Rejection Letters
If you are going to be a writer, one thing you have to get used to is rejection letters. Stephan King is said to have had a spike attached to his wall to hold his rejection letters. At one point they got so heavy he had to replace the spike with a larger, sturdier one.
I've gotten rejection letters. I will always remember when I got my first one.
It actually stopped me from writing for a month.
And then I pushed past it and started writing again.
Rejection is never easy to take. No matter what it is, it never gets easier when someone says that your work, something you love, isn't good enough. But here's the thing, there are a multitude of reasons your piece could have ended up getting the dreaded rejection letter/email.
I recently sent out the first batch of rejection letters for Abandoned Places. I actually had put it off a bit due to moving, and was dreading doing it. Like all editors and publishers, there were two types of emails sent out. One is a simple statement that the story would not be in the anthology. The other, included the previous statement, but also some comments in regards to the story.
Some didn't follow the guidelines for the stories they submitted. Others submitted previously published works. Some honestly just didn't fit the theme, or perhaps were just a smidge less polished than those that were accepted. For those of the latter case, I tried to tell you what worked and what didn't in the hopes that you keep the story and try again elsewhere with it. Just because I didn't accept the story doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.
So if you get a rejection letter, from me or other editors, don't let it drag you down. Take a shot of your favorite drink, man (or woman) up, and press on. I've revisited the stories that have been rejected and in two cases, polished them up, improved them, and resubmitted them. One of them is even seeing print.
In the end, keep writing. As one quote I read somewhere states, "A writer is an amateur that didn't quit."
I've gotten rejection letters. I will always remember when I got my first one.
It actually stopped me from writing for a month.
And then I pushed past it and started writing again.
Rejection is never easy to take. No matter what it is, it never gets easier when someone says that your work, something you love, isn't good enough. But here's the thing, there are a multitude of reasons your piece could have ended up getting the dreaded rejection letter/email.
I recently sent out the first batch of rejection letters for Abandoned Places. I actually had put it off a bit due to moving, and was dreading doing it. Like all editors and publishers, there were two types of emails sent out. One is a simple statement that the story would not be in the anthology. The other, included the previous statement, but also some comments in regards to the story.
Some didn't follow the guidelines for the stories they submitted. Others submitted previously published works. Some honestly just didn't fit the theme, or perhaps were just a smidge less polished than those that were accepted. For those of the latter case, I tried to tell you what worked and what didn't in the hopes that you keep the story and try again elsewhere with it. Just because I didn't accept the story doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.
So if you get a rejection letter, from me or other editors, don't let it drag you down. Take a shot of your favorite drink, man (or woman) up, and press on. I've revisited the stories that have been rejected and in two cases, polished them up, improved them, and resubmitted them. One of them is even seeing print.
In the end, keep writing. As one quote I read somewhere states, "A writer is an amateur that didn't quit."
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Carole wrote: "Also the best revenge and a positive thing to do is to keep going.If it's something you can learn from, that's great otherwise--bin it, delete it and keep going. Do not stop, run pass go and write!"
Why would you want to cause revenge?
Sometimes a rejection is as simple as your style not fitting the anthology, or that your story was maybe a smidge worse than another. They wish you no ill will, I know I certainly didn't for those I wrote rejection letters for. To wish revenge on them is highly unprofessional and a bit childish, don't you think?
You are right, the best thing to do IS to keep writing, to push past it, and to move on. Often a story that was rejected can be farmed out to somewhere else with a little work. If an editor tells you why your story didn't make it (they may or may not), then take from it and learn.
And really, in the end, a publisher that rejected your work isn't going to care if your story that they turned down got published somewhere else. More often than not they will simply be happy it found a home.
I know I would be if the stories I turned down for my anthology through FurPlanet got published somewhere else.
If it's something you can learn from, that's great otherwise--bin it, delete it and keep going. Do not stop, run pass go and write!