Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:51:11 -0500

It's said that around rejection 100 is when you'll get published, so the first 100 rejections are basically warm up which is why it's worth getting a rejection. The years I got more rejections my writing improved that much more. Ground Rules: 1. Do not post your actual rejection. (It's unprofessional) 2. Do not name the publisher. 3. Celebrate the rejection by mentioning the number rejection you have. I'm currently going for: the Answer to the ultimate question of what is life, the universe and everything rejection. This puts me 10 ahead of last year, so I'm very proud of myself. I really want to get to the golden ticket 100, so I can wear the "I am a struggling writer" badge. BTW, a non-answer does not count as a rejection and is the level of "You suck worse than a rejection."

Re: Rejection Celebration

Silver Fallen — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:58:46 -0500

I think it's really cool that you're making a celebration out of this and giving words of encouragment :)

Re: Rejection Celebration

Morgan101 — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:17:36 -0500

I'm at rejection #0, but I'm hoping to change that soon. It's one of my goals for the next year... so thanks for this thread. I think I'll be back :)

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:37:28 -0500

After rejection 30+ you start begging for rejections because non-answers make you feel like utter crap. You also start developing magical beliefs around rejections as well, such as they only come out on Fridays, December is hopeless, agents hate you, someone put a hex on you so you won't get a rejection, your story is cursed (No one will like the theme anyway), you got rejected because you missed a comma somewhere... that sort of thing. If you are checking the query tracker on Duotrope/Query Tracker every few days and comparing how the average days to rejection mounts up against your story v. the rejection rate, then you know you're in the right paranoid spot. Short of using Tarot cards to tell you when your next rejection will be, even though you don't believe in New Age and you swear they are telling you to stop being so paranoid in the first place and be patient for once, *cough* you aren't really that insane. Maybe that's just me. Anyway, rejections validate that you are worth the time of the editor to get rejected properly in the first place. In dating speak this would be the significant other breaking up in person rather than never returning your calls again. Though my golden rejections are the ones where there are 3+ paragraphs of comments and then sending another story to the same editor and getting nothing back though he's notorious for making comments. *.* Standard rejection was an upgrade. And the one sentence handwritten rejection. I'm proud of my rejections. Makes me feel like I am validated as a wannabe author.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kayla Rain — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:49:27 -0500

about 4 broskis. And yes, I said broskis. I'm a cool cat like that.

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oceansong99 — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:29:25 -0500

I actually can't wait to start getting rejections lol It means I've actually gotten to the point of submitting and people are LOOKING at my stuff.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Suzana Mazon — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:12:09 -0500

I agree. Rejections mean you actually finished something. I not rejectable yet, but I'm looking forward to it now that I've finished my first novel (only 34 unfinished novels to go)... Not being rejectable is kind of like not existing.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Mutive — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:47:52 -0500

Oh, I'm sure that I'm at about...life long? Hundreds. Thousands, perhaps. ;) I think on my latest spree, though, I'm only to 40. ;) So maybe I only have 60 more to go? (Eh, probably more, but I like the thought that I'm 40% of the way there!) That said, I mostly ignore rejections. Even personalized rejections, unless they give me advice as to how to fix something. It just seems like I'm best off spending time writing, editing, critiquing, or sending stuff out. (And I'm convinced that most of the submissions that take a while are more due to "we were really busy" than much else. I've gotten personalized rejections on fast turn arounds, and absolutely nothing on one that hung out well past their deadline. I guess it got lost. Oh well...)

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wowkala — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:56:39 -0500

I haven't finished yet, but I'm bookmarking this thread for when I do. :P

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Sciamantium — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:42:31 -0500

I'm only at 1 rejection, but I was positively thrilled to get it - the editor kindly included a personal note about his thoughts on the manuscript. :)

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Unit7 — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:10:24 -0500

I have been rejected once and rightfully so. Looking back the short story was a complete mess. But like I always say... or well maybe not always... you are not a real writer until you get your first rejection. ;)

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kastil — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:09:44 -0500

I've got a nice rejection pile but I prefer to look at the acceptance pile. It's always going to be shorter but it's less mean to me. :D

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:37:15 -0500

Rejection 42-- was the sweet one, because it was an acceptance. Though it's technically not a fiction story. I still need to finish more stories to get the acceptance for fiction. Still waiting on two rejections. =P I might send it out again.

