Cintia
asked
Annie Burrows:
I'm an aspiring writer, but I'm dealing with two things: I get discouraged every single day because 96% of manuscripts are rejected, and I haven't had an idea for years, literally. There's too many people wanting to be writers, and knowing there's so much competition just kills me a little every day. When I get motivated, immediatly something appears about the industry that kills it. Any tips on how to deal with this?
Annie Burrows
Hi there Cintia.
When I was an aspiring writer, I felt very much like you do. It actually hurt to walk into a book shop and see all those books on the shelves by people lucky enough to have got a publishing deal.
But the only way you are ever going to get a book deal is if you keep on going. If you want to be a published writer as much as I did, then you won't be able to give up, in spite of all the discouraging things you might hear about the publishing industry. It took me just over ten years from starting on my first novel to actually getting a deal. I got rejection slip after rejection slip, with no idea what I was doing wrong (since none of the publishers explained)
After a while, I decided it might help if I went on a creative writing course, to see if I actually might have what it took, or if I was deluding myself. I found an evening class at a local college.
My next idea was to pay for a critique, so that somebody in the know could tell me what I was doing wrong.
But before I'd finished the course, (or had to get that critique) one of my submissions (the first 3 chapters) came back with a request for the rest of the manuscript, and that eventually became my first published book.
It turned out that I hadn't been doing anything dreadfully wrong with my writing. I just needed to have a story land on the right editors desk, at the right time.
So, you do need to persevere though rejections. Most writers do. It's very rare for someone to have a first book accepted.
But for now, maybe it would help if you stopped reading about what everyone else is doing, and how hard it is to get that deal, and just write for yourself? (I'm pretty sure you can't help it anyway!)
wishing you all the best in your writing career,
Annie
When I was an aspiring writer, I felt very much like you do. It actually hurt to walk into a book shop and see all those books on the shelves by people lucky enough to have got a publishing deal.
But the only way you are ever going to get a book deal is if you keep on going. If you want to be a published writer as much as I did, then you won't be able to give up, in spite of all the discouraging things you might hear about the publishing industry. It took me just over ten years from starting on my first novel to actually getting a deal. I got rejection slip after rejection slip, with no idea what I was doing wrong (since none of the publishers explained)
After a while, I decided it might help if I went on a creative writing course, to see if I actually might have what it took, or if I was deluding myself. I found an evening class at a local college.
My next idea was to pay for a critique, so that somebody in the know could tell me what I was doing wrong.
But before I'd finished the course, (or had to get that critique) one of my submissions (the first 3 chapters) came back with a request for the rest of the manuscript, and that eventually became my first published book.
It turned out that I hadn't been doing anything dreadfully wrong with my writing. I just needed to have a story land on the right editors desk, at the right time.
So, you do need to persevere though rejections. Most writers do. It's very rare for someone to have a first book accepted.
But for now, maybe it would help if you stopped reading about what everyone else is doing, and how hard it is to get that deal, and just write for yourself? (I'm pretty sure you can't help it anyway!)
wishing you all the best in your writing career,
Annie
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