EMBRACE THOSE REJECTIONS

By Vicki H. Moss, Contributing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

On May 2 on the Suite T blog, I wrote about the children’s writer Madeleine L’engle, author of the children’s book A Wrinkle in Time; how she kept writing after rejections because she couldn’t stop. 

Most of you know that A Wrinkle in Time, a young adult novel in the science fantasy genre and first published in 1962, won the Newbery Medal. It also won the Sequoyah Book Award, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. The book also inspired two film adaptations, both by Disney: a 2003 television film directed by John Kent Harrison, and a 2018 theatrical film directed by Ava DuVernay.

But what most people don’t know is that it took Madeleine ten years to sell her manuscript. She kept writing during her perceived failure. “I’m glad I made this decision [to keep writing] in the moment of failure. It’s easy to say you’re a writer when things are going well. When the decision is made in the abyss, then it is quite clear that it is not one’s own decision at all.

“In the moment of failure I knew that the idea of Madeleine, who had to write in order to be, was not image.

“And what about that icon?

“During those difficult years I was very much aware that if I lost my ability to laugh, I wouldn’t be able to write, either. If I started taking myself and my failure too seriously, then the writing would become something that was mine, that I could manipulate, that I could take personal credit—or discredit—for. When a book was rejected, I would allow myself twenty-four hours of private unhappiness. I’m sure I wasn’t as successful in keeping my misery from the family as I tried to be, but I did try.”

Madeleine goes on to say she would take a walk and do her weeping. She could also play games with the children at dinner, but she couldn’t listen to Bach. Unlike Madeleine, I didn’t weep over rejections, nor did I nail my rejections to a timber like Stephen King. I did, however, keep every single rejection in a box and I also kept good records in a three-ring-binder pertaining to where each story was sent and if it sold or not. By keeping good records, I prepared myself for an eventual book sale—and a possible IRS audit. Because one day down the road, I planned on making some sales. Goalzzzzz! Before that day came, I kept myself in a positive frame of mind, and began writing for kids’ magazines to keep me pumped before a book deal.  

But if you must weep, go ahead. I’ve found weeping, however, makes me weak. I do better thinking about how many rejections Stephen King had before he made a sale; somewhere in the sixties. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig had 121 rejections. Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield had 144 rejections. Kate DiCamillo had 473 rejections beforeBecause of Winn-Dixie (one of my favorites) was published. Louis L’Amour had 200 rejections before he was finally published.

Feel better now? Just remember, if you must write in order to be—like Madeleine L’Engle—weep if you must over rejections. Go all out on the gloom and despair bit for a few hours. Then get back to work pronto. What helped me was to say, “Yay, I got a rejection letter today! Now only 60 more before I’m up there with Stephen King’s rejection number,” or “200 more rejections until I’m up there with Louis L’Amour’s count!” I actually celebrated those first rejections and continued the countdown. Worked for me. Saved my mascara.

And after 57 rejections, I sold my first story. And *drumroll* bought the family hamburgers that night because it wasn’t enough money to go all the way with cheese. But hey, I still had my first writing paycheck.

I’ll say it again, weep if you must, but only for a time. Because time’s a wastin’. Go ahead and laugh and listen to Bach. While writing. Then send your manuscripts out. Those editors, agents, and publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts are waiting for your masterpiece. It won’t get published unless you 1) send it out, or 2) self-publish. Those are your options. Success won’t happen unless you put yourself out there and embrace a few rejections.                         

Your Bluebird Cafe Discovery

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Malcolm Gladwell has written several books one of my favorites is TheTipping Point. It was about the small changes that brought people, products or government to a point of success or change. A recent trip to Nashville and The Bluebird Café reminded me of a tipping point.

The Bluebird cafe is small 90 seat music club which will usually have 4 composers or singer/songwriters present their talents. It is a great way to see new or established talent and experience a step along the way in the music business. I was fortunate to be able to attend a benefit there for the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy. In the middle of the show   one of the artists which was experiencing her first performance at the Bluebird stopped, pointed to a spot at a table in the back and said, “Garth Brooks was seated right back there when he heard The Dance for the first time. The Dance was written by Tony Arata and Brooks recorded it as the 10^th and final song on his self-titled debut album. It remained at number 1 for 3 weeks. Quite a success story for both the writer and the singer. Why was this noted in the middle of her performance?

