Author Showcase Guest Post - Shaun Meeks: How to deal with rejection

This is the second in a series of Author Showcase guest posts. The posts are by authors from around the world, sharing their tips for writers and readers, discussing their books and careers, and generally sharing any nuggets of wisdom and useful information they may have.
Today’s post is by Toronto writer Shaun Meeks, a member of the Horror Writers Association who has more than fifty short stories in publication. Next week's showcase is Rena Mason, talking about her journey to publication.

Rejection: How to take it on the chin

Someone asked me the other day if I have ever had a story rejected and I had to chuckle a bit. Not only have I had a story rejected, but I have had many stories rejected. In fact, almost every story that has ever appeared in print had been rejected at least once or twice before. Rejection is all part of the game. Never be discouraged, because things always happen for a reason.
Sometimes a rejection might piss you off because you can tell the editor/publisher never even bothered to read what you wrote. Once, I sent two stories to a place and in the rejection they said that they were not interested in serial killer stories. I was confused because one was about Hell and the other was about a man that eats warts; none of them were actually serial killers. I laughed and plowed on; ignored the urge to email them back and ask if they even read the story. Editors/publishers like that aren’t worth submitting to in the long run and finding them at least helps you weed them out.
There was a time though, before my first story was published that I was nearly discouraged to the point of giving up. I wrote a story called Hallow Points for a new anthology due out in the winter of 2011. There was a lengthy progress after submitting where they did rejection rounds. My story made it to the last round, but in the end it was rejected and I was crushed. I was lucky to have someone behind me, my wonderful partner, who encouraged me to submit it elsewhere and I did. The story was re-edited, re-named The Soldier and I submitted it to the The Horror Zine, and it was accepted within a day. When I received that email from Jeani Rector it really set a fire under me and pushed me to hone my craft and keep on this crazy path.
What is even better about that story is that if the original place I sent the story to had accepted it, I think things might have turned out differently. It is now the winter of 2013, two years later and the book I had sent it to still hasn’t been released. In a way, the rejection helped more than them accepting it. That’s why I always tell people not to take a rejection to hard. One door closes, another one opens. So take them all as well as you can, keep a brave face and follow a few rules:
1. Never email the editors/publishers back when they’ve rejected you. Some people might be tempted to email something terse back or even a “thank you for giving it a shot”, but don’t. Hold your tongue. A terse or downright angry email will mark you as someone they never want to work with again. And word can easily get around that you’re not someone easy to work with. As far as a nice response goes, when they get 500+ submissions and only accept 20-30 stories, their email will quickly get clogged with the unnecessary responses. No need to bother them with that, because let’s be honest, we don’t mean it in most cases.
2. Rejections are all part of being a writer. If you can’t take a rejection or criticism, you might want to find a new job. Some of the best writers in the world have been rejected, from Stephen King to HP Lovecraft. It comes with the job.
3. Never post angry comments on social media about a editor/publisher that rejects you, even when they deserve it. It can and will come back to bite you in the ass.
4. Just because you get rejected doesn’t mean your story isn’t good. Editors/publishers are human. They might read your story on a day they aren’t feeling in the mood to read; they might hate certain types of settings or characters. They may prefer gore over character or vice versa. Keep the story, submit elsewhere and know that you will find a home for it.
5. Re-read your story and see if it needs editing. Many times an editor/publisher will just say “it’s not a good fit for us” when they really mean “please use spell check”.
6. Let friends and family read it and see if there is something you might have missed. As a writer, we sometimes miss the flaws or plot gaps in our own work.
7. Never re-title a story and ship it back to an editor/publisher. Any of them worth their salt (and why send it to one that isn’t), will know what you are doing and call you on it.
8. Go over your formatting and your cover letter. You might not think they matter, but they do. Editors/publishers want to see that you at least try.
9. Make sure you are sending it to the right sources to avoid instant rejections. If you submit to a magazine, read one or two issues to see if your story fits in there. And if it’s a themed anthology, stick to the theme. You’re sure to get rejected if they give a certain word count or say “no vampire stories” and you disregard.
I know there are more rules, but this is a good start for someone that is just coming up. The whole writing and submitting process is just that; a process. If you write, write and sooner or later you will find a place that gets those words out there for others to see.

Shaun Meeks lives in Toronto, Ontario. His short stories have appeared in anthologies by The Horror Zine, Zippered Flesh 2, Fresh Fear, Dark Eclipse, Someone Wicked, Miseria’s Chorale, Zombies Gone Wild. He has released two collections of short stories, At the Gates of Madness and Brother’s Ilk, and next year he will be releasing his new novel, Shutdown and a third collection, Dark Reaches. He will also be featured in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Of Devils and Deviants, The Best of the Horror Zine and Midian Unmade (a collection of short stories that take up where Clive Barker’s Cabal/Nightbreed left off).
Find out more about Shaun on his website:
http://www.shaunmeeks.com/
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaun-...
On Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ShaunMeeks
And on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Natasha Ewendt is the author of This Freshest Hell, a vampire novel released in 2013 by Lacuna Publishing. Also a journalist at the Port Lincoln Times and the director of Port Lincoln Copywriting Services, Natasha is reluctantly addicted to coffee and The Walking Dead.