Monday, May 23, 2011

Rejections are a matter of opinion

We all know how many times Stephen King's work was rejected. Jack and Mark of Chicken Soup for the Soul also were rejected hundreds of times. If you are feeling lumpy, grumpy and in the dumpy because of a rejection consider this: agents, publishers and editors are only people with opinions. In my opinion...
We'll keep that for another day, but realize you are in a club of other 'rejects'. Don't let it get you down.

A newspaper editor once told Rudyard Kipling, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just do not know how to use the English language."

An editor's comment to Anne Frank on The Diary of Anne Frank, "The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception of feeling which would lift that book above the 'curiosity' level."

And an editor's comment to Dr. Seuss on his submission, And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street, "Too different from other (books for) juveniles on the market to warrant selling."

You know what they say about opinions... don't stop, shop your work around.

14 comments:

Kim Lehnhoff said...

Maybe it's my stubbornness rearing its ugly head, but if someone strongly criticizes or rejects work that I think is good, it makes me more determined.

Or maybe I'm just delusional about my own abilities, and the criticism falls on deaf ears (The Mister is my biggest critic - as if he would ever be willing to put himself out there like that).

Harumph.

Cathy C. Hall said...

The only place I've been rejected lately is on my own Precious (the Laptop)...but I finally made it over to catch up in Linda's World. Lots of doings, huh? Nothing (including a little rejection) stops you!

Good luck with your latest project!

Peggy Frezon said...

We have to be philosophical about rejections. At least they're a sign we've been submitting. And at best, they might enlighten us to an area of our writing where we can improve.

Susan said...

Hi Linda...Oh, you are SO right in this post. Writers have to place rejections in the same category as water when it rolls off a duck's back! Let it roll, pick one's self up and try again. Thanks for the post. Susan

Unknown said...

That is some excellent advice for writers. Good post.

Karen Lange said...

Wonderful advice! It IS only a matter of opinion, and serious writers need to forge ahead. It's not easy, but when writing is what you love to do, it's worth it. Thanks for sharing, Linda!

Jennifer Shirk said...

That is SO true. I think about that a lot when I read a published book I didn't like. I think if I were an agent I might not have offered representation. So you never know. Sometimes your manuscript just has to fall in the right hands.

Jennifer Brown Banks said...

Linda,

Good advice and great food for thought. Thanks 4 the reminder!

Sioux Roslawski said...

I knew about King, and the Chicken Soup guys but the other stories were new to me. Thanks for sharing.

And if you walk down the street and look at what people wear and how they choose to style their hair and how they decide to apply makeup, you know that "bad taste" is alive and well and living all around us. So if they have bad taste about their hair/clothes/make-up, it's possible they also have bad taste about writing. Right?

Tammy said...

Beautiful words that I will remember next time I'm "lumpy, grumpy, and in the dumpy." Love it! :D

Susan Fobes said...

I'm not very thick skinned when it comes to someone not liking my work, but so far my biggest critics have been me, myself, and I, but that's about to change-I started writing a piece so we shall see...

Terri Tiffany said...

So true!! I actually don't mind rejections to my work IF I think I am writing where I should be writing.Lately, I don't think I have and so the stillness and waiting for now.

Pat Wahler said...

You are so right, Linda!

Pat
www.critteralley.blogspot.com

Janet, said...

Good advice! If I let rejections get me down, I would have quit a long time ago. The worse think an author can do is to quit submitting, because that will surely bring no acceptances. All last year I hardly submitted anything, but this year I am trying to at least submit one thing every month. One thing is for sure, your manuscripts don't have a chance if they stay on your computer and you don't send them out.