This young hopeful was saying this was possibly one of the steps, changes she must go through if she is to achieve success. It has happened for others this way. It could happen again. But she must experience this. This is also true for authors and I want to share two of my favorite examples.

·        Andy Andrew’s book The Butterfly Effect was shared with Good Morning America host Robin Roberts. Roberts showcased it on “Must-Reads”. Not long afterwards it was a #1 Bestseller.

·       Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen were brilliant motivational speakers and great marketing men. Their new book Chicken Soup for the Soul had sold many copies. They wanted more. They had given away thousands of copies but they needed to get it into the hands of what they called “big mouths”. Big mouths are celebrities with access to the media. They sent books to the O. J. Simpson jury. The jury was sequestered so this was one thing they could have. The jury were seen arriving each day with the book under their arm. The media asked about it and they received national attention.

“Three simple rules in life:  If you do not go after what you want, you'll never have it.  If you do not ask, the answer will always be no.  If you do not step forward, you'll always be in the same place.”  

----Nora Roberts

You never know when, where or how the right person will discover your work but if you know of things others have done you too can use that to get it out there in front of people. Not everyone that performs at The Bluebird Café becomes a “success”. But your odds are much greater if you do. It is a step, or one of the changes that must occur to increase your odds. 

Discover what others have done and put it into motion. Southern Writers Magazine with its input from authors is a great place to start learning.     

     

Rejections––Good or Bad?

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine

Okay, no one likes rejection in any form by anybody.  When a writer gets a rejection letter this is what they hear:

…We refuse to accept your writing it isn’t good enough.

…We are turning you down because we think you can’t write.

…Who do you think you are?

…What gave you the idea you could write?

…Don’t bother us again.

…This is garbage.

When you received a rejection, is this what you heard? For most writers this is a definite low point.

I have to tell you, if you’ve had your writing rejected, you are in good company.  On the website http://www.litrejections.com/best-sellers-initially-rejected/  I found the following:

Agatha Christie, 5 years of continuous rejection before landing a publishing deal. Book sales in excess of $2 billion.

J. K. Rowling, 12 rejections until an eight-year-old daughter of a Bloomsbury editor demanded to read the rest of the book. They said she had little chance of making a living in children’s books. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone spawned a series with record sales.

Louis L’Amour, 200 rejections before Bantam Publishing took a chance. Over 330 million sales.

Dr. Seuss was told his work was too different and wouldn’t sell. Over 300 milliion sales.

Zane Grey was told, “You have no business being a writer.” Over 250 million copies of his books in print.

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, 140 rejections, Chicken Soup for the Soul sells 125 million copies.

Margaret Mitchell, 39 rejections. Gone With The Wind sells 30 million copies.

Kathryn Stockett, 60 rejections on her book The Help.

Well, as you can see, quite a few well-known authors have been rejected yet they persisted and went on to be top selling authors.

To see more authors became successful in spite of the rejections, you can check out this site: https://www.authors.me/best-selling-authors-who-were-rejected/ .

The secret is to recognize rejections happen. We don’t have to like them, but we should not let them stop us for writing and sending out.

Persistence is the key. If you look at the writers above, who all received rejections, they didn’t let those rejections stop them.

Years ago when I started out in sales, they taught us to call twenty-five companies and present our sales pitch. Out of these twenty-five, we would receive three who would be interested and out of those three, we would get one sale. In other words, one sale for every twenty-five calls.

It takes a lot of effort to be successful whether you are a writer or in sales or any profession. But it is definitely worth it. Ask Stephen King! He was rejected thirty times before Carrie was published.

Buicks, Book Sales and Your Bread and Butter

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine    

When selling your books, what is your “Bread and Butter”?  In the world of sales your “Bread and Butter” could be a particular product or a particular practice that sells your product.

A particular product example may be General Motors worldwide sales of Buick over the sale of other automobile lines. In the case of a writer it may be the sale of one of their books over the other at any particular time. You must go with the popularity of the book at the moment which as you know can change as popularity, genre or focus groups change.

A particular practice for selling your book/books may be your book signing events. Steve Bradshaw author of the The Bell Trilogy, shared with me he sells more books at book signings or when he speaks to groups. His goal is to sell even more of the trilogy, Bluff City Butcher, The Skies Roared and Blood Lions, by continuing this method because it works.

