Getting turned down is hard on everyone, but it's especially hard on authors.
Rejection comes with the territory and we deal with it constantly.
I just finished a book and am trying to sell it now.
Believe me, I've done my research and continue to do it.
So far, I've struck out.
In the last two weeks I've sent queries to four top literary agencies and printed packets to six health publishers.
Some of my emails were returned.
One small publisher had gone out of business.
I was encouraged, however, when a literary agent asked me to send her the first five pages of my book.
Two days later, I received an email "pass.
" According to the agent, my writing sample didn't draw her in like she thought it would.
A so-called pass can cause an experienced author to question his or her work and devastate an unpublished author.
How can you cope? The Getting Published website offers some suggestions in its article, "Coping with Rejection.
" It takes courage, stamina and self-believe to be a writer, the article notes, "all of which may leach away in the face of (constant) rejection.
" Your options include giving up on the project, contacting other publishers, revising your manuscript, and self-publishing.
"You need to gather as much hard information as possible and then do some hard thinking," the article concludes.
This point got me wondering about ways I could improve my book.
I shifted some copy, revised two headings, and revised a chapter title.
These actions improved my manuscript and I could tell the difference right away.
An article on the Survive and Thrive Graduate School website, "5 Ways of Dealing with that Rejected Manuscript," offers more tips.
One is to write an article based on your book and submit it to a journal.
Frankly, I'm not interested in doing this.
But I am interested in learning from rejection.
"In 95% of returned manuscript, you'll learn something valuable from the reviews," the article notes.
Mike Wells cites three reasons for rejection in his website article, "Dealing with Rejection.
" He thinks there are three categories of no: skills-based, marketing-based, and emotionally-based.
The writer must get past the emotional response, Wells advises, and identify your next step.
As he puts it, you "make constructive use of rejection.
" Similar advice is offered by Carol Fraser Hagen in her article, "Dealing with Rejection: Turn it into a Positive Experience!" When you receive the dreaded reply, Hagen says it's time to affirm yourself and your work.
What can you say? "I am a good writer and one day I will see my name in print.
" Well, I've seen my name in print, and I want to see it again.
Following the advice of Mike Wells, I identified my next step -- getting reader reviews.
Four people have agreed to read my book and I'm eager to learn their reaction to it.
So here's what I've done: changed the chapter order, revised copy, and sought reader input.
Writers write, and they also adapt to different circumstances.
I love writing and wouldn't do anything else.
Despite a few rejections, I'm still in the writing game, still have book ideas, and still pursuing them.
Sitting down and writing is the best antidote to BRB, the book rejection blues.
Copyright 2013 by Harriet Hodgson