Dealing With Rejection

Did you ever write something that you felt good about? Did you think it was destined to be published so you submitted it to an editor after you researched a market for it? Then the big wait began. Two months passed when the rejection letter arrived. And you?

You sunk into the depths of despair. You were so sure that what you'd written was good, maybe even one of the best things you'd ever done. The whole episode put you in a major funk. For days, you moped around the house, felt no desire to write anything, snapped at family members. You deserved some time to get past the rejection, didn't you? Maybe.

One rejection should not merit days of moaning and groaning and feeling sorry for yourself. Of course, you were disappointed but that piece you subbed is only one of many you have written or will write. Don't ever let failing on a first submission completely undo you. Remember that it was not you, personally, who was rejected. Maybe they'd already published something similar within the past several months.There are many reasons for rejections besides your wondering if it 'just stinks.' 

When you sent the story to the editor, you did it because you felt the story and the place were a good fit. Did you make a list of other places that might work, too? If you had, the first thing you should have done after receiving the bad news is to send it out again. And again. And again, if you keep getting rejected. 

You should also do another editing job on the piece before you send it out again. Try to look with objective eyes. Ask another writer to critique the piece. They can be far more objective than you can. Maybe they'll find a major flaw or a few minor ones. Or perhaps they'll tell you that, yes, this is a good piece of writing and you should submit again soon. 

It's a fact that writers receive far more rejections than acceptances. With that in mind, don't let yourself sink to the bottom of the writing barrel when your submission comes back to you. Move on. I was once told that the average is 1 acceptance for every 12 submissions. You know what? That means 11 rejections. 

I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't be disappointed. You will and you should when a sub doesn't work. The key here is to allow yourself a little time to be disappointed, then move on--either to re-subbing elsewhere or writing something new. 

New writers take rejection harder than the seasoned ones. Those who write and have subbed over and over again grow a hard shell. They learn to deal with the disappointment and move on more quickly. 

The poster above gives us some good advice. Ponder on it awhile.