FINDING CLAIRE FLETCHER Blog Tour: Persevering Through Rejection by Lisa Regan + G1veaway
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I am so happy for fellow crime writer and critique partner Lisa Regan, who just released her debut novel, Finding Claire Fletcher! Now I’ve had the good fortune to review an ARC of the book, and I can tell you it’s one gripping read (Keep an eye out for a written review soon)!
Well done, honey, it has been a long time in coming!
Now I know that it took many, many attempts before finally finding an agent (for a small sample of her rejection letters, see her post here), and even after that, it took a year and a half before Finding Claire Fletcher found a publisher. So, I asked her how she managed to keep plugging away in the face of so many rejections.
***Read on for more information about Lisa’s giveaway, and how you could be in the running for prizes including an Amazon gift card, an e-book copy of Finding Claire Fletcher, or a signed paperback copy!***
Take it away, Lisa!
Persevering in the Face of Multiple Rejections
by Lisa Regan
It took me 2 books, 4 and a half years and 238 rejections before I landed my agent. Then I was on submissions for 18 months. More rejections. Lots of them.
Rejection is hard. After almost 6 years it became somewhat routine but still, it wasnât all that fun.
Rejection: painful, but almost all writers have to face it.
(image source: Free Digital Photos)
When I first researched the road to publication, everything I read indicated that I should expect multiple rejections. At every level. Everywhere I turned there were notices, disclaimers, signs, warnings, cautions saying: YOU WILL BE REJECTED. EXPECT REJECTION. REJECTION LIES AHEAD. It was almost comical. Once I started, it felt a lot like trying to get into a building that has 1,000 doors and only one of them is unlocked. You just keep trying doors until you get to the one thatâs not locked.
So what have I learned about rejection? First and foremost: YOU WILL BE REJECTED. EXPECT REJECTION. REJECTION LIES AHEAD. Get ready for it. Your dream is not going to come true overnight. Itâs a marathon, not a sprint. I hope youâre the exception, but if youâre not, prepare for rejection.
And when it comes, keep going.
My father has this piece of advice that he repeats all the time:Â LET THEM TELL YOU NO.
In other words, try. Put yourself out there. No matter how many rejections you get, no matter how many things go wrong, you never really know whatâs going to happen. Never assume that youâre going to be told no, never assume that youâre going to fail. Get out there and try and see what happens.
There was a time during my agent search that I was ready to give up altogether. But I looked at my daughter and realized that I donât want to set that kind of example for her. I donât want her to grow up and look at me and see an almost. I donât want to be someone who almost did something with my writing. Someone who almost pursued my dream.
I donât want to be an almost.
If youâve stolen enough time from your hectic life and worked hard enough to write a good book, if youâve honored the unspoiled part of yourself that still believes in having a dream, then this part of the journey â the agent search, submissions, the rejections â all your hard work will be worth it the day that something amazing happens. Because amazing things can and do happen. You just have to be committed enough and maybe even crazy enough to keep going.
So just keep doing it. And keep writing because you get better the more you write. Keep honing your craft. Keep putting yourself out there.
A marathon. Not a sprint. Let âem tell you no.
—
About the Author
Lisa Regan
Lisa Regan is a suspense novelist. She has a Bachelorâs Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She is a member Sisters In Crime. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter. Her second novel, Aberration, is due out 6/6/13.
Contact: Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads
And here’s more information about Lisa’s debut novel, Finding Claire Fletcher:
Finding Claire Fletcher
Finding Claire Fletcher
Down on his luck, Detective Connor Parks takes solace in the arms of a woman he meets at a local bar, but in the morning, Claire Fletcher is gone, leaving behind clues to a decade-old mystery. Abducted at age fifteen, no one has heard from Claire Fletcher in ten years. Until now. Driven by an unsettling need to see Claire again, Connor sets out to solve the mystery of her disappearance once and for all.
Purchase Links
E-book: Amazon US | Amazon UK | J.C. Martin, Fighter Writer
