Stages of Rejection
Denial
OMIGOSH first one! Makes me feel like a real author!
Anger
Does no one have vision? I nailed this piece and yet they feel it isn't their cup of tea? It's for everyone, universal. Heck, even babies would love it.
Realization
Maybe I should rework my query. The book itself isn't where I suck. Who can tell a story in 250 words or less? It's impossible. Why would they make us do something like this... you can't even get the story across!
Hopeless
Damn! They asked for a full only to crush my heart after all the waiting. I suck as a writer... This is stupid. JK Rowling didn't have to go through this. Why do I?
Moving on
Thank God for new ideas. Now the waiting doesn't seem as hard.
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Rejection is never easy. What stage are you in?
31 comments:
I *always* cope by working on the next thing! In terms of rejection ... I guess I'm preparing for it again, since I'm revising something to go on sub in the next few months. But again ... I'll deal with it by burying myself in the next project!
I'm in stage zero, but I'm sure those descriptions are right on.
Yup...been there, felt all that. Now, I just figure, 'whatEVER! You're just not the right agent for me.'...mostly.
I like no 3. Rejection will always sting but suck it up and work on fresh ideas.
Great post.
Denise
I'm at the 'hey the other agents might be right phase' as I work on my revision request. It just took me a while to realize that (and figure out what they were saying between the lines). Oops! But at least I don't have to query for a while. Works for me. :D
The rejections don't really bother me anymore. Mostly because I'm busy with a new project.
Cute idea for a post. It reminds me of the Frasier episode when Frasier goes through the five stages of losing his job. A classic.
Ha ha! My 'anger' stage usually consists of "Right. They don't want me? Fine. I'll bombard them with constant submissions until they have no choice but to accept me. Mwah ha ha!"
Luckily I always sleep on things before enacting my plans!
Umm, I think I go through those stages all at once LoL!
Hope you have a great weekend, Jen!
I'm not querying but I've gone through them all in critiques at SCBWI conferences. I'm sure I'll go through them when I start querying. I'll try to focus on moving on. Yeah right.
The hopeless stage is always the worst. You go through so many emotions while waiting for that email or call. But the good news is we're all in this together-- I know that doesn't really help : )~
Zero. Haven't heard anything back yet.
I'm at some stage on a regular basis!
Jai
Fortunately I didn't get stuck in any of those for long. I just didn't let it get to me!
If you don't submit, you never have to worry about rejection... good, right?
Does no one have vision? Love this!!
It's a crazy cycle. I love the Moving On cycle then, because writing DOES make the wait better! :) AND, you'll have a little stock pile ready for when you do get snagged by your dream agent or dream publisher! :)
Ha, I love this! I'm somewhere between hopeless and moving on, which is a strange place to be. But thank goodness for new ideas!
So, so true. *sigh*
This is really interesting. Thank you for sharing.
Recently, I read an article about the five stages of accepting the death of a special person.
Many many years before that, I had written a story about the similarity of stages in drowning and adopting life after losing someone.
Being in rejected in publishing may really have an effect like being rejected in love.
In any case, I think the five period is for understanding that life goes on as long as you live. For saying "Never give up!" again.
I'm in the "still too afraid to even submit " stage. Good for you for putting yourself out there. Thanks for sharing it helps to know that you aren't alone.
I think I've gone past those stages to rhinoceros skin!
Oh, I'm totally in this stage! No, rejections aren't easy, but my favorite way to get past them is to remember that it may be the query, but is most likely that the story didn't click with them as an agent. I can respect that. I don't like every story I read either. If I didn't love it, I wouldn't accept it. And if they don't love it, it wouldn't be worth them offering representation. You want your agent to love your work :)
New ideas are always great!
Thanks for the post :)
Those stages are so on point. I'm in the abyss between "moving on" as I work on the new shiny idea and the "here I go again" moment that must happen before the rejections occur.
Ah, query rejections. Gotta love 'em. I've gotten so many I've lost count. But every one brings me one step closer to acceptance, right? Oh, wait, is that step one... denial?
"Heck, even babies would love it." Hah! I'm a few days away from denial. :)
I wrote a post on this not too long ago called Reality Check. Many years of practice/rejection made me quickly move to the last step...honestly, the others are a waste of time and emotions.
Good luck with your querying!
I am ALWAYS working on something new. That way the rejections wash over me.
Oh, this is soooo familiar :)
I think I'm on the last stage, thank goodness!
The terrified... 'there's no way I'm sending this anywhere apart my blog' kind of stage :)
I'm in the stage where readers publicly reject me. Ha! Readers publicly like my writing, too, which is fab. But public rejection just sucks!
I'm stuck in a perpetual state of realization with a dollop of self-doubt.
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