writer rejection

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Writer Rejection? This Book Will Help Ease the Sting

Posted by george on June 8, 2010
Posted in: Other Stuff, Writing. Tagged: , , , . 10 comments


I don’t imagine that anyone cares for rejection too much.  As much as we don’t like it, it’s important for writers to admit that it is part of the landscape.  I have a special place in my writing space called “The Wall of Shame”.  It is in this place that I put rejection letters for all to see.  I think we need to keep rejection in perspective.

So dontcha know that when I saw Other People’s Rejection Letters: Relationship Enders, Career Killers, and 150 Other Letters You’ll Be Glad You Didn’t Receive come across my desk at the library I scooped it right up.  I loved it.

Rejection Letters is about 200 pages worth of stinging, sometimes subtle, sometimes in your face actual rejections.  Some are more famous, like the US Army discharge recommendation for one James Hendrix: “Pvt Hendrix plays a musical instrument during his off duty hours, or so he says.  This is one of his faults, because his mind apparently cannot function while performing duties and thinking about his guitar.”  Man, you gotta love that.

Other rejection letters include end of relationship correspondence that ranges from the sweet (but BS in my view) “let’s be friends” to rambling diatribe that makes damn near no sense at all.  There are letters from a child to a parent and then there are things like this one from a mother to her son: “Sometime I think you are a big jackass but I love you – Mommie”

I love the format of the book.  The pages are for the most part images or copies of actual notes, be they handwritten, printed emails or old letters written on typewriters.  Some of the rejections are screenshots of text messages on cell phones.  It was a very easy read and I was finished within two hours.  What I found particularly amusing were rejections from editors that contained typos (Pot to Kettle!)

If you have received any kind of rejection letter in the recent past, this book will help to make you feel a little better about the rejection.  Maybe it will give you hope.  At a minimum it should give you a chuckle or two.

This is well worth checking out from your library, or better yet help me make a few cents and click on the link which takes you straight to Amazon.

Enjoy.

I love rejections!

Posted by george on December 28, 2008
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , . 12 comments

Getting rejection letters in the mail is a pretty cool thing.  OK, I admit not as cool as getting a publisher love letter with promises of fame and fortune, but cool none the less.

Oh, I know what your thinking:  “Now George is going  to give us that tired old number about each rejection being one step closer to being published.”

While there is a kernel of truth in that little ditty, it’s cliche and not very helpful.

On the wall of my office there is a red file folder I’ve opened up and tacked with the words HALL OF SHAME.  To this very special spot on my wall I attach all of the “thanks but no thanks” letters that I receive.  I’ve not had enough manuscripts sent out yet for this shame spot to be very full, but I know that one day I’ll get there.

I love rejection letters because:

  • They mean that I am writing.  Not just any writing either.  No-sir-ree-bob-a-rooskie!  A rejection letter signifies that I wrote something that in my mind was good enough to send out to a publisher.
  • A rejection letter tells me that while the writing did not get accepted this time, I did a lot of things right.  I completed the writing project, formatted it correctly and included a SASE.  Already, I am miles ahead of the competition.
  • As time marches forward, I know the letters will start to include little personal notes of advice and encouragement letting me know that I am getting a little closer to my goal of being published.

It’s really important to thoroughly read each letter to gain possible insight into why a particular work was rejected (remember it’s the work being rejected, not you!).

Here are some common rejection letter phrases and what they are really saying:

  • Sorry, not for us. – This means I am an idiot.  If I see this phrase, it means that I did not do my homework.  I did not read enough of their publication to get a feel for their audience or market.  I didn’t research back issues nor did I thoroughly read the publisher’s guidelines.
  • Not now, try again – Awesome!  This is great.  It means they didn’t take out a restraining order or direct the mailroom to send all of my future correspondence to the incinerator.  They are words of encouragement letting me know that what I sent them isn’t right for them right now, but there must be something in the style or content that showed promise.
  • Not fresh enough – Uh-oh.  This usually means that I sent some kind of semi-recycled, overdone tripe.  Maybe I got an idea after seeing an article or two on the web and decided I’d try and put MY spin on it.  Sometimes that’s not a bad strategy, but before sending, I really need to get feedback from some fellow writers and make sure it is an out of the park home run – otherwise, no sale.
  • Are you kidding?! Lose our address, bub. – Ok, ok.  chances are you’ll never get a rejection slip worded like this.  If you do, then please forward the rejected item to george@tumblemoose.com because this I’ve gotta see.  You may feel like this is what the publication is saying when they send a standard pink slip, but they’re not.  Really.

In addition to these main phrases, there are probably dozens of similar words to let you know your work has been rejected.  The most important lesson here is to not give up after a few of these letters.  I mean unless you lay awake at night going over death plot revenge scenarios in your head.  If that’s the case you are way too thin skinned to be a real writer and you should probably move on to a get rich quick internet scheme.

I think it would be interesting to read the funniest, saddest, most insulting, or most encouraging rejection letter you’ve ever received.  How about leaving an excerpt in the comments?