Re: Rejection Celebration

BloodRoseAngel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:41:38 -0500

I've got... three rejection letters and one non-answer. :D One of the letter said they liked my writing but it wasn't what they wanted. I'm hoping they actually meant it and weren't just trying to placate me. XD

Re: Rejection Celebration

Leonara Declamara — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:06:11 -0500

Okay, okay, I've been trying to wrap my brain around this one, and I don't get it. If you've gotten a hundred rejections for a piece... you're not going to be likely to magically get accepted on 109. Or 100. Or 132. If it's not getting accepted... something's WRONG with it. It's not good enough. Either move on to something else, or improve the piece. I'm also not buying the whole "100 rejections is when you get published." There's nothing magical about that number. It's not like the publishers are keeping track of your work and think, "Oh, I like this one, but she hasn't hit 100 yet. Let's wait on this one." What gets you published is skill, with a healthy dose of luck. Not how many times you've been rejected. I can get the whole idea behind it, that you should be writing and submitting, or you'll never get published. I'm also curious about one thing. Why is it "unprofessional" to post rejection letters? I can see it being unprofessional to badmouth them... that's a great way to blackball yourself. But how is it unprofessional to post a rejection? I'm not understanding this particular piece of advice.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Leonara Declamara — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:06:52 -0500

[quote=BloodRoseAngel] I've got... three rejection letters and one non-answer. :D One of the letter said they liked my writing but it wasn't what they wanted. I'm hoping they actually meant it and weren't just trying to placate me. XD [/quote] Believe me, they aren't going to waste your time (or theirs) placating a writer with no chance. If they've taken the time to send you a personal response, it's probably because they think you're worth that time.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:22:39 -0500

It's 100 rejections that gets you a badge, but doesn't mean you'll get accepted. It means you've been in the trenches, paid your dues, and it is the average amount of rejections writers get before being published. It also eases your mind because there is a goal to aim for. It's probably more likely the average that writers submit in a given time period where they are getting better... rather than a magic. And writers usually improve their story between rejections because we're paranoid that something happened to make it get rejected, so trying to improve it in between rejections is a given--most writers do that. (I take that for granted.) Rejections, in general also improve your writing because when someone tells you you aren't good enough, you either develop a thick skin and get better, or you quit. When you don't know what's wrong with the story, you're likely to try to prove that person wrong by creating a better story and keep submitting. After a rejection I diagnose the problems again, and usually come out with a better version. Then submit it again. If it gets lots of rejections, I drawer it and then pull it out later, fix it and send it out again. Besides, I don't get the psychology of writing a story, quit writing and edit that story, quit editing and writing and then submit the story. You are bound to get better, stories will fizzle, they won't fit current market, there aren't enough pro magazines to get you to 100 rejections on that story, and so on. If you want to be a professional writer, then act like it and keep writing, submitting and editing at the same time. (You find this from reading extensively.) As for not posting rejections... it's general advice because when you put up the name of the publisher and the name of the story, it tells the track record of that story and also can make you look bitter. When you get a rejection from a job, you don't post it on the internet for everyone to see. Remember that writing is not a hobby for the editors, it is a job. You don't complain about former employers in an interview or tell them which places didn't give you the job--so it should be the same with writing. Treat it professionally.

Re: Rejection Celebration

BloodRoseAngel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:14:32 -0500

Ah, OK then. :) I was a lot younger then so I didn't know if they were just trying to make me feel better, haha. XD

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Serious Desi — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:20:18 -0500

I've gotten one rejection on a short story. :)

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Erdewild — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:17:08 -0500

I got one rejection a few weeks ago--my first, including a brief comment: "You have a lovely premise and some nice writing..." This particular agent said right out that she doesn't give reviews, so I take the comment at face value. She said she's just not the right person to champion my work. So more submissions will go out in January, after I've finished the story from this year's NaNo and put it away for a little while. How many submissions do folks generally send out at one time?

Re: Rejection Celebration

rowlek — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:25:19 -0500

Interesting philosophy behind this idea that getting rejected improves you. Not sure I agree but I do find it worth considering. Personally I find this level of rejection to be demoralizing. This is one of the reasons I hate job hunting and am so glad I have a job I love right now. I am really good at the sort of IT work I do, I spend lots of time working at getting better at it. I am NOT a specialist in applying for or interviewing for jobs I don't like doing it and am only ok at it. The same concept applies to writing in my view. Being rejected or accepted does not do anything to make me a better writer, writing and then editing, and then writing some more and editing more etc... does.

Re: Rejection Celebration

suzannar — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:37:53 -0500

I am putting together my packets and information this week. I am looking forward to being rejected and being among my favorite writers when they were starting out too (that means all of you too.)