Steve and I discussed the possibilities of other methods one could use as well without abandoning what is working, what is your “Bread and Butter”.  Never leave that but build on it. It is similar to baseball. You can win a game hitting singles but there is nothing like a home run or even better a grand slam. This is what can be referred to as a quantum leap, a move that moves you rapidly forward and puts you ahead in the game. The list of moves is endless but here are a few that have worked:

·         Media interviews – TV, Radio, etc. Being introduced by a reliable source as well as connecting a name with a face can be a valuable asset to you as a writer.

·         Newspaper - feature articles or as a guest columnist. Erma Bombeck developed a following as a columnist and propelled that into book sales with her book The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank. Nice springboard I’d say.

·         Proper placement – getting your book into the hands of trend setters or people who can propel your book sales. Andy Andrew was able to get The Butterfly Effect into the hands of Robin Roberts of Good Morning America. Robin brought his book to light and sales took off. Jack Canfield was able to get his book Chicken Soup for the Soul into the hands of the sequestered jury of the O. J. Simpson Trial. The worldwide coverage included the jury members coming and going from their hotel to court with his book in their arms.  

·         Screenwriter – getting your books into the hands of a screenwriter or better yet you become the screenwriter or partner with one to get your book on film. A movie is one of the most effective ways to get your book out there in front of people. If you notice the movie promotions which note “from the book” and the name of your book follows. Your book being promoted along with the movie is a big plus. Also the money you received from the sale of your script, working with or better yet being recognized as a screenwriter and the experience and knowledge you have gained are priceless.

Yes there are other ways that can propel your sales. You should always be looking for them and open to opportunities because you never know what will take you to the next level. Continue to seek out that “out of the park hit” but it isn’t necessary to leave your bread and butter while you do so.      

                    

The Habit of Five

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

Jack Canfield in his book The Success Principles stated that he made a habit of doing five things each day to move his plan forward toward his goal. He used examples of doing five radio interviews, contracting five speaking engagements or reaching out to five editors of newspapers and magazines. No matter what the day would bring he would make the habit of five endeavors and stick with it.

Jack Canfield’s success is no secret to us. We know him for his Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Secret and The Law of Attraction as much as anything he has done. What many do not realize is that Jack studied under the great business leader W. Clement Stone and declares Stone as his mentor. His studies under Stone led him to write The Success Principles which are a collection of 64 principles of success and the stories that go with them. I found the five a day principle to be a great one.

So what five will you do today? Will you not only do it today but again tomorrow? In future days will you continue with another five? I know we may not have such high expectations as five radio interviews tomorrow but we do have something we can do that one day may lead to those interviews. Touch on five each and every day and see how far you can move your plan forward in a week, month or year. I believe you will be surprised. If you are let me know. I want to hear how you have done. Make it a habit that you will not want to break.

Leapin' Lizards!

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

You are headed toward your goal. You are following your plan. Things are looking up but your progress is slower than expected. You need something to happen to speed you along. You need a QUANTUM LEAP!

Not sure what I mean? We can sell one book at a time or approach one person at a time. But what if we could approach many people and sell many books at once? That should give us a quantum leap toward our goal. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Andy Andrews was promoting his book The Traveler’s Gift by giving it to friends, acquaintances, radio shows, television shows, etc. It found its way into the hands of Robin Roberts of Good Morning America. Robin loved it and picked it as the Book of the Month. From there is became a bestseller.

Jack Canfield, in his book The Success Principles, tells how writing a best-selling book Chicken Soup for the Soul was his quantum leap in his career. It opened the doors for more opportunities for audio programs, speeches, and seminars. Canfield said, “It took me from being known in a few narrow fields to being known internationally.” But what got him to a bestseller may have been another quantum leap.

Jack and his co-creator Mark Victor Hansen were giving their book Chicken Soup for the Soul to anyone interested. They got the idea to give it to a sequestered jury. The jury was unable to read the newspapers or watch television so it would be something they could do without violating their instructions from the judge.

This particular jury was seen by millions each day being delivered from their hotel and stepping off the bus at the courthouse. Tucked under their arm was a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul.  The jurors were deciding the O. J. Simpson trial.

The press made inquiries about the book. How many books did it sell? We may never know but we do know it played an integral part of getting the book out.

When Andy Andrews got his book into the hands of the host of Good Morning America, he had no idea it would be read much less loved and brought to the viewers as the Book of the Month. Nor did Jack Canfield know that giving his book to the jury would get the attention it did. Both knew what was needed and continued to move forward by promoting their book. The opportunity grew beyond their expectation. Demosthenes said, “Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.” Take the leap; and may your next leap be a quantum leap!