When The Answer Is “Not For Us”

By Margaret Brownley

Rejections! Who wants them? Who needs them?

Years ago, I would have answered a resounding “no one!” But after having published twenty-eight books, I now realize the value of that dreaded “not for us” letter. Some of my rejections even turned out to be blessings.

My first historical novel was rejected seventeen times. On the eighteenth try, it sold and it sold big enough to help launch a new publishing line. That wouldn’t have happened had an editor snapped it up during those early submissions. Nor would it have happened had I not kept sending it out.

That experience taught me that rejections can offer second, third and even umpteen chances to try again and get it right. I’ve also learned not to take rejections personally. Even books that went on to win major literary awards were once rejected, some many times. What would have happened had J.K.Rowling given up after Harry Potter’s twelfth rejection?

Books are rejected for numerous reasons, many of which have nothing to do with quality of writing. Years ago, I attended a conference where one of the speakers introduced herself as “The editor who turned down The Thorn Birds.” I even heard an editor admit to rejecting a manuscript because the protagonist had the same name as her ex. Yep, editors are human, too, and they can make mistakes.

Sometimes a rejection simply means the timing is wrong. The market might not be favorable to your particular genre. Many of my published westerns were rejected years earlier because of the market. I waited and when the market turned in my favor, I pounced and my patience paid off.

Sometimes, you have to man-up and admit that some books don’t deserve to be published, even the ones we love. I wrote four books before selling my first and I will be forever grateful that two of them never saw the light of day. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the sad truth is that those two books weren’t worthy of a reader’s attention. The scary part is that had eBooks been available back then, I might have been tempted to self-publish.

So how do you know if a book is good enough for publication? How do you keep going when all the rejections say stop? Sometimes the hardest part of writing is finding an honest critic.

Don’t trust the family member or even a friend who says your book is wonderful. Instead, enter contests. The judges won’t worry about hurting your feelings. If you scores are consistently low, you have work to do.

I once paid a published author (yes paid!) to read the first three chapters of my book. Pay someone to read your manuscript and you’ll get an honest critique. Her comments were brutal, but I took her notes seriously, did the revisions and the book sold the next time out.

Rejections are never fun, but neither are they the end of a story; sometimes they are only the beginning.

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Margaret Brownley is a N.Y. Times bestselling author and Romance Writers of American RITA finalist. She is currently working on her Bridesof Last Chance series. Her latest installment “Waiting for Morning,” book released January 2013 and will be followed in the fall 2013 by “Gunpowder Tea.” 

Margaret can be reached through her website: www.margaretbrownley.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Margaret-Brownley

Viggo Mortensen on Rejection

by Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor

Sherry Perkins has a great article in our Southern Writers Magazine May/June issue entitled Viggo Mortensen: On the Poet’s Road. Many of us know Viggo Mortensen as the actor of such great films as Witness, A Walk on the Moon, 28 Days, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The King Returns,  Hidalgo, A History of Violence and many more. What many of us may not know is Mortensen’s talents as a painter, jazz musician, photographer, writer and poet. Sherry Perkins has brought out his writing talents and discussed with him many challenges writers face.

One thing Mortensen was asked about was rejection. Sherry asked,

“Before you were a celebrity, how did you deal with rejection?”

Mortensen pointed out that he doesn’t like them any more now than he did then. Mortensen went on to say one learns to take it a little less personally or to at least to recover from it a little more easily. We can only wonder how long or how many rejections it takes before it gets easier. It would be great to know the rejections we get will eventually be easier to accept. But we must realize, as Mortensen said, if we cannot learn to accept rejection we will end up trying another line of work.

Rejection is a personal thing each and every one of us must deal with. It can be hard for us to understand that an award winning actor continues to deal with it but it is there. It may become easier but it is there. If we are fortunate it will become easier but only if we continue to put ourselves out there. Here is hoping you continue and it does become easier.   

  

Mortensen’s insights on joining a writers group, his influences, writer’s block and other topics are of great value to writers and I hope you will take the time to give it a read. Sherry Perkins did a fantastic job with this article. Thank you Sherry!

