This is not the first time I will delve into pitches and queries. It will not be the last time. Last time, I posted a few tips and query fails as found on twitter.
Today, I will show you the singes and burn marks from passing a pitch to a willing victim... err... volunteer.
Meet the nice folks over at @Seagman on twitter. You never know if you are talking to Aaron or Scott, but they are both great folks with equally great senses of humor. Aaron was nice enough to be cornered and take some time out of his busy schedule to rip apart a query.
As my experience with queries is limited, I wrote a query specifically for the purpose of education. My education. Now, your education. As I am shameless, I will post the entire thing for you to learn from. There are some purposefully seeded #queryfail moments. (Which Aaron caught and lectured about. I guess it is a good thing that I have thick skin.)
Now, onto the query in question:
The query itself is 166 words long. This is also a #queryfail in a whole, but it was a first attempt at a serious query.
The first noted #queryfail is the fact that Aaron does NOT represent the science fiction and fantasy genres. He represents more along the lines of mysteries, thrillers and suspense. However, this is a common issue. I was astounded to discover just how many people would query out of genre. While this was a controlled experiment, done with Aaron's blessings, I strongly suggest that you do NOT do this. Learn from the ripping of this critique. These are the immediate thoughts of an agent reading the query. Do you REALLY want an agent thinking these things about your writing? I didn't think so.
When I wrote the query, I had not intended on including any manuscript with it. Why? This was an experimental query. That said, as I was about to hit send, I decided on sending a blurb along with it. Aaron seemed to enjoy ripping through it, so I'll share with you the importance of sending only POLISHED works to an agent. By polished, I mean, spit-shined polished. That manuscript better have more luster than a pearl. I am not including the entire section that I included with the query email. I don't think I could survive the embarrassment. Yes, it is a rough draft. No, I'm not happy with said rough draft. No, it was never meant to be sent to an agent. Ever. Ah, well. The things I do for the craft.
Dear Secret Agent Man Aaron,
In a single night, three hundred years of history burned to the ground.
Propelled by hatred and racism, Danar sought the annihilation of Kelsh and her people. Unprepared and undefended, the city of Heliash toppled, her inhabitants slaughtered, captive or on the run.
Mari had returned home expecting a warm reunion with her mother, father and siblings. Instead, she found plumes of dark smoke coiling towards the uncaring sky and the stench of death. Her decision to fight her way into the city to find her family's fate hurls her into a living nightmare.
Lost, alone and despairing, Mari discovers the Tower of the Rising Sun. Never found by those seeking it and never granting its power to those who desired it, the Tower was both legend and myth.
What Mari did not expect was the high price the Tower would demand.
Burdened with a pledge unbreakable even by death, Mari must stop the demons of Danar, even if it means the destruction of her soul.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Rebecca J. Blain
Faint screams drifted on the gusting winds of the Sariano plains. The acrid stench of burning flesh assaulted Kari, the force of it so great she yanked her horse to a halt. The dark mare tossed her head and snorted, ears laid back. Falling over the saddle’s horn, she clutched at her mouth with a hand, fighting the waves of nausea that sought to overwhelm her.
Kari blessed the stars and the sky that Luna was so well trained. Legs braced in place, the horse patiently stood as she struggled to sit upright. Kari’s lungs burned as she choked and coughed. While the smoke was not thick, the putrid odor was so vile that her stomach churned despite her best efforts.
Her throat swallowed and convulsed as she sat up. Days of sweat and dirt had a unique and disgusting scent of its own, but it bought her the precious moments to steel her nerve and her guts.
After all, days on the road without a bath gave her plenty of time to adjust to that smell.
With the dark tendrils of night falling over the plains, she did not dare kick her horse into a gallop to climb the hill and discover the source of the sounds and scent. Turning Luna into the wind, she settled on a sedate walk.
_Goddess above, what is happening here?_
Kari knew the stench of decay or of burning bodies but that did not make it any easier to endure. She had survived two wars that bore more death and hardship than she wished to remember. The smell was reminiscent of the aftermath, the sacrificial pyres of the dead so that the survivors might not die of disease even as they recovered.
--
Now, onto the critique.
Dear Secret Agent Man Aaron,
This should be just Aaron, or Mr. Montaine to impress my mom.
