Rejection is nothing personal

I read this good article at tor.com about why agents/publishers/editors may reject a submission, and why does it feel so terrible when they do?
http://www.tor.com/2016/03/10/publishing-business-art-rejection-personal/#more-2...

I tend to not take rejection letters personally, which is a good thing since I have a number of them. I have judged many poetry competitions, both written and spoken word. Many times my fellow judges and I have had wildly differing opinions. To me, even if not a winner, that meant the poetry had merit because it evoked some sort of reaction, feeling in everyone. What one publisher or editor rejects today may be eagerly received by someone else tomorrow. Recently I had a poem accepted for publication by the Oyez Review. The poem had been rejected previously, more than once. If you believe in what you are writing and the quality, never let anyone tell you it isn't good enough.

>" "If you believe in what you are writing and the quality, never let anyone tell you it isn't good enough."

That's not what the article says at all. It's a particular trap that indie authors are more likely to fall into. It's very clear about it. Despite putting your heart and soul into a work that you believe to be perfect, listen to what the dispassionate editor says, set aside the intense personal feelings and consider the points raised. You can of course try again elsewhere, 'not good enough for here' is not an absolute standard.

>3 reading_fox:, same feeling here, or at least I would restate "never let anyone tell you it isn't good enough" as "don't let negative criticism leave you dispirited" because it's an opportunity for improvement. I'm a member of a critique group where we absolutely trust each other's opinions. We also have a golden rule: never praise someone's work, except in a very general way. In other words, if we aren't finding something negative to say, we don't feel like we're helping very much!

I'd much rather have someone say something negative and take a second look at how I could approach that character/scene/plot point, than to obliviously believe everything I write is golden. I'm not perfect, why should I expect my output is perfect? I take criticism in that spirit, rather than as a judgement. Something triggered the negative reaction. I need to understand what and why, and try alternatives to get a different reaction, or I won't get any better at this.

I've never had a rejection letter, but that's because I'm so scared of them that I haven't even looked into getting an agent.

That said, most of the people around me (none of them family) who have read my first book told me they've enjoyed it; maybe there's an agent out there who will accept it.

Interesting article... I certainly picked up some pointers from it.

JK Rowling recently shared a couple of rejection letters from her past.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/rowling-shares-rejection-letters-1.3507725

Neither is very inspiring. The first is incredibly detailed and helpful advice on how to find a more appropriate publisher for the genre she's writing in. The second just says this publisher isn't accepting any new submissions right now. I'll bet she has much better examples stored away somewhere, but is too polite to share them. The moral being, everybody gets their fill (and then some) of these.

I WISH I could get a rejection letter. Lately magazines simply ignore your submission. I have taken to coming up with my own rule about how long to wait before withdrawing the submission. The Strand made me wait more than a year before I finally gave up and withdrew my submission. Then they sent me spam email soliciting advertising space in their magazine.

>1 Cecrow: Huh. Seen multiple versions of that same article for years. Same advice too. I've been at this too long. :)

>3 reading_fox: Yeah, no. "Not good enough for here" and just "Not Good" are two different things. Believe in your work, but be prepared for others to not accept it because they don't like it. No big deal. Take a moment to figure out why, improve if needed (same issue multiple times definitely) then move to the next publisher.

>4 Cecrow: Oh Goodness. I'd never stay in a critique group like that. Why? Because a comment of "I don't understand this paragraph" isn't negative. It's constructive. To always hear "This sentence sucked." would not be helpful to me.

>5 A.W.Black: Be wary of the friend niceness. They won't want to hurt your feelings so will say its good. They can be as bad as family.

>8 TFleet: Do your research on the various submission websites, like Duotrope.com and Ralan.com . They will tell you the expected window of responses and when to check. I had a story with the New Yorker for six months, before I gave up, because it was beyond their window and they ignored my nudge.

*checks file* 95 rejections and counting.

I usually just read it, walk away for a day, come back to review the criticism, then see what I can take away from it. Most times, form rejections give nothing, so I just move to the next publisher and keep going.

>10 gilroy:, awesome that you're keeping them, I say. Makes for a better story later, after you score a win and can say exactly how many foolish people turned you down. ;)

>9 gilroy:

Funny you mention that, because I have "Check out Duotrope" on my To-Do list! I will now add Ralan, of which I hadn't heard before; thanks!