Re: Rejection Celebration

heathmama — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:04:18 -0500

I'm on rejection 45 for my novel which began as a nanowrimo several years ago. I power-queried in the month of October thinking (rightfully) that focus on a new nanowrimo in November would take my mind off the rejections and waiting. But now that November is over, my mind has nowhere else to go. Kimberly Dawn, thanks for starting this thread. I love the idea of 100 rejections as holding some kind of meaning. Magical thinking is indeed very critical to this whole querying process. Thank goodness for querytracker and all of its statistics to mull over. As for rejections meaning there is something wrong with "it"--I guess it depends on what "it" you're talking about. When querying, it's really just the query that's being rejected, the nugget of an idea. In my case, my 45 rejections are accompanied by a fair number of requests for fulls or partials so I'm feeling okay about the query, despite the rejections and crossing my fingers as I try to figure out what kind of magic is going to turn those partial and full requests into offers. Until then, I'll take pride in my march toward 100 rejections.

Re: Rejection Celebration

mistygal01 — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:24:59 -0500

Its like the old horseman's adage of 'youre not a good rider until you have fallen off seven times'. It is meant to make little kids feel better about falling off, but it doesnt change the fact that it hurts like hell when you hit the ground!

Re: Rejection Celebration

Christina Huling — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:42:14 -0500

I've gotten one rejection on a short story. I was pretty thrilled, because my rejection said I made it to the second round of selection, which I thought wasn't too shabby for a first try. Now that NaNo's done, I'm going to work some more on that piece and resubmit or submit it elsewhere.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Flute71 — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:19:44 -0500

At what point in the writing process do you send out queries? Does your work have to be perfect before you send a query out? I am sending out my novel to my first three beta readers this week, and I know it will be at least another round of beta readers before any of it feels polished. I am looking forward to the querying process, as well as getting rejection letters! It means they actually read about my novel! :)

Re: Rejection Celebration

Delyn — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:48:22 -0500

100 Rejection letters being a magic number is like telling yourself that chocolate doesn't have calories, doesn't make it true, just makes you feel better. ;-) Getting a rejection letter with some type of comment about why it was rejected should help you understand either what you need to change to make it better or more marketable or that the publisher you sent it to isn't interested in that particular type of story at this time, right? So this should help you improve as a writer because being a writer is more than writing and editing. The job description also includes knowing who(which publisher) is interested in what type of story lines. I have a question about the process but I am posting as a topic so as not to take this thread off-topic. Congrats on ya'll's rejection letters. Keep submitting. :-)

Re: Rejection Celebration

Leonara Declamara — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:57:14 -0500

[quote=Flute71] At what point in the writing process do you send out queries? Does your work have to be perfect before you send a query out? I am sending out my novel to my first three beta readers this week, and I know it will be at least another round of beta readers before any of it feels polished. I am looking forward to the querying process, as well as getting rejection letters! It means they actually read about my novel! :) [/quote] You don't query until the writing process is done. Your work should be polished to the best of your ability before you even consider querying. What happens if you query, and get a response? you want to have your work the absolute best you can, so you can send it in immediately, not scramble to cobble something together.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Mutive — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:54:02 -0500

Well, it may be a form rejection. An awful lot of those say "we liked your writing, better luck elsewhere".

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oneirokinetic — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:15:27 -0500

I've never gotten rejected because I've never tried to publish because I've never finished something I felt was good enough. I am now fixing the root of the problem by finishing the novel from last November. ^-^ Anyway, I think it's really cool that you know how to take rejection well. I think, despite knowing that a lot of great authors and great books have gotten rejected before getting published, getting a rejection letter would still hurt. But reading through this thread has really helped me. You raise some excellent points about what it means to get rejected and how you can use it to better yourself and your writing. Thank you so much. =]

Re: Rejection Celebration

HanaRama — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:39:16 -0500

well, I've never counted all of my rejections (I avoid that altogether) although I did receive a very detailed one about where my writing started to go wrong and what was amiss and on and on about how much promise the book had if only I had done it better and that I should hire an editor and resubmit etc. That one was really embarrassing because for some twisted reason I didn't even edit it before sending it in (I didn't like the story anymore and wanted an excuse to drop it) and I hadn't really expected a response... hehe I was young and naive... Since then I've been a lot more careful... still I have many rejections and only one thing published, but the happiness that my published story brings me is worth all those rejections and more. keep fighting for it guys!

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:29:18 -0500

I'm rejection 43? 44? I think I lost count. December was an awful month for getting rejections.

