Rejections in Tough Times
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Apr 01 2020
Rejection isn’t easy. It’s not easy to receive and it’s not easy to send, especially during tough times.
I’ve encouraged authors to continue submitting and querying during the time of Covid-19. We are doing it as agents and we are selling books. We are also receiving and sending rejections, which feels especially harsh during these times.
It’s especially important now to remind ourselves that a rejection is not personal, at least not personal to the author. A rejection letter is about an agent’s interest in reading the book and that is probably one of the most subjective decisions in publishing. Well that, and whether or not an editor likes a book.
Rejections aren’t as easy for agents to send as authors think. This was proven by a recent BookEnds discussion about how bad we feel sending them at this time. But it’s also normal. It’s a normal part of the process and right now one of the things we’re trying is to be as normal as possible. Most importantly, we aren’t looking to reject books and queries. We’re looking to take on new clients. And, happily, we’ve been doing just that.
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That’s encouraging. I have continued querying in these times. I really enjoy your daily posts and I appreciate how approachable you are. Thank you.
Resilience is a word worth considering. It is about recovering quickly, or springing back to shape. What is the new normal?
Let’s spring forward, endure and innovate. Embracing the new in our full creative expression. Thank you for keeping us in the game Jessica. The rest is up to us as writers.
Rejections are part and parcel of this industry. Receiiving them means things are still moving forward. And that’s a good thing.
When you receive a rejection letter, it isn’t a rejection of you. I hope writers can understand that because I think it makes receiving a rejection letter easier.
What it does mean is your manuscript wasn’t the right one for that agent on that day. It’s tough, but grab chocolate or wine or a puppy. When you feel a little better, head to the next agent on the list and send it out. You’ll get there!