Universal Truths for Writers part 6 of 7
Rejection is part of the game, so you better get used to it.
It was Isaac Asimov who said, "Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil—but there is no way around them." Even if you go the non-traditional route and self-publish you're going to have to deal with rejection.
What you've written is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Whether you're writing articles for newspapers, short fiction for magazines, or have completed your novel and are trying to get an agent or publishing house to bite, you will get rejected. Here is what you have to remember, despite how much it hurts, and how little this is going to make you feel better, it's not personal.
The editors in charge of acquiring work are taking a gamble on every piece they say yes to. They have to turn a profit for their company or they won't be around for very long. So it's not that your particular piece won't be a runaway best seller, it's just that they personally didn't fall in love with it, and if they don't love it then they can't sell it.
I'm sure each and everyone who is reading this now can name at least one thing that they've read and thought...wow, what trash. How did this get published? And that's okay. Everything isn't meant to be loved by everyone, if it were that way this would be an EXTREMELY boring world.
Think of it this way however, if only .05% of the entire world fell in love with your writing and bought everything you produced you would literally have millions of fans. You just have to weed through the other 99.95% to find them, and that my friends adds up to a lot of rejection letters.
I hope this is helpful, and I thank you for taking the time to read it.
It was Isaac Asimov who said, "Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil—but there is no way around them." Even if you go the non-traditional route and self-publish you're going to have to deal with rejection.
What you've written is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Whether you're writing articles for newspapers, short fiction for magazines, or have completed your novel and are trying to get an agent or publishing house to bite, you will get rejected. Here is what you have to remember, despite how much it hurts, and how little this is going to make you feel better, it's not personal.
The editors in charge of acquiring work are taking a gamble on every piece they say yes to. They have to turn a profit for their company or they won't be around for very long. So it's not that your particular piece won't be a runaway best seller, it's just that they personally didn't fall in love with it, and if they don't love it then they can't sell it.
I'm sure each and everyone who is reading this now can name at least one thing that they've read and thought...wow, what trash. How did this get published? And that's okay. Everything isn't meant to be loved by everyone, if it were that way this would be an EXTREMELY boring world.
Think of it this way however, if only .05% of the entire world fell in love with your writing and bought everything you produced you would literally have millions of fans. You just have to weed through the other 99.95% to find them, and that my friends adds up to a lot of rejection letters.
I hope this is helpful, and I thank you for taking the time to read it.
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