Rejection and Publishing

Rejection, it's a word all writers loathe and fear. I myself have been rejected as an author by zines, agents, editors, workshops, and readings. It's a difficult road, and I feel for the thousands of writers that pass through our slushpile everyday. It's hard not to take each rejection like an arrow to the heart and I've seen writers who have become bitter, angry, sad, and then broadcast it online. They vent their frustration, believing they have been wronged, calling publishers, editors, agents alike nasty names and blaming them personally for the rejections.

One of the most important things I have learned since entering the other side of publishing is that rejection is not personal. Publishing is first and foremost, a business. The people within publishing love books (they have to, for it is rarely a lucrative career), but they are not artists per say, so they are looking at each submission with a practical eye. For example, as beautiful as your prose may be, if the book is hundreds of thousands of words long, an agent knows that a publisher will not probably not pick it up because to publish a book that large costs more money. No one is saying the writer is a bad writer for having a long book, it just means the writer probably doesn't understand the business side of publishing and is likely inexperienced.

So if you are like the average writer and wish to have a financially successful career, do your research, know the business and understand that it's similar to any other job. Your first project is your entry-level resume. You're going to have to submit it to as many places as you can, be rejected or ignored, and even if you do get hired, you won't be the CEO within the year. But if you keep honing your craft by going to school or workshops or conferences, doing online research, critical reading and practicing writing, just as you would invest in another career, your odds of success become much higher.

And you will see that rejection is just business as usual.

For more tips on writing and publishing follow Mary @Mary_C_Moore.

Why You Should Never Respond to a Rejection Letter

As we slog through hundreds of submissions in the slushpile, day after day, week after week, year after year, it is hard not to become the hardened cynical arrogant bastards that many authors think we are. When you see the same mistakes made over and over again, the same cliches done, the same "thinking out of the box" tricks, you sink lower and lower beneath the mounds of manuscripts, grumbling and growling and rolling your eyes the whole way down. But here at KC&A we actually read and respond to every query, with what we hope is a gentle rejection and encouraging words, even as we descend into the depths of slushpile madness. Most authors are professional and only write back to say thank you for the response. But some, some get angry. And then we get responses such as this:

You aren't extremly selective.
This book is the next Harry Poter.
You know about what you're talking.
If you were extremly selective, you would choose my book.
To say that this book isn't selective, it means you know nothing about what works or what doesn't work.
You are the shame of the market.
You discuss me.
THIS BOOK IS EXTRMLY SELECTIVE.
YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING.
YOU DONT WANNA MAKE MONEY
This is your problem,not mine.
Being extremly selective, I choose that uncapable like you aren't enough strong to sell my  book.
You're fired!!!!

So think before you respond to a rejection. Because we will remember you. And please know this, we did consider your submission. If we rejected it, then for whatever reason it was not a good fit for us. We love our authors and we love books. We want you to succeed as much as you want to.

For more query tips follow Mary on Twitter, @Mary_C_Moore