Rejection By S.C. Wynne
Morning all!
Rejection is a weird thing. Even when you're ready for it or assume rejection is on it's way, it's still hard to swallow. Authors deal with a lot of rejection. Even if you self publish, you get rejected by readers. Who knows why one person loves your book and another hates it? Any time I get a mean review, I go and check a few authors I respect and love, and there are ALWAYS one star reviews on their books too. That puts it in perspective for me.
But I still hate rejection. lol
Sometimes rejection is a good thing. I've had books turned down by publishers before and the truth was that was the best thing for me. That rejection often allowed me to self publish the story, and make ten times the money quickly. But still, that rejection stings. It's strange. You'd think I'd be happy because I made a lot of money.
I guess rejection hurts because no matter where you are in your writing journey, or just life, rejection is personal. Even when people say it isn't, it feels personal. I remember one of the things that shocked me the most when I published my first book many years ago was that a fictional story could actually have people hate it. They didn't just not like it. THEY HATED IT. Their reviews were so mean it felt like they hated me too. Certain reviewers would pile on the gifs and mean criticisms, I guess thinking they were clever and witty? Personally, I found them childish and ill mannered. Whether on my books or fellow authors books, there's no need to be rude and arrogant about your opinion. You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but the best reviews are ones that are constructive, not childish. IMHO.
I will say when it comes to my writing career, I'm so much thicker skinned than I used to be. Maybe because I'm more confident in my abilities these days. I also learned never, ever to go to Goodreads. I haven't been there in years for anything other than accepting friend requests.
What about you? Do you crumble under rejection or does it roll off your back?
S.C.
www.scwynne.com
Rejection is a weird thing. Even when you're ready for it or assume rejection is on it's way, it's still hard to swallow. Authors deal with a lot of rejection. Even if you self publish, you get rejected by readers. Who knows why one person loves your book and another hates it? Any time I get a mean review, I go and check a few authors I respect and love, and there are ALWAYS one star reviews on their books too. That puts it in perspective for me.
But I still hate rejection. lol
Sometimes rejection is a good thing. I've had books turned down by publishers before and the truth was that was the best thing for me. That rejection often allowed me to self publish the story, and make ten times the money quickly. But still, that rejection stings. It's strange. You'd think I'd be happy because I made a lot of money.
I guess rejection hurts because no matter where you are in your writing journey, or just life, rejection is personal. Even when people say it isn't, it feels personal. I remember one of the things that shocked me the most when I published my first book many years ago was that a fictional story could actually have people hate it. They didn't just not like it. THEY HATED IT. Their reviews were so mean it felt like they hated me too. Certain reviewers would pile on the gifs and mean criticisms, I guess thinking they were clever and witty? Personally, I found them childish and ill mannered. Whether on my books or fellow authors books, there's no need to be rude and arrogant about your opinion. You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but the best reviews are ones that are constructive, not childish. IMHO.
I will say when it comes to my writing career, I'm so much thicker skinned than I used to be. Maybe because I'm more confident in my abilities these days. I also learned never, ever to go to Goodreads. I haven't been there in years for anything other than accepting friend requests.
What about you? Do you crumble under rejection or does it roll off your back?
S.C.
www.scwynne.com
No comments have been added yet.