Rejection is an Invitation

by Shannon Milholland, Social Media Director

I have the natural athletic ability of a slug. All through from elementary to high school I was picked last. I was so bad, the team captain would select someone in a cast before me. In fact my first B in college was in Badminton. Seriously, how does one not get an A in Badminton? 


I was familiar with the sting of rejection long before I sent the first query letter. As authors we experience rejection in our stagnant Facebook author page, our unretweeted tweets, and form letter answers to queries. Today, I'd like to invite us to view rejection through a different lens.


What is we saw rejection as an invitation? How would it embolden us if rejection were an invitation to submit elsewhere, to try a new Facebook tactic or to follow someone new on Twitter. What is we stopped letting rejection dictate our destiny and instead used it as the launching pad to our next success?


Let's encourage each other today! Share with us a rejection you've committed to retool into a invitation. What will you invite yourself to do?

A Positive Rejection

by Vonda Skelton


In order to protect the not-so-innocent, we'll call him John. He was tall, handsome, and athletic – the desire of every eighth grade girl. Oh, if only he would choose me – my life would be perfect!

Well, you know the story. I lined up, alongside three-fourths of the eighth-grade female population, and applied for the role of John's girl. But he said I wasn't a good fit. I wasn't his type.

In other words, I was rejected.

It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Two years later, I met Gary, the love of my life. We've now been married almost 43 years – and we're still happy about it! But it wasn't until I ran into John twenty years after high school graduation that I realized how blessed I was to have lost that competition.

Let me just say, it was a positive rejection!

Rejections are part of the writing life. We look over the field of options and decide on the magazine or book publisher or website we desire to partner with. We line up alongside hundreds of other writers and apply for the role. And chances are, we don't win the part. They tell us we aren't a good fit. We aren't their type. In other words, we're rejected.

It can be the best thing that happens to us.

Years ago, soon after the publication of my first paid article, I submitted a piece to HomeLife Magazine, a LifeWay publication. It was a good article. I was sure they would choose to partner with me – and then my writing life would be perfect!

But the article was promptly rejected. We weren't a good fit, they said. The article wasn't their type, they said. They did say, however, that they would pass it along to the editor of another LifeWay magazine, Christian Health.

When I received Christian Health's email rejection, I wasn't surprised and wasn't even too disappointed.

After all, I hadn't submitted to them in the first place! But as I read the note, I was surprised at the last paragraph. "Even though this particular article isn't appropriate for our magazine, we do like your writing style. Would you consider writing a 1000-word article on Folic Acid?"

Of course, the answer was yes. So I became a writer for Christian Health.

A few articles later, the editor of Christian Single Magazine, another LifeWay publication, called me at home. "We've been introduced to your writing through the editor at Christian Health. Would you be interested in writing a monthly column for us?"

So I became a writer for Christian Single. Yes, at that time I was a married, 55-ish grandmother of four...and I wrote for Christian Single Magazine.

But here's the punch line: A couple of years later, I received an unsolicited email from the new editor at HomeLife Magazine. Yep – the original magazine of this story. I had never contacted the magazine again after that first rejection, but the new editor said she was aware of my articles and impressed with my work. "Would you consider writing for us?"

Would I??? So after a round-about detour and lots of published articles, I finally became a writer for HomeLife Magazine.

I can't help thinking back to that original rejection. At the time, I was devastated. All I could see was my failure. They didn't want me. But now I see it was a rejection with a positive ending. Instead of writing for one magazine, I ended up writing for three within the same publishing house! And since then I’ve written for a fourth LifeWay magazine, ParentLife.

This type of story plays out time and time again in the writing world. My plan was so small the day I submitted that article to HomeLife. One article. One magazine. One chance. I remember how disappointed I was when I added that rejection to the pile. How much longer would I keep trying?

How much longer will you keep trying? Let’s face it, the writing life is full of rejection. Why would any sane person put themselves through that?

But for most of us, the pathway to publication includes detours through the land of rejection.
And that, my friends, can be a positive.
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VondaSkelton is a national speaker, author of four books for women and children, and founder of ChristianCommunicators.com, a training conference and community for Christian women speakers. Her writer’s blog, The Christian Writer’s Den, garners thousands of monthly visits and includes writing instruction, opportunities, and author interviews. You can connect with Vonda at www.VondaSkelton.com, Facebook, or Twitter.