Rejection

A lesser-known fact about me: In addition to writing my own novels, I am a developmental editor. I help authors improve their novels. Sometimes these novels get sold; sometimes-as one of my despairing clients knows all too well-they don't. About a year ago, she came back to me wanting to work on a sixth draft based on the suggestions of an interested agent. "At this point," she said.  Read more

At a party many years ago, I jokingly told another guest that I'd do my best to remember his name after I published a book to great acclaim. I meant to be funny and disarming, but I bungled the delivery. I came off like a jerk. This other guest was a writer, too, and an equally self-serious one. Predictably, he took offense. He pointed his beer bottle at me.  Read more

Oh, the heyday of publishing - big desks, lots of cash, martini-soused three-hour lunches, trying to appease your government. That was the world in which TS Eliot, then a director of Faber and FaberClick for Faber and Faber Publishers References listing, was living in 1944, when he rejected George Orwell's Animal Farm for its criticism of Stalin, who was then Britain's wartime ally.  Read more

There are a lot of articles about dealing with the constant rejection that comes not only with creative writing but also freelancing, and they offer good advice, but rarely do they discuss coming to terms with not being ready to deal with it.  Read more

Tis (almost) the season for resolutions. If you're a writer, here's an idea: resolve to get rejected. 100 times this year, if you're lucky. After all, some very famous books (and authors) began their careers at the bottom of the NO pile. To inspire you to keep on writing and submitting, here are some of the most rejected books I could dig up.