Tips for Dealing with Writers Rejection
Photo of a sad-looking woman standing inside a window.
I still remember that day when my then-publisher rejected my second novel, which was to have been Book 2 in a two-book contract.
Now, over a decade later, it's not the editorial rationales that I remember most, but my own sorrow.
I'm not proud to admit this, but I did weep into my pillow. Why? Because I believed that I would never write or publish anything again.
I was wrong on two points here. Yes, I wrote and published more works. A few editing rounds later, the novel got accepted by a different publisher. Post-publication, it garnered some awards and recognitions. I also wrote and published three more books—and a host of shorter works.
I was also wrong to let a book rejection incite the sort of grief that we should save for life's real traumas--like death or illness or a worldwide pandemic.
And yet ...
Even the toughest of us writers feel the sting of rejection. Or as one article (now deleted from Psych Central) posits:
“Rejection … makes us question or dismiss whatever we’ve created. It makes us question ourselves as individuals. It confirms our worst nightmares, our inner critic’s blistering beliefs. It shakes up our self-worth, and hurts us at our core.”
Here are my 4 best tips for avoiding or surviving writers rejection:
Pre-research your target editors and publishers. Some just aren’t the right match for you and your work. Sometimes, it really isn’t about you. It’s about the fit.
Follow the submission guidelines If the acquisitions editors don’t publish romance or mystery, they really don’t publish romance or mystery. Oh, and keep to that required word count, preferred submission file formats and other stated requirements.
Use the 48-hour rule. Within 48 hours of receiving a rejected query or piece, I re-read, re-fix and re-submit to another editor—preferably one higher up the chain. It feels good. Sometimes, it yields a new byline.
Re-read one of your previously published pieces. See? This piece was selected and published. It may even have garnered praise from readers. So shush that inner critic or doom voice to remember that yes, you are a worthy writer.