Dreaded Rejections!

I'm sorry but your story does not meet our requirements at this time, our publishing schedule already has several debut writers so we are not taking on any more, you have a great story but we are already publishing a lot of vampire novels so we cannot accept yours, Dear Ms. Tina Neill, Thanks for your submission but it does not meet our needs at this time.

I think all writers have probably gotten a rejection at one time or another – for a manuscript or maybe for an idea. Rejections are basically a fact of life for us but they’re not all bad, no, not even those generic ones that don’t get our names right. Why? Well, because getting a rejection means you sent out a submission. That’s a fabulous thing right there. I’ve met dozens of people who say they’d love to be published but, guess what, only half have even started a manuscript and, of those, only a handful finished it. Of those who completed their manuscript, very few have actually had the courage to send it around to agents or publishers. So you’re way ahead of the pack.
But what if your rejection from No.1 Publishing House had your name on it…and, gasp, what if the editor said your manuscript wasn’t what they were looking for but that tastes were different and encouraged you to keep trying with other houses? Clearly, this is a much more desirable rejection than the first. It’s not as good as an acceptance, of course, but it acknowledges a universal truth – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So stock up on the stamps and the Tyvek envelopes and keep the mailman busy or keep your index finger limber and keep pressing Send.

Okay, now let’s say you’ve sent that baby out to about twenty different publishers and, kind as the rejections have been, they’ve still been rejections. Well, now might be the time to put aside the manuscript for a few months and start working on something else if you haven’t already. In a few months, you might see that what you’re been trying to sell to publishers as a straight historical could possibly be amended to become more of a gothic with paranormal elements. Or maybe that contemporary could be either sexed up way more or made more inspirational (remember both the erotic and inspiration markets are doing really well).