It’s an endurance race, pure and simple, and it goes like this:
Rejection arrives from publisher via a form email …
1 – Cry, swear, vow never to put quill to parchment ever again, think, vow to e-publish next time, swear some more, cry again. Have best friend hugs (who may or may not be a lover and which may or may not involve sex. Either way endorphins will be released into your bloodstream and you’ll feel better)
2: Review rejection for validity, and repeat step 1 above as necessary.
3: Depending on levels of validity, prepare your response. (not to be confused with reaction, which may or may not include step 1, again)
4: Execute response. (not to be confused with executing author of rejection, no matter how much you might want to. Repeat step 1 if such urges raise their distracting heads)
And remember these two clichés. They have validity, that’s why they’ve become clichés:
’99 times fall down, 100 times get up’ … and … ‘Success is the best revenge’
.
“I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it” – Jonathan Winters
As usual, I like your quote. 🙂
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It’s a good one eh!
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I assume because you are preparing for the publication of your book that this was something else that you had put forward for consideration?
Sometimes the ‘feedback’ is helpful; sometimes form letters don’t provide the right guidance to do something different next time. Just keep being true to your own vision and you’ll find someone who admires and supports it.
Even the best authors get their share of rejection letters. Just think of all the publishers who passed up JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book…
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Yeah, I bet they were eating their livers when the whole HP thing took off!
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How many actually passed up JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book? Are you submitting something else, Widder? How is the promoting going? I’ll be right there along with you in the promoting field next fall when my children’s book comes out. The next mountain so to speak.
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I’m thinking of starting a movement to make JK the patron saint of rejected authors (matron saintess?)
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I know I’ll have opportunities to dance this dance. Right now I watch from the sidelines. It’s good to know what to look forward to and how to deal with it.
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I’ve found step 1 useful in all sorts of circumstances 😉
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It’s a good step. 🙂
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Saying “I’m in the Library of Congress” is sweet revenge for me. Yeah, there are moments when I get humanly petty. 🙂 Writers really do need to be thick-skinned to succeed, which I think is funny considering how insecure we can get.
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Ah, sweet paradox of life, at last I’ve found you! 🙂
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Funny post, here! I love the Jonathan Winters quote.
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it’s wonderful to contemplate that these guys are really talented musicians who are clowns as well.
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