Some authors want to see their rejection letters from editors. Some don’t. For me, the worst is the writer who wants to parse every letter. Of course, I understand the need to unpack all the rejection language, but I’ve been doing this for over 30 years and what I’ve come to understand is this: rejection letters all say the exact same thing: no. And no is uninteresting if you’re in the business of getting to yes. Admittedly, sometimes a rejection letter can be interesting, informative, and helpful. But generally, the editor, when all is said and done, is being polite. It’s not right for them, they don’t have a vision for it, they aren’t passionate, they don’t know who the market is or how to reach them, they did a book just like it, they didn’t connect.
How do you handle rejection?
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go for a walk
Put Real Whip on everything that goes in my mouth that day. Except my multivitamin.
😂👏
“How do you handle rejection?”
That depends.
If it’s from an editor or agent, I log it in the appropriate database and carry on.
If it’s from a friend or loved one, it hurts more than they might imagine and more than I want them to know.
Ha, yes, yes yes!
In the writing world, I’ve developed a thick skin and can handle most rejections.
There’s a suck lemons moment but afterward, I can pretty much move on.
It’s the moment when you realize the dream may die. The publisher I used to work for had a freelancer to send out formal rejection letters. He called himself Dr. No.