In a single night, three hundred years of history burned to the ground.
Nice opening line. No, really. I like it.
Propelled by hatred and racism, Danar sought the annihilation of Kelsh and her people. Unprepared and undefended, the city of Heliash toppled, her inhabitants slaughtered, captive or on the run.
This is kind of interesting, except . . . why? Besides the whole hatred/racism thing, why does Danar want to annihilate Kelsh? That's not something you hear every day. Also, is Danar male, female, a unicorn? Is Kelsh a city or a queen? And I'm not sure what Heliash has to do with Kelsh, Danar or the unicorn.
Mari had returned home expecting a warm reunion with her mother, father and siblings. Instead, she found plumes of dark smoke coiling towards the uncaring sky and the stench of death. Her decision to fight her way into the city to find her family's fate hurls her into a living nightmare.
Danar, Kelsh, Heliash and now Mari . . . I'm already getting dizzy. I suspect Danar took care of Heliash, and is now going after Kelsh, and Mari is, I assume, going to be the savior. I'm pretty sure most skies don't care, so to specify that this particular sky is "uncaring" is a bit of over-writing. Also, hurling into a living nightmare is not very specific or descriptive. Is she tortured? Raped? Forced to watch Dancing With The Stars? Those are living nightmares.
Lost, alone and despairing, Mari discovers the Tower of the Rising Sun. Never found by those seeking it and never granting its power to those who desired it, the Tower was both legend and myth.
This is a bit confusing since she's lost, yet finds a tower no one else has found. She should buy a lottery ticket. And if she finds it, it is technically no longer a myth. The language is nice, but it doesn't tell me anything. What is its power? Why does everyone want to find it? And since the House of the Rising Sun was a brothel, I can only assume the Tower of the Rising Sun is going to get busted by the cops any day now.
What Mari did not expect was the high price the Tower would demand.
Yeah, this is vague too. I get that Mari might have lost her family -- that's a big deal. Everything else is a nicely painted mish mash of nothing. I don't know what it means, and you really haven't given me a reason to care. I should care, I want to care, but I don't. Why should I give a hoot about Mari and her missing family if there are thousands of other people burning, dying, watching Dancing With The Stars? I want to give a hoot. I have too many and I'd hate to throw them out. But Mari? She doesn't deserve any of my hoots.
Burdened with a pledge unbreakable even by death, Mari must stop the demons of Danar, even if it means the destruction of her soul.
The most concrete part of your plot yet: Mari must stop the demons of Danar. But why? Okay, I understand they're demons, and stopping them is a good thing, but she must stop them? Who said? And what would happen if she didn't? Would that high price the Tower demanded get a 25.7% APR added to it? And if it destroys her soul, wouldn't that put a damper on family reunions? I mean, a soulless Mari would just sit there and eat all the Pringles.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Word count? (I know you don't have one yet, but it's nice to pretend.)
Rebecca J. Blain
Okay, gotta go. Dancing With The Stars is on.
But wait! There's more!
Faint screams drifted on the gusting winds of the Sariano plains. The acrid stench of burning flesh assaulted Kari, the force of it so great she yanked her horse to a halt. The dark mare tossed her head and snorted, ears laid back. Falling over the saddle’s horn, she clutched at her mouth with a hand, fighting the waves of nausea that sought to overwhelm her.
Is this part of the other thing? Because it's not helping. A "gusting wind" is kind of like a "smelly fart" -- redundant and highly reminiscent of my Uncle Olaf, who was gusty in many different ways.
I don't know how a stench can assault someone, since it can't hold a club. Unless you were referring to Uncle Olaf.
The last two lines are kind of confusing since the dark mare snorted, then apparently clutched at her mouth with a hand, which means this is one special horsie. I believe you meant Kari was about to barf, but that's not what it says.
Kari blessed the stars and the sky that Luna was so well trained. Legs braced in place, the horse patiently stood as she struggled to sit upright. Kari’s lungs burned as she choked and coughed. While the smoke was not thick, the putrid odor was so vile that her stomach churned despite her best efforts.
The second line is also confusing because it's not clear who is struggling, Kari or Luna. It gets cleared up in the next line, but the confusion is still there.
Her throat swallowed and convulsed as she sat up. Days of sweat and dirt had a unique and disgusting scent of its own, but it bought her the precious moments to steel her nerve and her guts.
