I have three picture books coming out next year. Now, before you think I’m tooting my own horn…well, I am. At least a little bit. But I think I’ve earned it. Because for each of the books that have been accepted for publication (that’s 6, currently), I have received many, many, MANY more rejection letters. And that’s not counting all the manuscripts that simply disappear into the void, never to be heard from again, which probably represents the majority of my submissions.
So, to commiserate with any of my fellow writers who are trudging their way through the submission morass, I thought I’d share a few notable tidbits from rejections I’ve received over the years.
“The writing is lovely, but the ending feels a bit too sweet.”
“I prefer books with a twist ending.”
“We already have a book in the works about XYZ.”
“Books about XYZ haven’t proven to be very marketable.”
“I liked the story, but what was the moral?”
“The writing feels a bit old-fashioned.”
“The text is too repetitive.”
And of course…
“It’s a wonderful story, but it’s not quite right for us.”
Now, none of these comments are inherently wrong – writing, as with many things, is a matter of opinion. One publisher told me that my story wouldn’t be marketable, and the next publisher I reached out to snapped it up without hesitation.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that no matter how “successful” someone seems, they’ve likely taken more than a few direct hits to the ego along the way. I’m still utterly convinced that every book I publish is going to be my last, that no one will ever want one of my stories again. And if you look at my track record, the odds have never been in my favour! I’ve had far more stories rejected than accepted, and if I was a baseball player, my batting average would be in the toilet.
But all you need is one editor to look at your submission and go, “Huh. This might work.” Just one, to get the ball rolling.
If you don’t brush off those rejections and keep going, you’ll never find them. It’s that simple.
So keep on sending out those submission letters. Even if your writing style is repetitive and old-fashioned and twee, ha!
Congratulations! And thank you for this encouraging post on the winding submission journey and the need to persevere when it doesn’t feel like the acceptance odds are in your favour.
It can definitely feel overwhelming at times, and when things get really tough, I find ice cream is always a good idea. 🙂
Congratulations on your perseverance! And success! The submission, rejection, revision, submission cycle certainly does take commitment and grit. On to the next step we go!
Absolutely! Onwards and upwards! 🙂