This morning started out with a rejection from an agent who I’d really thought might like my book and who seemed very cool based on our Social Media interaction so far.
The letter was terse:
“Thank you so much for sharing your work with Agent X.
It isn’t the right fit for her at this time.
I wish you luck on your publishing journey.
– A Name
(Agent X’s assistant)”
Obviously, there were real names for the agent and assistant, but everything else is verbatim. No personal salutation. No helpful feedback. Just a downright generic rejection letter. Blergh.
It bummed me out and sent me spiraling down that rabbit hole of destructive questions: Is my book any good? Will it ever get published? Do I even want it published? Why do I care so much? Rejection is part of the game, so why does this one annoy me so much? Did I do something on Twitter that made this agent not like me? Am I going to get all my queries back with the same result? Should I just keep writing for me?
And so on.
Early last week, I’d talked a friend of mine back into pursuing her dream of publishing her writing despite her apprehension over social media. Today, I walked those dark paths and needed a pep talk. So, I decided this: rejection is a part of this writing life, and that’s fine; but, to keep myself sane and whole, I need a Rejection Remedy that I can enjoy every time a rejection comes in.
Here’s what I do when I get a rejection and how I spent my morning:
1. Soak in some beauty
2. Do something fun with my kid(s). (Milwaukee Children’s Museum)
3. Remember the world is full of wonder.
He’s pointing and shouting: “It’s an airplane! An airplane mama!”
4. Notice something unexpected in the world.
(Seriously, I’ve walked past this building a thousand times, but never seen that gargoyle!)
5. Visit my favorite bakery…
6. Eat an eclair!
7. Visit the library, enjoy the stillness and the smell of books. Remember how much I want to be a part of that.
8. Buy a pleasure book that’s been on my list for a long time.
(I’m especially excited about this one after Patrick Rothfuss gave it such a great review on Good Reads!).
9. Focus on a specific writing task and work that through my book.
Today’s is courtesy of Chuck Palanhuik: getting rid of thought verbs (and others like them): http://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts-“thought”-verbs
10. Rock out!
(Ah, Florence and the Machine…): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gMq3hRLDD0
11. Remind myself of 3 authors who had massive amounts of rejections before publishing success.
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/17/142437700/while-waiting-for-praise-authors-face-rejection
12. Get back to work.
Happy Rejection Remedies to you all. Back to the writing I go!