Okay, we get it -- three paragraphs about stinky. And it's not quite clear how her own stink gave her nerve.
After all, days on the road without a bath gave her plenty of time to adjust to that smell.
Is this really how you want to start your novel and introduce your character? Kari The Smelly?
With the dark tendrils of night falling over the plains, she did not dare kick her horse into a gallop to climb the hill and discover the source of the sounds and scent. Turning Luna into the wind, she settled on a sedate walk.
If it's all so putrid, wouldn't she go downwind and around the hill so she wouldn't have to revisit her lunch?
_Goddess above, what is happening here?_
I don't know what those little underline thingies are doing there. Just italicize it.
Kari knew the stench of decay or of burning bodies but that did not make it any easier to endure. She had survived two wars that bore more death and hardship than she wished to remember. The smell was reminiscent of the aftermath, the sacrificial pyres of the dead so that the survivors might not die of disease even as they recovered.
Back to the stink? I know the creative writing teachers emphasize using the senses, but some of the others would be nice.
--
Can you smell burned feathers? Those are mine. Once again, let me comment on the importance of never, ever sending a draft to an agent. Many of the problems that Aaron points out here I correct in edits and revisions. The draft is just that: draft. It isn't meant to see the light of day.
There was a line I bolded and italicized. Why? It is my favorite.
You will get burned as you write your queries. Take a moment and learn from mine. You can also learn from @Janet_Reid and her awesome @queryshark. I strongly recommend following Janet, her shark, Aaron and Scott. You won't regret it.
You will see a mention of using _ rather than italics. I had been fussing with an easy way to find out where I was using italics in a file and they were throwbacks. I typically use italics! That said, look at your agent's submission guidelines. Some agents absolutely do NOT want to see italics. Others want to read it as they would read the novel. Watch your submission guidelines very closely. Remember, if you do not prove you are capable of reading their guidelines, the agent will not believe you are capable of writing.
As a fare-thee-well, I leave you with a gem from twitter:
@Seagman Will the owner of a query missing a name, address, etc, but sent from the email "ILoveMyShnookies" please claim it in dumpster. Thanks.
Showing posts with label editors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editors. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Statistics and Writing
Twitter is quite an amazing website, especially if you are interested in learning about the in depth details of certain industries. I peek at twitter a few times during the course of the day, which spawned an interesting conversation. Thanks go to Jane Smith and Carole Blake for bringing this subject up to my attention. If you have a Twitter account, I suggest that you follow both of these ladies. Carole is a writing agent, and Jane is a writer and editor who has a little blog that you can find here.
The article in question can be found here. I suggest you read it so that you are aware of what I am speaking of.
There are many, many opinions on the writing world, which in turn includes the discussion of publishing through a publishing house (see Tor, Penguin, DAW, Random House) or through a self-publishing agency (see Lulu). Both have their advantages, both have their disadvantages, and both have those supporters who believe one or the other will be the death of the publishing industry.
For the sake of argument, publishing houses are oranges and self-publishing agencies are apples. We all know that comparing apples and oranges can cause problems. Mixed together, they can make a delicious drink. In this case, they only cause problems. Perhaps the self-publishing agencies should be milk in this example. Then you could see how milk curdles when you add orange juice to it.
I have a few issues that i have with the article that I linked above for your reading pleasures. Above all, he compares apples to oranges and expects grape juice as a result.
What do I mean by this? Let me show you.
As Jane Smith mentioned on her twitter:
Para numbered 5: "The average book in America sells about 500 copies"
Paragraph numbered 8: "And the average new book generates only $100,000 to $200,000 in sales"
From that we can assume that the average book price in America is $200-$400. See the problem?
Apples and Oranges, ladies and gentleman. I preserved her tweets as they were in their form, only switched around so that they are easily read. (Twitter organizes by time published.. so it reads backwards according to regular logic.) This is directly from our discussion.
In the self-publishing world, it is true that the average book will sell somewhere between one hundred to five hundred copies.
In the publishing house world, a book is not viable for publication unless it can pay for the advertising and the editors that work on each book. As such, they need books to sell significantly higher in order to be viable. Because of this, the quality of writers for these publishing houses is also higher. After all, most self-publishing agencies do not require quality checks in order for a book to be printed with them. This is the beauty of print on demand. However, this lack of quality control is exactly why many of these books never make it onto a book shelf.