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KatiePoet — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:09:23 -0500

How about poetry rejections? Can we talk about those? X-D Last year I tallied mine up, and rang in at 92! Booya! My new years resolution this year is to amass triple digits. This attitude is really helping me to be persistant with submitting. And how about my prose? Eh. I'm still working on finishing my novel (hehehe... I'm just about to hit 150K which is insane-- editing, without a doubt, will be needed)... but I hope to at least begin sending out by the end of the year, and I can start collecting more rejections B-)

Re: Rejection Celebration

scb1962 — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:00:46 -0500

It’s not just about numbers. I had an agent interested in my second novel. She wanted a re-write, so I spent months doing that, sent it off, 2 people at the agency read it, but they agreed it still wasn’t what they wanted. At the time that was really hard. But now I am so glad. I ground to a halt with the book I was then writing, got very despondent, considered giving up writing entirely, but then got an idea which was totally different from anything I’ve done before. Instead of contemporary crime it is historical, and instead of taking years to finish a first draft I used Nanowrimo to get 50,000 words of it down in a month. Now nearly completed a second draft I think it is much, much better than what I was writing before. That’s not just me, my writing group agree. So I am hoping the agent, who said she’d like to see anything else I wrote, likes historical, because she’ll be getting this one by the summer once I’m happy with it. Even if I never get published I’ll always be grateful to her for that rejection because I’m loving writing this new stuff.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:01:53 -0500

I'm getting near 50! I'll be proud to reach my halfway point.

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kimssuperanimals1 — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:18:04 -0500

Woo hoo! I received a VERY nice rejection letter today for a short story I've been shopping around. I'm actually quite pleased with the letter; it was very encouraging. It was only my fourth rejection, but I'm getting into the practice of submitting and resubmitting continually-- so I should be receiving a reply from another magazine within the next few days.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:30:58 -0500

Rejection 46! Yay! I waited a long time for this one. Got a "Not the right fit" from the magazine.

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Pickwick12 — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:45:46 -0500

Very much this. The first publisher I queried about my Nano 2011 novel specializes in my type of fiction (Sherlock Holmes pastiche), and they agreed to pick up my book right away. It's coming out April 16th in the US and UK. I realize this is highly unusual, and it was very much a right-place, right-time thing and not the usual experience. I have thought, though, that it would have been very different if I'd queried a lot of publishers and agents who have less of a specific focus on the type of book I wrote--I would almost certainly have received a lot of rejections. I'm really grateful that I was able to find the right fit the first time.

Re: Rejection Celebration

laristas — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:57:22 -0500

My first one today, from my nano 2009 novel. Onward and upward!

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Eyes of Fire — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:45:36 -0500

I'm going to start querying soon! I had a part of my book professionally critiqued, and they said it has good potential to be published!!!! Crossing my fingers, but still building my thick skin for rejections! :) Its funny, one judge disliked my story, the other one really liked it. :) :)

Re: Rejection Celebration

Kimberly Dawn — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:21:20 -0500

Rejection 47! Yay! This one was a nice one since the editor made a comment that told me they got to the end of the story.... said it wasn't the right fit though.

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Kimberly Dawn — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:05:40 -0400

Rejection 48. Yay! Two more to go to get to the halfway point.

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littleoph — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:09:43 -0400

One of the most important fantasy publishers in France rejected my non-NaNo fantasy novel. It's the first rejection for this novel, but I've received a number of others, including about 15 that concerned novels. The publisher's website states that they can't send detailed answers for lack of time. However, here is a rough translation, from memory, of the message I received (so, technically, I'm not posting the actual rejection): The introduction/exposition is far too long. However, as your writing is quite acceptable, if you would work on the rhythm of your manuscript, we would be happy to read your work again. I never thought I'd be so delighted to be rejected! Working on that novel isn't my top priority at the moment. Besides, another publisher has been reading it, and I know the guy is halfway through the full manuscript, which is good news. So I'm sending them another novel of mine. You never know.

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Kimberly Dawn — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:26:34 -0400

Rejection 49! One more to get to the halfway point.

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Eyes of Fire — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:58:03 -0400

Wow! That sounds like a good rejection! Best of luck to you! :)

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Kimberly Dawn — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:27:39 -0400

50 rejections! Whoohoo!

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Lisa.Vail — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:14:58 -0400

Well done! It can't be too long for you, now! ^^

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Webgoji — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:04:55 -0400

Got my first rejection for "The Seraphim Protocol". My next submission is in the queue!

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J.P. — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:32:55 -0400

Rejection 3 for me.

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monkeychild — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:25:06 -0400

2 rejections on my novel, and 3 rejected short stories. *sigh*

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KittySparkes — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:19:29 -0400

That's great! I can't wait for my first rejection, and a personal note would just take that roller coaster ride to a whole other level. :) Wow, that sounded weird.

Re: Rejection Celebration

Eyes of Fire — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:05:30 -0400

Don't give up!