Posts from — December 2008

Welcome back!

Ask any writer what they think about rejections and you’ll get a myriad of responses, but they all share a common thread: “We don’t like them, but they’re a part of being a writer.” And wherever there are opinions about rejections there are numerous ways of dealing with them ranging from some more sensitive souls breaking down in tears to others reacting in more aggressive or creative ways.

I, on the other hand, like to view rejections as a goal.

While working with a mentor of mine in the Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill, he told me that while you can’t make a goal out of how many acceptances you get in a year, you can make a goal of how many rejections you get. Ultimately, you can control how many submissions you sent out and therefore how many rejections you get since most agent and publisher rejection rates are usually at least 95%. By treating rejections like this, I make it into a game. It also motivates me to keep submitting in the face of rejection.

For this year, I made a goal of getting at least 10 rejections, so far I have 8. I’m hoping that the last two will come in before the end of the year, but it’s getting close to the holidays so I may not make it.

What is your rejection goal? Do you have another way you deal with rejections?