If you are a writer and wish to become published, just as I wish to become published, open your eyes, take that pinch of salt, and swallow it. While I try to expose the in depth world of writing to you even as I take that journey myself, you need to make certain that your sources are reliable.
Every advice, every grain of knowledge, you should approach as if it were a spider. Sure, some spiders are harmless, but others are quite poisonous. Some spiders even enjoy being pet! Others will put hairs in your eyeballs if you even think of trying it.
Even publishers have opinions. Just because an agent or a publisher states something is so, it is your responsibility to check your sources. If a publisher states something? Find out just what type of publisher that they are. Every genre is different. Harlequin, for example, functions far differently compared to Tor.
I might suggest you buy salt in bulk. It will save you a little money down the road.
Now, I will approach the meat of this, and go into what I feel are some of the misleading aspects that you should in turn research for yourself and make your own conclusions on.
Point 1: On Book Growth.
Truth: Self-Publishing has picked up phenomenally.
Misleading: Self-Publishing number focus does not indicate the health of the standard publishing industry. It just shows that people are willing to dip into their own pockets to see their book in print in any form.
Point 2: On Book Sales
This is misleading. First, he doesn't account for aspects like the recession. Inflation aside, that there was any increase at all % wise is phenomenal. That means people are still spending money despite that fact that many people have lost their jobs and have less money to spend in the first place. Second, he does not mention if the sales are by book or by retail value of the book. These numbers are rather meaningless in the long run. Nor does he account for whether or not these are publishing house or self-publishing sales. These are two totally different industries.
Point 3: Book Sales, by the book
Read this carefully. Then, I refer you to Jane's commentary above. She says it best.
Point 4: On Stocking.
Once again, I return to the differences between self-publishing and a publishing house. Of course many books will never make it on the shelf. Most people who purchase a self-publishing option acquire an ISBN. This allows them to be put on the shelves. This does not mean that the bookstore will be willing to carry a book from an unknown author without the backing of a legitimate publishing company. That would be like putting a blindfold on and driving 95 miles per hour down a busy highway. Someone is going to crash. The bookstore would be making a rather stupid error if they took every single self-published novel and stuffed them on the shelf. They want novels from the major publishers that have a good chance of being sold.
Point 5: How hard it is to sell books...
Of course it is hard to sell books. It is much harder to sell a book unless you have a name for yourself or you have a reliable company vouching for you. I don't know about you, but I choose TOR and DAW books over other publishing houses because that is the type of writing I enjoy reading. I am certain many other people have similar preferences.
... to be blunt, I have made it to the half way point and I am spluttering. There are many misleading details. Each one of these points could have their own blog post of notable length to the entire blog post in question just clarifying where these numbers come from.
Statistics, ladies and gentleman, are often assumptions that support your opinion. When someone mentions a statistic, I get nervous.
When someone mentions a statistic without specifying which of two very different industries it comes from... then I get disgusted.
Please be careful about what you believe. A nice presentation does not necessarily mean that something is true or completely accurate.
Personally, I will judge the publishing industry by one simple fact: There are books on the shelves that I have not read and wish to buy. So I continue to buy books.
Until the day comes where I cannot find an interesting novel or four to buy in a bookstore at any one given time, I do think the publishing industry is safe enough. Especially if you go with a reliable publishing house.
The article in question can be found here. I suggest you read it so that you are aware of what I am speaking of.
There are many, many opinions on the writing world, which in turn includes the discussion of publishing through a publishing house (see Tor, Penguin, DAW, Random House) or through a self-publishing agency (see Lulu). Both have their advantages, both have their disadvantages, and both have those supporters who believe one or the other will be the death of the publishing industry.
For the sake of argument, publishing houses are oranges and self-publishing agencies are apples. We all know that comparing apples and oranges can cause problems. Mixed together, they can make a delicious drink. In this case, they only cause problems. Perhaps the self-publishing agencies should be milk in this example. Then you could see how milk curdles when you add orange juice to it.
I have a few issues that i have with the article that I linked above for your reading pleasures. Above all, he compares apples to oranges and expects grape juice as a result.
What do I mean by this? Let me show you.
