Yeah, rejection. Right out of the blocks.
So, I get my book back from my technical editor. I get 20 pages corrected and decide to take a leap of faith, right off the cliff.
This is one of the agents one I met at a conference. She’s agreed to read ten pages. I have my summary, my pitch and my corrected pages. I’m good to go. I figure by the time she gets back to me, I’ll have the rest of the book corrected.
ONE HOUR later she responds, calls the first ten pages “frantic” and I’m shot down. Talk about a ruined morning. But, a good night’s sleep and re-reading the pages I realized, the story’s good, the pages are a tight read and there are 50 more agents on my list. If I get more similar comments I’ll fix it.
Hey, I can take a little rejection. Even God has to deal with it.
I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.
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too often we hear of the miraculous success, which only happens like 1% of the time. Thank you for putting it all out there. A little perspective goes a long way.
Last week I got an e-mail from an editor rejecting my query for a nonfiction article into their magazine. It sucked, but it kind of motivates me to try a little harder. The funny thing is the editor ended up sending me a friend request on Facebook a few days later and we’ve been corresponding on her publication’s Facebook page. Weird!
Every great writer has experienced rejection, so just know you’re not alone. It hurts, but the only thing that will ease the pain is to continue writing the best book possible. Make it so good that no editor or agent will want to turn it down.
At least you can blame the commas! 😉 Seriously, I hope the frustration from this experience help fuel bigger, better ones. You could always contact that editor in the future, say you took their feedback to heart and would love another chance… Just a thought.
I fixed the commas before sending it out. I work with three critique groups and have four beta readers in the middle of the book. No one has said anything like her comment. I am taking all the readers’ comments and assimilating them for a final draft. The good news is that people really like it so far, even my technical editor said I made him laugh.
Please don’t go by what just one editor said. I had a horrific experience with an editor last year that crushed me to pieces. It was really hard to move forward. Then I started reading more craft books. You know, James Scott Bell and Donald Maass. When I finished reading their books I realized that I really did know what I was doing and the editor was out of his mind. Won’t say who it was. But I’ve moved forward. It’s so great that you have wonderful support. That can make all the difference in the world. Just keep going. It will happen! 🙂
Thanks for the vote of confidence, I have moved on. I’ve been writing for decades. Here’s another story… I wrote a technical book and was told by a publisher that told me there was no place in the world for that text. I self-published that book and three weeks later THEY published their book on the same topic. My book sold thousands. I continue and thanks again for the pat on the back.