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Rejection letters are frustrating…very frustrating. But if you’re an author seeking publication, you can almost bank on the fact that you will receive some—probably many. As the rejections pile up, it’s easy to blame the publishing industry, to become bitter over the process, or to give up. Been there, done that, and it didn’t do any good. The better option is to learn from the rejection letters. If we look for the lessons that come with the rejections, and are willing to learn, then we will become better writers, which in turn, will lead to better prospects for getting our beloved book published.
The most frustrating rejections are the generic ones. It seems like they say nothing, but when we receive one after another after another, we need to realize that they're saying something is wrong, even though they don’t tell us what it is. Many times it’s simply that our manuscript isn't ready. It may simply have too many grammatical mistakes or stylistic flaws or something serious like cardboard characters or a rambling plot. So we need to go back to our critique groups or books on the craft of writing or notes from writing classes and look for what we missed. We need to find whatever it is, be open to learning, then start applying it to our manuscript.
Generally speaking, I’m a quick learner, but it still took almost thirty rejection letters (including a few with personal notes) before I finally got the message that my novel needed another major overhaul. I didn't want to get it, to be honest. I wanted to believe that my novel had already been polished and perfected and was ready to be published, but that wasn’t the truth. After spending six more months revising, and dropping my wordcount almost twenty-five percent, I started getting more requests. Eventually I received one of those "good rejections." I took the agent's advice, made major changes to my first three chapters, then resubmitted, which eventually let to an offer of a contract.
To those of you still waiting (and I'm talking to myself as well, although my rejections now will be from publishers rather than agents), I’d like to say: listen to what the rejections say (sometimes between the lines). Listen and respond. They are telling us that we need to do something. We need to find out what it is--often by having others review our work--then be willing to listen and learn and apply what we've learned. In the end, we have a better manuscript, which means more likelihood that an agent or publisher will snap up our work.
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