As Jane Smith mentioned on her twitter:
Para numbered 5: "The average book in America sells about 500 copies"
Paragraph numbered 8: "And the average new book generates only $100,000 to $200,000 in sales"
From that we can assume that the average book price in America is $200-$400. See the problem?
Apples and Oranges, ladies and gentleman. I preserved her tweets as they were in their form, only switched around so that they are easily read. (Twitter organizes by time published.. so it reads backwards according to regular logic.) This is directly from our discussion.
In the self-publishing world, it is true that the average book will sell somewhere between one hundred to five hundred copies.
In the publishing house world, a book is not viable for publication unless it can pay for the advertising and the editors that work on each book. As such, they need books to sell significantly higher in order to be viable. Because of this, the quality of writers for these publishing houses is also higher. After all, most self-publishing agencies do not require quality checks in order for a book to be printed with them. This is the beauty of print on demand. However, this lack of quality control is exactly why many of these books never make it onto a book shelf.
If you are a writer and wish to become published, just as I wish to become published, open your eyes, take that pinch of salt, and swallow it. While I try to expose the in depth world of writing to you even as I take that journey myself, you need to make certain that your sources are reliable.
Every advice, every grain of knowledge, you should approach as if it were a spider. Sure, some spiders are harmless, but others are quite poisonous. Some spiders even enjoy being pet! Others will put hairs in your eyeballs if you even think of trying it.
Even publishers have opinions. Just because an agent or a publisher states something is so, it is your responsibility to check your sources. If a publisher states something? Find out just what type of publisher that they are. Every genre is different. Harlequin, for example, functions far differently compared to Tor.
I might suggest you buy salt in bulk. It will save you a little money down the road.
Now, I will approach the meat of this, and go into what I feel are some of the misleading aspects that you should in turn research for yourself and make your own conclusions on.
Point 1: On Book Growth.
Truth: Self-Publishing has picked up phenomenally.
Misleading: Self-Publishing number focus does not indicate the health of the standard publishing industry. It just shows that people are willing to dip into their own pockets to see their book in print in any form.
Point 2: On Book Sales
This is misleading. First, he doesn't account for aspects like the recession. Inflation aside, that there was any increase at all % wise is phenomenal. That means people are still spending money despite that fact that many people have lost their jobs and have less money to spend in the first place. Second, he does not mention if the sales are by book or by retail value of the book. These numbers are rather meaningless in the long run. Nor does he account for whether or not these are publishing house or self-publishing sales. These are two totally different industries.
Point 3: Book Sales, by the book
Read this carefully. Then, I refer you to Jane's commentary above. She says it best.
Point 4: On Stocking.
Once again, I return to the differences between self-publishing and a publishing house. Of course many books will never make it on the shelf. Most people who purchase a self-publishing option acquire an ISBN. This allows them to be put on the shelves. This does not mean that the bookstore will be willing to carry a book from an unknown author without the backing of a legitimate publishing company. That would be like putting a blindfold on and driving 95 miles per hour down a busy highway. Someone is going to crash. The bookstore would be making a rather stupid error if they took every single self-published novel and stuffed them on the shelf. They want novels from the major publishers that have a good chance of being sold.
Point 5: How hard it is to sell books...
Of course it is hard to sell books. It is much harder to sell a book unless you have a name for yourself or you have a reliable company vouching for you. I don't know about you, but I choose TOR and DAW books over other publishing houses because that is the type of writing I enjoy reading. I am certain many other people have similar preferences.
... to be blunt, I have made it to the half way point and I am spluttering. There are many misleading details. Each one of these points could have their own blog post of notable length to the entire blog post in question just clarifying where these numbers come from.
Statistics, ladies and gentleman, are often assumptions that support your opinion. When someone mentions a statistic, I get nervous.
When someone mentions a statistic without specifying which of two very different industries it comes from... then I get disgusted.
Please be careful about what you believe. A nice presentation does not necessarily mean that something is true or completely accurate.
Personally, I will judge the publishing industry by one simple fact: There are books on the shelves that I have not read and wish to buy. So I continue to buy books.
Until the day comes where I cannot find an interesting novel or four to buy in a bookstore at any one given time, I do think the publishing industry is safe enough. Especially if you go with a reliable publishing house.
