How to deal with rejection from agents and publishers

[Helen]

Hi all,
I have been through a very long process of submitting my novel to agents and publishers and have still yet to find success. I wrote a little blog post to keep us all going on this subject as I suspect we all suffer in this way at some point.

You can read my thoughts on how to deal with rejection here (it's supposed to be fun, just to warn you!)

https://helencoxauthor.wordpress.com/...

Also, I'd love, love, love to hear from other writers and how they are coping with any rejection they've experienced. Better not to go through it alone, methinks!

Best, Helen

[Mark]

Hi Helen,

I've saved this in my favourites but not read it yet. Just submitted my first move to 15 agents - I will probably need it 8 weeks time or so

[Assaph]

Hi Helen,

Thanks for this! It came at the right moment ;-)

I skipped being rejected by agents and publishers. Instead I went straight to being rejected by book bloggers and shops...

Thanks again for the lol,
Assaph

[J.M.]

It's something we all better get used to. It's more difficult than ever today to get an agent to represent a new author. Most of us will self-publish after countless rejections and this is probably contributing to the problem. The market is flooded with a few good books and some that should never see the light of day. Not only that but they are selling for less than a dollar or being given away. An agent invests a lot of time and money to get book sales and the competition is fierce.

[Jim]

J.M.'s comment in message 4 is valid and correct.
Not long ago, the title published author could be rightfully claimed by only a few thousand living individuals and only a few hundred new books were released annually. The invention of the personal computer and internet radically changed that forever. Today hundreds of thousands of living individuals may legitimately profess to be a published author and hundreds of new books are released daily.

So many of this new generation of authors routinely give their work away for free that many have adopted the philosophy of "Why ever pay anything for something that can be obtained for nothing?".

The vast majority of query letters and manuscripts have always been rejected by established, traditional publishers. The rate of rejection has increased exponentially with the number authors seeking recognition.

[M.o.]

Go to self publishing in a variety of methods

[Helen]

Mark wrote: "Hi Helen,

I've saved this in my favourites but not read it yet. Just submitted my first move to 15 agents - I will probably need it 8 weeks time or so "

Have faith! You may not need it at all! It is a humorous piece though so don't worry too much about when you dip in ;)

[Helen]

Assaph wrote: "Hi Helen,

Thanks for this! It came at the right moment ;-)

I skipped being rejected by agents and publishers. Instead I went straight to being rejected by book bloggers and shops...

Thanks aga..."

Your welcome for lol. Ahh yes. So many people just lining up to reject you. What a feeling! Hahaha.

[Helen]

J.M. wrote: "It's something we all better get used to. It's more difficult than ever today to get an agent to represent a new author. Most of us will self-publish after countless rejections and this is probably..."

I agree with all you say here. It is indeed a jungle out there that we're all in some way contributing to. But what are we to do? Stop writing? Doesn't seem likely :)