Any writer who has ever submitted something to be published has been rejected. And we’ve all heard the story about JK Rowling getting rejected a whole SIX times before she finally was picked up by a traditional publisher.
Fuck that TERF, by the way.
But to be rejected only six times? How lucky is she? In fact, the majority of authors I know have been rejected dozens upon dozens, up to and beyond hundreds of times. And that includes me.
Specifically, my science fiction book has been rejected (if I’ve kept a running total correctly) 86 times. Honestly, it feels like my book has been 86’d from the Book Bar at this point.
Almost all of those rejections have been standard rejections. A few said they liked my work, but they just couldn’t fully get behind it like they knew they would need to.
This latest one, though, was kind enough to reply after saying they were worried about copyright. I was like… the material is original. I own it. And with the reply came this stunning realization: I had included names of celebrity and famous fictional characters in my book. I’d thought I was safe, as I wasn’t saying anything bad.
They don’t even want to go near it. So me - still hopeful - asks if I could resubmit if I changed those names and references.
Turns out, I can, but that the names weren’t the only reason. There were many factors in my rejection.
I am truly grateful the person took the time to reply to my emails. It will make my book better. And it will give me time to really narrow down what I want to say with it.
It holds a special place in my heart, as it was the first book I ever wrote and, to this day, is the second-most daunting undertaking I’ve conceived of. But loving my work isn’t enough. Just like if I were to make brownies. I may love brownies, but it doesn’t mean they’ll be good or that other people will enjoy them.
However, this has definitely changed the way I look at my books. I set my sci-fi trilogy down several years ago, thinking I’d visit it again once I got better at writing and had possibly made a name for myself.
Well, there’s no time like the present. I’ve published since I wrote the books, and that means I have a platform that may accept them. It would be wonderful if, one day, my trilogy (and the supplement novellas I’ve written to go with it) lined my bookshelves. And I actually feel more confident that they will be on my bookshelf the more I improve my art.
But right now, I’m just a boy, sitting in front of a computer screen, screaming, “WHY DON’T YOU LIKE ME?!”
It’s hard not to take rejection personally. You put so much of yourself, your time, your energy, your very soul into your books, only to have some rando in some big city go, ‘Nah.,’ and move on to a ton of other books whose authors are going to hear the same thing.
And the vicious cycle continues.
Maybe I’ll see about going through the Indie publisher who published my first two books. I’m not a fan of their generic formatting, but I get a say in the cover. It’s not in their wheelhouse, though, so I should look into other indie publishers and submit there.
I don’t want to self-publish if I can help it. But I may end up having to do so. People who self-publish usually prefer the control they have over their project, and maybe I would as well. I’d get printed copies of all my books in the trilogy, including the five supplements between books two and three.
But I’d have to pay a cover artist, and I definitely don’t have the $150-2$50 I’ve been quoted in the past. Maybe I will in the future, however. And as for all the formatting that goes into the book, I’m just leery. Probably because I’m afraid I’ll mess it up.
I don’t want fear to hold me in place. I’ve let fear do that to me for too long. And the fear of rejection is what made me set aside my trilogy in the first place. That, and the third book is in need of about 30,000 more words to match the high 80,000 word count that my previous two books were. Bah, logistics.
So. What have I learned from this most recent rejection? That it’s an opportunity for me to improve my work, that it still most definitely hurts, and that it’s a natural part of wanting to be a published author through a publishing company.
I know a lot of people have been where I am, and a lot of other people are going to be here after me. The best I can say is to let it drive you to make your book even better. But also remember there are other ways to publish. Indie publishers are totally a thing, and I’m quite happy with mine - especially now that they’re getting around to printed copies of books after the pandemic has begun to settle.
So, don’t let your fear of rejection rule you. You’re going to be rejected. And it’s going to hurt. But living your life afraid of the rejection that’s definitely going to be coming your way is not a way to live. You - and your book - deserve better.
And with that, I’m going to go work on the first book of my trilogy some more. And if I need to cry, I’ll do that, too. But I’ll always go back to writing. Because, through all the rejection and pain and hard work and frustration and agony, I absolutely love doing it. And if you love what you’re doing, don’t stop doing it.
Or, in the words of one of my favorite starship captains: “Never give up, never surrender.”