Monday, October 29, 2012

Rejection Is Not a Four Letter Word


Whenever one of my books is published, I put together a new presentation to give to groups when I’m invited to speak. My next book, Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder, will be published in December, so I’ve started collecting material for my presentation, titled, Rejection Is Not a Four Letter Word. I’ll be speaking about how, as authors, we must become immune to rejection, since it comes with the territory. I’ve collected some rejections from famous authors. Here’s one for Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles: “It is very interesting and has several good points, but is not quite suitable for our list.” Sound familiar? Here’s the exact wording of a rejection letter I received two months ago: “We’re afraid that the project you propose does not seem right for our list.” In this one regard, nothing has changed in the last ninety years. As writers we have to have perseverance and write through the rejection. My consolation is that I have three published novels with two more under contract.

1 comment:

Patricia Stoltey said...

Rejections don't bother me much anymore. When I switched to standalone suspense instead of an amateur sleuth series, I felt I was starting all over again. Past experience, however, made me lots more realistic this time around.

Congratulations on the continued success of your geezer lit series. I can't read to read the cruise story.