How do you handle the wait?

Since Sierra covered rejection on Monday, and Tierney talked about rejections a few weeks ago, I figured I'd talk about something else authors deal with during the submission process... waiting... and waiting... and waiting some more... So, my question that I pose is How do you handle the wait?

I tend to try to forget about the submission, but hope that it gets a speedy "congrats, you've been accepted" or "sorry, well-written, but not for us" (which I've gotten many of). Rejections sting, but I realize that what doesn't work for one editor or agent, another agent or editor can fall in love with. I'm of the mind to shop a story to several agents and/or editors, then if they're all passing, there's probably a problem.

Anyways... wow, got sidetracked there. I currently have a couple of submissions out, so I'm in the stage of waiting. What I've been doing is working on editing one novel while working on the sequel. I haven't thought about the submissions too much, but when I do, I'm not immune to thoughts of wondering what they think, or if they've even gotten to it yet. Working on the next book is probably the most important thing an author can do, since that's what we do... we write books. That's the way we hone our skills.

So, your turn to answer the question. I'd love to hear what y'all have to say about this subject.

Dealing with Rejection

I know we’ve discussed this before, but I recently received my first Rejection and so it’s been on my mind lately. It was very difficult to receive the comments. I didn’t take it as a personal attack or want to get back at the editor. I know it was nothing personal. But, that doesn’t make it any easier to take.

I received a lot of feedback, so much so, that the editor really didn’t have anything nice to say about my story. I think if they would have said something nice, it would have made the rejection a little easier to take, but unfortunately, that’s not always the case. At any rate, the editor found plenty wrong with the story. There is a lot of work ahead of me if I want to fix it and resend it out. I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do, but that’s a lot of work to just let go to waste. Many months have gone into writing and revising the book.

I did share the comments with my critique partners and they did not agree with the assessment given by the editor. That made me feel a little better. But, I’m still questioning my writing abilities. I’m sure that happens a lot with writers when they receive negative feedback. I have to admit that I didn’t agree with everything she said either, but I do know that she was right about some of it.

All we can really do is keep plugging along and try to improve our craft as much as possible to decrease the amount of R’s we receive. I’ve been considering taking some online classes to help me improve my writing abilities. I’ve heard good things about some of the classes online and they can be relatively inexpensive. Of course, in this economy, it doesn’t take much to be too expensive. Anyway, that is my plan for the first part of the year. I will keep writing as well, but I do want to work on my writing at the same time.

I’ve heard many times to just read to improve your craft, but I’m afraid that method doesn’t work well for me. I’ve tried it numerous times and although I have to be absorbing some of it subconsciously, I’m not getting the full effect that many people get from it. I know my problem is that I get too involved in the story and forget to notice the writing. Maybe I should reread something I’ve already read, that way I already know what happens and then I can pay more attention to the writing itself. I’ll have to try that next.

Have you taken any online classes that you recommend or don’t recommend? Let me know your experiences with them, I’d love to find out more. If you haven’t taken any online writing classes, how do you feel you learned best? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

How do you handle rejection?

Have you heard authors say, “Aww…rejected. Cool.”? No, I don’t know anyone who treated an “R” as something cool. :) How about you? Did you ever scrawl, “I hate you, Editor” across your rejection letter, imagining it was his face? Or have you done a gross thing like splattering your gooey spit on the computer screen (hard to wipe that off if you have an LCD screen) when you opened your email and found a sorry rejected from the editor? Or you just shrug your shoulders, hit the delete button, sigh, shake your head then move on?

I don’t.

Each rejection letter is hard to swallow and I don’t take it easily. I consider my rejection letter as a challenge, a guide, a nudge (real hard one). Never—since I started writing—have I considered an R as a sign of failure. After all, I received one because I accomplished something—finished a story.

Now, this is my way of handling rejections and I’m not saying you should to or this is the right way to handle it. But it would be neat if you share yours. ;)

Anyway, here is what I do when I receive a heart-stopping rejection. After reading the letter (online since I haven’t submitted stories through snail mail yet), I save it on my Publications folder. Next, I’ll open my One Note, click on the Manuscript tab and add R on the note column.

On my desktop, I also have a WIP tab. I’ll put the rejected story back there. Now the rework begins. I’ll read the R letter and start picking it—especially the ones where an editor took his/her time pointing out the stories strengths, weaknesses and the holes on the story. How to improve it and why I shouldn’t give up on the story.

Here’s an example. My favorite. I used it as my screen saver.

“I know rejection is hard on an author, but just so you know, you do have a snappy, edgy style of writing quite suited to mainstream novels.
The dialogue, although crisp and flirty, was sandwiched between the internal conflict of the hero hating the cold weather. Your descriptive narrative was dead-on.”

Not bad, huh?

Here is another one:

“Just because we aren’t interested in acquiring your manuscript right now doesn’t mean we never will be, or that your work lacks merit. We hope you will continue to work on your story to improve its voice and structure, and perhaps add some depth and complexity to the characters.”

With the positive comments from the editors, I’ll rewrite the story and turn it into a brand new submission.
Under the Submissions tab, I’ll type the name of the “newly polished” story alongside the publications name where I intend to send it next.

Do we share the same way of handling rejection?


Tierney O’Malley, an author who changed her title from unpublished to published because she didn’t let a rejection letter stop her from writing and submitting.