Day 216

Rejection – everyone is on the end of it – but it doesn’t have to be the end, or a negative

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Here’s the good news – getting a rejection letter from a publisher declining to publish the book you thought was about to launch your writing career into the stratosphere, or on a lesser scale, a rejection of an article you wrote for your favourite magazine, is one of those things that goes with the territory.

It happens to everyone, and even those writers who are now No. 1 bestselling authors. The most notable rejection story I ever read was that of J K Rowling and her Harry Potter.

The trick is, don’t let it get the better of you. Never send away a piece of writing without keeping a little section of your hopes on hold so that if the improbable happens, it is not as devastating.

Then, before the soul searching, or wondering what was wrong, if the letter has reasons why they didn’t publish, and please let it not be as simple as sending a fishing story to a wedding magazine, look at the information as constructive criticism, and make changes.

If they don’t give any feedback, then try to take the editor’s seat, read the story and see if you can spot the problems from that editor’s point of view. You will be surprised at how easy it can be to see the error, and even easier to fix it.

You are always going to get ‘constructive’ criticism.

I never used to handle it well, but now, I talk on the advice of others. Sometimes I ignore it, but I am always willing to read what others think of my work, even if it is sometimes disparaging.

I cannot please all of the people all of the time.

But that doesn’t stop me from trying.