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Rejection Letter
The rejection letter is something that everyone faces every now and again. In fact, some believe it is not possible to be a true writer until you have been tempered by the flames of the rejection letter. Whether or not this is true, there are a lot of things to learn about this letter, from how to cope with the fact you have been rejected to what you can gain from the rejection.
I have received far more rejection slips than acceptances, this much is for certain. However, I am one of those who enjoys receiving rejection slips. I am very curious to see what is contained within, and try to discover what I have learned from them. In fact, I have written stories and submitted them to important markets just to receive a rejection.
But, why would I do this? First, once you get one or two under the belt, they do get a little easier to accept having received. Using this logic, I would rather have my first faltering steps be done in a controlled fashion. While I expect my fantasy series to receive a rejection, it would not be so great a thing if it was the first rejection I ever received.
Know yourself. Would receiving a rejection on your prized story or novel send you for an emotional roller coaster that results in your cart leaving the rails? If so, grow some thick skin by experiencing rejection in short stories you do not care so much about. It will still hurt, but you will learn from it and grow from it, if you so choose.
I can not teach you what the standard rejection looks like. There is no standard. It is by slush reader or by editor and by publishing house, e-zine or magazine.
So, this guides us to the fun part of this post! The collection of sites dedicated or making mention of the rejection letter. I will have plenty of comments and opinions, both on editors and on writers, but this will wait until after you have had a chance to read the rejections.
Rejection Sites:
Rotten Rejections - A Reference to a Book
Literary Rejections on Display
Rejecting Rejection
Famous Author's Rejections Surface
Making Light: Slushkiller
Dallas Woodburn's Writing Life: Rejection Letters
Susie Smith's Children's Stories Famous Rejections
Rejection Letters before they were Famous
Collection of The New Yorker rejections
Ursula K. LeGuin: A Rejection Letter
Resources on Rejections:
Why you get Form Rejections
How to deal with Rejection Letters
Wikipedia's Rejection Letter Entry
There are obviously many, many more sites than I have listed here. This list will grow over time, but here is a good start.
The most important thing to remember is that the individuals who are reading your story do not have enough time to be personally offended by your writing. When you receive a form rejection, you story simply does not fit what they are looking for. This may be caused by poor writing quality or a story that simply does not suit them. The unfortunate part of the form rejection is that it is impossible to know exactly why your piece of writing failed.
This is where the handwritten or personalized rejection can be a double edged sword. Frankly, it is easiest to accept a form rejection. There is nothing personal in the rejection. Your story was not what they wanted, and that it that. When they personalize it, it is much easier to get personally offended by what the editor has to say.
Especially if it is because your editor felt the story was so poorly written they couldn't leave it alone and had to mention it. Unfortunately, without seeing what you submitted, it is impossible to say whether or not an editor is justified in saying this. However, there are ways to find out if the editor was just having a bad day or if there is really something needing changed with your submission.
First, if the same piece gets several really bad, personalized rejections from different editors, then you should seriously start looking at the reasons why. There will be editors who are having a bad day and take it out on you. Accept that now, your pride might be a little more intact at the end of the day. However, like I said before, most are too busy to spend the time to do so.
Live and learn. If your writing skills need improvement, start your next book and continue improving. Keep submitting, keep writing, and keep learning until defeat turns into victory.
On the flip side of the coin, there will be stories that editors notice, they like, and just simply cannot buy for one reason or another. This will spark into the 'good' rejection. It is personalized, but it is complimenting you! Some smaller publishing houses will always send some form of personalized reply. However, most are just too busy to do so, especially the larger houses. I suggest you mount those rejection letters. They are few and far between, and are worth their weight in gold, so far as I am concerned.
But, if your story is good enough to get a 'good' rejection, why were you rejected in the first place?
Publication is a business. I suggest you drill this into your head now. A publishing company has no interest in catering to your 'fantastic new concept that has never been done before, sure it is weird, but it is different and interesting'. They are interested in what sells. You need a story that toes their comfort lines while providing something new to the market. This is a lot easier said than done. You need a story that grips them, fits into their business, and can be sold. High writing quality and a good story have a good chance of getting published. A talented writer who knows their market *and* has writing quality *and* a good story *will* find a home for their stories or books.
Surviving the rejection letter is more easy than it sounds. Accept it, learn from it, and move on.
