My second worst rejection
Dogs are Smarter Than People
I’ve been thinking a lot about rejection lately. Mostly because the publishing industry involves it a lot. And I thought I’d share with you all what I think was my second worst rejection. Even though this was years ago, it still feels a bit raw.
Ready?
Okay.
Let’s do it.
I posted this two months before I got the call from an editor saying that he wanted my book.
Today, is my whining day.
Two days left before Christmas and nothing is done. I haven't bought presents for my parents yet! This is very, very bad.
But that isn't the problem. The problem is that today I had the epiphany that I am THE STINKIEST WRITER IN THE WORLD and that I am NEVER EVER GOING TO GET PUBLISHED and that I'm spending $6,000 a semester to be a better writer, which means.... what? I won't be as horrible as I was before, but still not any good. I am like the super ugly girl who keeps entering beauty contests. I keep losing, but I keep deluding myself that trying is a good thing. I really am pretty/an okay writer/not hideous really, really, really.
All of this is because today I received a rejection notice from Scholastic. They took my story off the slush pile and kept it for a couple weeks and then rejected me... on DECEMBER 23... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
What did I do? Oh, I am mature. I sat in the Subaru in the parking lot at the post office, put my head on the steering wheel and sobbed while my husband pet my back, and my sweet little girl watched from the backseat, telling met that my story was "Super, super good and that editor just didn't have good taste." I kept crying. Now, I know I've given her something to talk about in therapy when she's in her 20s.... "My mom was so weak. My mom didn't believe in herself." Thinking about that just made me more depressed, of course.
Here’s the thing: almost every single author gets rejected, right? Almost every single debut novelist gets rejected.
Here are some statistics taken from the Aspiring Author website:
“There are nearly 50,000 writers and authors writing and working in the United States alone. (Statista)
Between 95 and 99% of manuscripts submitted to editors are too poorly written, have a bad or unoriginal premise, or are irrelevant. These will get an instant pass or ghost. (Slushkiller)
From the remaining 5% of high-quality manuscripts left for consideration, most are still rejected due to timing, similar books on their list, or the state of the market. (Wordsrated)
The popular industry statistic is that between 1 and 2% of manuscripts that a publisher receives is published. In other words, they accept one or two of every hundred manuscripts they receive. (Fiction Writers’ Mentor)
8% of debut authors write at least one novel before writing what becomes their published debut, with an average of 3.24 books written before debuting. (Writability)
The average age of debut novelists is 36. (Jim C. Hines)
It takes about 70% of YA authors four or more years to publish their debut. (Hannah Holt)
The average advance for a debut author is $5k to $10k, also known as a “nice deal,” with 5% to 15% royalties on print books, and 25% royalties on eBooks. (Reedsy)
It can take debut authors a long time to earn $100k a year from book sales, with 48% taking 3-5 years, 32% taking 5-10 years, and 7% taking 10 years or more. (WrittenWordMedia)”
So, what do you do?
You keep going
You edit your novel
You edit your query/synopsis
You learn more about writing
I’m thinking we might make this a series looking at these great points from A Place of Intent. So, stay tuned, we’ll get beyond those quick bullet points, but really. Keep writing. That’s the main thing.
Just keep writing.