Saturday, April 20, 2013

Rejections

"Rejected pieces aren’t failures; unwritten pieces are."  ~ Greg Daugherty


Anyone who's submitted their work for publication has seen the face of rejection. Probably many, many times. I happens to ALL writers. Check out this list:


  1. John Grisham’s first novel was rejected 25 times.
  2. Beatrix Potter had so much trouble publishing The Tale of Peter Rabbit, she initially had to self-publish it.
  3. Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, received 121 rejections before it was published. It later become a best seller.
  4. Gertrude Stein spent 22 years submitting before getting a single poem accepted.
  5. Judy Blume received rejections for two straight years.
  6. Madeline L’Engle received 26 rejections before A Wrinkle in Time was published. It's a good thing she didn't give up. The book won the Newberry Medal and become one of the best-selling children’s books of all time.
  7. Frank Herbert’s Dune received 20 rejections before being published.
  8. Stephen King received dozens of rejections for Carrie before it was published.


Why manuscripts are rejected -

A manuscript could be rejected for any reason, really, but here are some of the most common:

  1. It's just plain bad. May this not apply to you or me.
  2. It's good, but the agent or editor just isn't feeling a connection with it.
  3. It's good, but the agent or publisher isn't looking for that type of book.
  4. Spelling and grammar problems.



May the above list of authors inspire you to never give up. Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday's post -  Setting
 

 

 

16 comments:

  1. Rejection can be soul destroying but one always seem to bounce back. Rejection is not a nice word in any shape or form .

    Yvonne.

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    1. You're right about that. It's not a pleasant word. I've learned to not get my hopes up very high so that rejections don't sting as bad.

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  3. I am very familiar with rejection letters. I have gotten a few over the years. Thank you so much for stopping by and following my blog. I am very grateful.

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    1. I've gotten a lot of rejections myself. But I've also gotten acceptances and those make it all worth while.

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  4. Rejection is never fun, but it's really only hard at first. At least it was on me. It's really just part of the publishing process, with queries going out largely to strangers who tastes for interaction you don't know. You can add J.K. Rowling and Jack London to that list - most people get their noses broken going up against the glass.

    John at The Bathroom Monologues

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    1. Oh, yes! I can't believe I forgot those two. I'm pretty sure every writer ever published was rejected at some point.

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  5. Great post and I have a lot of rejections. Thank goodness for the internet--now I can delete them instead of saving them in a file.

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    1. You could save them in a virtual file ... but go ahead and just delete those stinkers.

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  6. Rejections are essential, because if you keep honing your craft, those rejections will one day turn into requests. Proof you are getting closer.

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    1. I think the rejections after requests are the hardest.

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  7. Love that first quote and it's true...the failure is in not finishing....

    ...so I need to finish mine! :)

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  8. WOW! It's hard to imagine John Grisham being rejected! WOW Excellent post.
    Connie
    A to Z-ing to the end
    Peanut Butter and Whine

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  9. It's always reassuring to read such facts about famous people's rejections. :)

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