For now, enjoy the rejections and feel free to link any rejection sites you find amusing or useful, and I will add them to this post.
I have received far more rejection slips than acceptances, this much is for certain. However, I am one of those who enjoys receiving rejection slips. I am very curious to see what is contained within, and try to discover what I have learned from them. In fact, I have written stories and submitted them to important markets just to receive a rejection.
But, why would I do this? First, once you get one or two under the belt, they do get a little easier to accept having received. Using this logic, I would rather have my first faltering steps be done in a controlled fashion. While I expect my fantasy series to receive a rejection, it would not be so great a thing if it was the first rejection I ever received.
Know yourself. Would receiving a rejection on your prized story or novel send you for an emotional roller coaster that results in your cart leaving the rails? If so, grow some thick skin by experiencing rejection in short stories you do not care so much about. It will still hurt, but you will learn from it and grow from it, if you so choose.
I can not teach you what the standard rejection looks like. There is no standard. It is by slush reader or by editor and by publishing house, e-zine or magazine.
So, this guides us to the fun part of this post! The collection of sites dedicated or making mention of the rejection letter. I will have plenty of comments and opinions, both on editors and on writers, but this will wait until after you have had a chance to read the rejections.
Rejection Sites:
Rotten Rejections - A Reference to a Book
Literary Rejections on Display
Rejecting Rejection
Famous Author's Rejections Surface
Making Light: Slushkiller
Dallas Woodburn's Writing Life: Rejection Letters
Susie Smith's Children's Stories Famous Rejections
Rejection Letters before they were Famous
Collection of The New Yorker rejections
Ursula K. LeGuin: A Rejection Letter
Resources on Rejections:
Why you get Form Rejections
How to deal with Rejection Letters
Wikipedia's Rejection Letter Entry
There are obviously many, many more sites than I have listed here. This list will grow over time, but here is a good start.
The most important thing to remember is that the individuals who are reading your story do not have enough time to be personally offended by your writing. When you receive a form rejection, you story simply does not fit what they are looking for. This may be caused by poor writing quality or a story that simply does not suit them. The unfortunate part of the form rejection is that it is impossible to know exactly why your piece of writing failed.
This is where the handwritten or personalized rejection can be a double edged sword. Frankly, it is easiest to accept a form rejection. There is nothing personal in the rejection. Your story was not what they wanted, and that it that. When they personalize it, it is much easier to get personally offended by what the editor has to say.
Especially if it is because your editor felt the story was so poorly written they couldn't leave it alone and had to mention it. Unfortunately, without seeing what you submitted, it is impossible to say whether or not an editor is justified in saying this. However, there are ways to find out if the editor was just having a bad day or if there is really something needing changed with your submission.
First, if the same piece gets several really bad, personalized rejections from different editors, then you should seriously start looking at the reasons why. There will be editors who are having a bad day and take it out on you. Accept that now, your pride might be a little more intact at the end of the day. However, like I said before, most are too busy to spend the time to do so.
Live and learn. If your writing skills need improvement, start your next book and continue improving. Keep submitting, keep writing, and keep learning until defeat turns into victory.
On the flip side of the coin, there will be stories that editors notice, they like, and just simply cannot buy for one reason or another. This will spark into the 'good' rejection. It is personalized, but it is complimenting you! Some smaller publishing houses will always send some form of personalized reply. However, most are just too busy to do so, especially the larger houses. I suggest you mount those rejection letters. They are few and far between, and are worth their weight in gold, so far as I am concerned.
But, if your story is good enough to get a 'good' rejection, why were you rejected in the first place?
Publication is a business. I suggest you drill this into your head now. A publishing company has no interest in catering to your 'fantastic new concept that has never been done before, sure it is weird, but it is different and interesting'. They are interested in what sells. You need a story that toes their comfort lines while providing something new to the market. This is a lot easier said than done. You need a story that grips them, fits into their business, and can be sold. High writing quality and a good story have a good chance of getting published. A talented writer who knows their market *and* has writing quality *and* a good story *will* find a home for their stories or books.
Surviving the rejection letter is more easy than it sounds. Accept it, learn from it, and move on.
For now, enjoy the rejections and feel free to link any rejection sites you find amusing or useful, and I will add them to this post.
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