Sunday, September 11, 2016

Dealing with Rejection

Rejection hurts. That’s the simple truth. But if a writer garners contracts, s/he has to put up with rejections. I was asked to blog about ways to deal with rejection by several people, so here’s what I do. 

I moan to my critique partner, who understands completely because she, too, is a writer. (Hugs to you, Sandi.) Understanding that I’m not alone in the volume of rejected queries allows me to have more perspective. All writers receive rejections. 

Sometimes I mumble and gripe to my literary muses (two miniature schnauzers) that the editor didn’t “get” the story (but of course she “got” enough of it to understand it wasn’t right for the publisher). My reasoning can be a little warped when the rejections pour in, but the mental warp makes me feel better.  

I don’t fret beyond the day I receive the rejection. I move on with another project or send the rejected manuscript out to another editor. Remember, it only takes one editor to love the work and deem it contract worthy. Different editors have hugely different opinions about what is a great story. 

If a story is rejected several times, I store it away, temporarily. After a few months (sometimes, years) I reexamine the manuscript with fresh eyes. If my story seem to have merit, I rewrite and resubmit. (That’s what I’ve been doing the last few months and snatched a few contracts.) Sometimes the rewrite bears little resemblance to the original story. AMAZING GRACE began as a picture book (rejected). I rewrote it as a chapter book (rejected). After I rewrote it as a middle grade novel, it found a home with a publisher. 

Next week, I’ll look at other ways I deal with rejection. 

Call for submissions for Young and Adult Writers:

Submissions for Wee Tales and Refractions must be age appropriate for the journal (7 to 12 for Wee Tales, 13 and up for Refractions). If you have something more geared toward an adult market please still submit it for our next possible run of Deep Waters. General and Refractions short submissions should be between 1000 and 5000 words, Wee Tales submissions should be between 600 and 2000 words. Adult and teen writers are invited to submit. 

Submission guidelines at https://goldenfleecepress.com/refractions/

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