Rejection!

Antilles

i got my first rejection letter today. I stuck it up on the notice board by my desk. I've got weird mixed feelings about this, to be honest. I'm disappointed my work wasn't accepted but at the same time its as if I have a certificate on my wall that says "Hey look this guy is a real writer! He's not just a freak making up stories for his own entertainment!"

Am I alone in this? I hope I'm not.

Matt Holck

hardly

do you feel used?

abouttobebanned

Not too sure why he'd feel used...

Anyway, did they give you a reason? Did you show any signs that they actually read it?

Lady Chuckles

Unfortunately it's a part of the game. Publishers often reject scripts sent in to them, not always because the script itself is bad.
Don't be too sad over the rejection. Try again! Send it to another company

I bet you've got a good script. Keep up the good work!

Memnoch

It's part and parcel of the process. Some writers are luckier than others in that they find an agent/editor after only a handful of rejections, for others it can take a lot longer. Keep at it and try to start work on your next project while your waiting for replies.

willy wonka

Antilles wrote: »

i got my first rejection letter today. I stuck it up on the notice board by my desk. I've got weird mixed feelings about this, to be honest. I'm disappointed my work wasn't accepted but at the same time its as if I have a certificate on my wall that says "Hey look this guy is a real writer! He's not just a freak making up stories for his own entertainment!"

Am I alone in this? I hope I'm not.

Cool! You should frame it! Lots of topselling/famous writers got loads of rejection letters. So when you're famous, imagine how coveted your first rejection letter would be!!

Even if you get a pile of rejection letters, never give up.

Denerick

All I can say is you people are my role models. I've been procrastinating writing a novel for years and years, the theme and plot is there but can never put pen to paper (or characters to MS word, as the modern world has forced us to accept )

Anyway, the great example to all you budding writers should be John Kennedy Toole's 'A Confederacy of Dunces', published 11 years after his suicide in 1980 upon his mothers valiant efforts to get it published. Later went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and become one of the best books ever written... (IMO)

pauline fayne

Antilles wrote: »

i got my first rejection letter today. I stuck it up on the notice board by my desk. I've got weird mixed feelings about this, to be honest. I'm disappointed my work wasn't accepted but at the same time its as if I have a certificate on my wall that says "Hey look this guy is a real writer! He's not just a freak making up stories for his own entertainment!"

Am I alone in this? I hope I'm not.

Thats just the kind of positive thinking we all need !

DublinWriter

Antilles wrote: »

Am I alone in this? I hope I'm not.

JK Rowling had her first Harry Potter novel initially rejected by a total of nineteen publishers and agents.

I guess the moral of the story is that perseverance pays.

stevejazzx

DublinWriter wrote: »

JK Rowling had her first Harry Potter novel initially rejected by a total of nineteen publishers and agents.

I guess the moral of the story is that perseverance pays.

That and dumb luck! The first 19 were right.

DublinWriter

stevejazzx wrote: »

That and dumb luck! The first 19 were right.

I think these days she's too busy swimming in her lake of money to really care.

Fran Costello

Your day will come...keep at it.

maldana

Hey

I've had a couple of rejection letters so can understand what you feel. I think I agree with others, you just have to keep at it and don't give up. I think its a normal part of the process that writers go through on their way to being published. Some writers take years to get accepted, you'd have to be really lucky to get published straight away. Maybe the publishers/agents sent you just weren't looking for that type of material etc, its worthwhile to research well who you are sending stuff out too. That's what I learnt anyway. I felt bad too and disappointed and my ego wounded. But it's not going to stop me writing or trying. Just pick yourself up and carry on

fliptzer

Hi,
Just sent out my script of 110k words that took nearly four years to finish, got my first three rejections last week on the same day. After being annoyed for a few hours I thought sod it and carried on with my sequal. It's not easy but never give up and enjoy writing for what it is and what it means to you - to hell with the rest of them lol

maldana

Exactly, don't let a little rejection ruin your love of writing, definitely won't with mine. Even if I never got published I will always write. Though getting published would be a dream come true now to be honest!

fliptzer

This morning just got another two rejections - c'est la vie now back to the writing...

skingtile

if a persons name was Stephen King would they have an advantage in relation to getting published

Frankiestylee

Wow OP, when I read the title of this thread I was coming on to say pretty much exactly what you said. When I got my first rejection letter I was really really happy and nobody understood why. Everyone thought I'd be disappointed but it really does make you feel like a "real" writer. It was really odd, but just seeing the name of my novel on a publisher's headed paper made the whole process come alive. I'm now re-drafting the whole novel again while looking for suitable publishers, always with that first letter in mind.

Livvie

stevejazzx wrote: »

That and dumb luck! The first 19 were right.

The popularity of the series and the fact that she is now a multi millionaire probably means they weren't.

I'm sure they aren't thinking, "Well, we were right".

sitout

good luck op, keep it up!

fliptzer

After months of getting nowhere and piles of rejection letters I finally got an agent who read my submission, said they loved it and wanted the full manuscript. Sent it last week and now the waiting starts....
I hate the waiting...

Don't know if that's a good sign...
lol

pickarooney

fliptzer wrote: »

After months of getting nowhere and piles of rejection letters I finally got an agent who read my submission, said they loved it and wanted the full manuscript. Sent it last week and now the waiting starts....
I hate the waiting...

Don't know if that's a good sign...
lol

Good on you. How much of it did you send and what's it all about?

fliptzer

They asked for the whole lot, which I sent.

It's a story set in Dublin based on religious texts, characters, etc. in a modern setting. Can't really say more then that until they respond.

But it's the endless waiting that's annoying me...

lol

Grievous

Hey Man.

Best of luck.

Let us know how you get on.

fliptzer

Thanks but turned out they didn't want it after asking for loads of stuff, bio, synopsis, full script, interview on the phone lol.

Anyway, might have a publisher interested, have submitted the whole thing after they read the synopsis so fingers crossed!

But it's back to the waiting game lol

hyperone

Don't give up, try and try again, and you will succeed, if you believe you are a writer, you will become a writer. "If you think of what you are, you will become what you think about". Best of luck