaking of keeping up with the industry, have you read Tim Downs? I picked up Shoofly Pie (Book 1 of the Bugman Series) at a flea market about a month ago and just recently started reading it. It's a hoot. It's about a forensic entomologist (a scientist who studies bug infestations on dead things, basically) who is hired to investigate the myserious death of a 30 year old woman's former suiter and friend. This bug man character is a real hoot, sarcastic and smart.

[Merry]

I have read much of the Bugman series and must agree that it is most amusing.

[Zanzibar]

Read a book by Gilbert Morris and he said that he had received enough rejections to paper a good sized auditorium. We just have to keep sending that manuscript out until someone sees its potential. Publishers are so swamped with junk that sometimes the good stuff gets thrown out with the bad.

Keep pressing on my friends!

[wgjones3]

A writing career is all about endurance... or so I'm told. !thumbsup!

[J Lately]

Rejection letters are kind of like homerun hitters in baseball. Those that lead in average home-runs also lead in strike-outs. When we will ever learn.....if you don't get your feet wet, you'll certainly never learn to swim!

[sam ajana]

your write up simply tells me that there is hope in persistence.it's quite encouraging
- sam

[love2write]

I needed to read this thread this morning. The last couple of days have been rough, and I've felt pretty down. I've been sending out my query to agents since March that accept email queries. So far I've emailed 20. Eight have not replied, nine declined, three requested the partial, two declined the partial and one asked for the manuscript which never got to the agent in New York but went unread by a screener in Maryland. At present my partial is with a new agent and I haven't heard back from her yet.

A Christian agent that had my first three chapters, author's bio, marketing plan, and publishing credits, sent me an email yesterday saying the time period wasn't popular (post-Revolutionary War with the opening chapter set at the Battle of Yorktown) and that the book was too long (120,000 words). She may have felt differently if she had requested the entire manuscript and read it. I've read that's an average length for a novel, more acceptable among NY pubs is 150,000 words. Diana Gabaldon's books are even more.

I have to disagree that the time period is not popular. Here are some bestsellers of the Revolutionary War Period, plus there are a slew of romance novels set in this period.

A Breathe of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara
The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara
The Hornet's Nest by Jimmy Carter

Just to list a few in Christian publishing:
Gilbert Morris' House of Winslow Series
Angela Elwell Hunt's Keeper of the Ring Series
Freedom's Hope by Dianna Crawford

I suppose my book was not what she perfers. Agents have differing tastes in genres. I still have a lot of agents on my list, so I'll keep sending out. What I battle the most is wondering if my writing is good enough, if I'm living a pipe dream.

[BrotherDave]

When I was a door-to-door Fullerbrushman they told me it would take knocking on 10 doors to get one sale. They were right most days. After a while, however, I began developing a clientelle and the rejections weren't so many.
The name of the game is always getting clientelle, or buyers that who look for you to come back to them. Its not easy in the writing game, but it can be done, with persistance.

BTW, volume isn't always the right way. In mass marketing 1% return is considered very successfull.

brotherdave