Guest blogger J.E. Seymour on dejection over rejection.
I read a complaint from a writer the other day. He was whining about how it took a year to write his novel and then an agent rejected it. One agent. He even got helpful feedback from said agent.
It took me years to write my first published novel. It took me years to get it published. My very first novel was picked up by an agent fourteen years ago, but she dumped me after thirteen rejections from publishers. I finished another book, got another agent, dumped him after six months of inaction. Wrote another book. Got 86 rejections from agents. Got numerous rejections from small presses before finally selling it to Mainly Murder Press. This is not a game for the easily discouraged.
If you want to write, be prepared to stick to it. And don’t give up after one rejection. Just keep writing a better book.
J.E. Seymour’s first novel, Lead Poisoning was released by Mainly Murder Press in 2010 and she has short stories in four different anthologies. J.E. is the markets coordinator for the Short Mystery Fiction Society. To learn more, check out http://jeseymour.com
If you want your name in lights, get in line.
ReplyDeleteI have not experienced a negative rejection letter. I have experienced lots of positive rejection letters. It is actually good for you to get rejection letters, so you can find out what you need to work on. According to all my letters, I had talent. I have not tried anymore, but not because I gave up. I decided to self-publish to get my stories out to the public now.