After months (if not years) of working on your novel, you have sent the manuscript out to a slew of agents. You’ve waited weeks (maybe months!) for a reply. Then, one fateful day, it arrives.
The e-mail from the agent you so wanted to work with is staring at you, mocking you in the list of unread bytes awaiting your attention. Even from the preview, you can tell the news isn’t going to be good. It starts off with that very formal and final, “Dear So-And-So, Thank you for…”
The wrenching impact of rejection slams you right in the gut. You might be gasping for breath, you might just wince. In some cases, your eyes might start burning with tears. Some of you might even cry on the spot.
Rejection is hard, especially when you had such high hopes that this time things would be different, that this time an agent would notice you. Was it your query the agent didn’t like? Was it your style of writing? Did you accidentally address her as a him? Did you do something to insult them?
Was your name somehow added to a blacklist that agents pass around to each other?
Rejection sucks. There’s no sugar coating that fact. It sucks, it hurts, and it’s really unpleasant.
But rejection doesn’t need to be all bad. It doesn’t need to be mind-crushing, emotionally-scarring, or otherwise depressing. It can serve as a way to motivate, and to drive you to new lengths.
Once you recover from the initial shock of rejection, that is. Rejection blues happen, but there are ways to prevent it from crippling you. These are my quick & dirty tips on how to avoid the worst parts of the rejection blues, and try to come on top of an otherwise crappy situation.
Rock the Chocolate
Whether you like chocolate, bacon, or beer, treat yourself to a small (moderate!) treat. It’s a good way to positively reinforce the situation. You get rejected? You get candy! Or a beer. Or bacon. Indulge in a tiny treat. It won’t make the rejection go away, but it does taste good and serves as a good starting place for recovery.
Don’t Dwell on it
Most agents use a form rejection letter. Why? It saves them a lot of time. When they receive over 1,000 emails a month from hopeful authors just like you, the form rejection allows them to get to the next query that much faster. It’s not personal.
However, if you receive a personal response with feedback from the agent, remember this:
You got their attention. Sure, you didn’t get the agent, but you’re on the right track, even if your book wasn’t for them.
Keep Moving Forward
Querying and ultimately finding an agent is a long, arduous process. It isn’t easy. Even those who got lucky quickly have a mountain to climb. Agents are interested in profitable authors and working for someone to develop a career with.
Authors don’t often remember the fact that an agent isn’t in it for just one book – they want to be in it for an entire career, which means they are going to be really picky about the authors they want to work with. If one agent doesn’t bite, if three agents don’t bite, if a hundred agents don’t bite, look for the type of agent who might be interested in your novels.
Most importantly, keep writing and striving to improve yourself. One rejection now might turn into an acceptance later if you keep working hard and submitting new novels.
Kalen’s throne is his saddle, his crown is the dirt on his brow, and his right to rule is sealed in the blood that stains his hand. Few know the truth about the one-armed Rift King, and he prefers it that way. When people get too close to him, they either betray him or die. The Rift he rules cares nothing for the weak. More often than not, even the strong fail to survive.
When he’s abducted, his disappearance threatens to destroy his home, his people, and start a hopeless and bloody war. There are many who desire his death, and few who hope for his survival. With peace in the Six Kingdoms quickly crumbling, it falls on him to try to stop the conflict swiftly taking the entire continent by storm.
But something even more terrifying than the machinations of men has returned to the lands: The skreed. They haven’t been seen for a thousand years, and even the true power of the Rift King might not be enough to save his people — and the world — from destruction.
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Genre - Fantasy
Rating – PG - 13
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