An author without a rejection letter is as hard to find as a book without words (more or less). My guess is that the only writers without rejection letters are those who never show their work to anyone.
I got my first rejection letter when I was ten. I wrote a short story and decided to send it to a publisher for inclusion in an anthology (I know, I know. I was always VERY ambitious:) ). The letter was nice. It said something like: keep writing and please contact us when you grow up. I might have cried, but only a little bit. Not like with those other rejection letters that I got later in my life. I divide the "Dear Author" correspondence into two categories: the ones that make you feel like shit, and those that don't. The worst ones (at least for me) are the ones that include many adjectives and in a very direct tone tell you how bad a writer you are and why you will never, ever succeed. I used to take them very personally. I cried. I swore to change my career. Once I've nearly burnt my manuscript (my husband stopped me). One of my "favorite" rejection letters read: "Thank you for sending us your novel. Unfortunately our reviewer didn't like the manuscript, and I, after reading substantial parts of the book, have to agree with him. Your story is very schematic - and what's worse - written according to an idea that "life equals prose". You lack creativity and deep reflection. Your sincerely...". I got three offers on this novel. It was published and shortlisted for best Polish book prize in 2007. But there was still this grain of insecurity in me - what if the so-and-so Publisher from Hell was right? What if he saw my novel for what it truly was (i.e. total crap)? At the end what helped me deal with my rejection letter anxiety was reading about other writers and their your-writing-sucks letters. I even bought myself a book - "Rotten Rejections. The Letters That Publishers Wish They'd Never Sent". I read it in my moments of need. Here are some quotes:
- John Le Carre - "he hasn't got any future"
- John Irving "The World According to Garp" - "it contributes nothing new to either language or form"
- "The diary of Anne Frank" - "The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the "curiosity" level"
- Pierre Boulle "The bridge over the river Kwai" - "A very bad book"
- Rudyard Kipling "I'm sorry Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use English language"
- Vladimir Nabokov "Lolita" - "I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years"
I don't mind receiving form rejection letters. If the publisher/agent has no constructive feedback to give me, no time for an in-depth critique, I prefer the "Dear author" letter to a few rushed adjectives. At least it doesn't hurt as much. And the risk of me shredding/burning/deleting my manuscript on the spour of the moment is substantially lowered.
I got my first rejection letter when I was ten. I wrote a short story and decided to send it to a publisher for inclusion in an anthology (I know, I know. I was always VERY ambitious:) ). The letter was nice. It said something like: keep writing and please contact us when you grow up. I might have cried, but only a little bit. Not like with those other rejection letters that I got later in my life. I divide the "Dear Author" correspondence into two categories: the ones that make you feel like shit, and those that don't. The worst ones (at least for me) are the ones that include many adjectives and in a very direct tone tell you how bad a writer you are and why you will never, ever succeed. I used to take them very personally. I cried. I swore to change my career. Once I've nearly burnt my manuscript (my husband stopped me). One of my "favorite" rejection letters read: "Thank you for sending us your novel. Unfortunately our reviewer didn't like the manuscript, and I, after reading substantial parts of the book, have to agree with him. Your story is very schematic - and what's worse - written according to an idea that "life equals prose". You lack creativity and deep reflection. Your sincerely...". I got three offers on this novel. It was published and shortlisted for best Polish book prize in 2007. But there was still this grain of insecurity in me - what if the so-and-so Publisher from Hell was right? What if he saw my novel for what it truly was (i.e. total crap)? At the end what helped me deal with my rejection letter anxiety was reading about other writers and their your-writing-sucks letters. I even bought myself a book - "Rotten Rejections. The Letters That Publishers Wish They'd Never Sent". I read it in my moments of need. Here are some quotes:
- John Le Carre - "he hasn't got any future"
- John Irving "The World According to Garp" - "it contributes nothing new to either language or form"
- "The diary of Anne Frank" - "The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the "curiosity" level"
- Pierre Boulle "The bridge over the river Kwai" - "A very bad book"
- Rudyard Kipling "I'm sorry Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use English language"
- Vladimir Nabokov "Lolita" - "I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years"
I don't mind receiving form rejection letters. If the publisher/agent has no constructive feedback to give me, no time for an in-depth critique, I prefer the "Dear author" letter to a few rushed adjectives. At least it doesn't hurt as much. And the risk of me shredding/burning/deleting my manuscript on the spour of the moment is substantially lowered.
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