Rejection Letters

“No rejection is fatal until the writer walks away from the battle leaving dreams and goals behind.” - Jeff Herman

I don’t know of any writer that has not received a number of rejections before finding a publisher for their manuscript. I received plenty of rejections before finding a home for The Ride with ArcheBooks. Sometimes the ‘reject’ was a form letter, sometimes a short hand written note and many times receiving nothing at all was my only clue that my submission had not been accepted.

It’s hard not to take rejection personally but as an author it’s important to develop a thick hide. Otherwise, you may become so discouraged that you quit submitting. Though disappointed by my rejections, it helped me to remember I was not alone.
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Rudyard Kipling received the following note from the editor of the San Francisco Examiner: “I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.”

The Time Machine author H.G. Wells, was told, “It is not interesting enough for the general reader and not thorough enough for the scientific reader.”

Dr. Seuss was told, “…too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”

George Orwell was told, “It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.”

One of Mary Higgins Clark’s rejections for Journey Back to Love stated, “We found the heroine as boring as her husband had.”

One rejection of Carrie that Stephen King received said, “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.”

Each of these authors had the last laugh.

How do you handle rejection letters?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: The Ride, ArcheBooks, Jeff Herman, Kipling, H. G. Wells, Dr. Seuss, Orwell, Mary Higgins Clark, Stephen King, rejections,