More on putting rejections in perspective

Current word count: 14,322

Words written today: 1,183

Words to goal: 25,678 / 347 words a day til end of September

After two days off, I got in a good couple hours on my new book this morning, and it feels so good. The story is there, but the writing’s not great. But that’s what revisions are for.

On Monday, I wrote about things to consider when we get rejections from agents. Rejections can sting, and can make us feel insecure about our writing. Of course, we would love it if every person in the world thought every sentence we write is the best thing since slice bread, but we have to be realistic. Art — and writing is art — is subjective, after all.

So it’s really important to keep rejections in perspective. Mystery and thriller writers’ blog The Kill Zone has a great post from agent Anne Hawkins, of John Hawkins & Associates, in which she talks about why good agents turn down good books. Anne reinforces what I said on Monday about personal taste and an agent’s need to really love a book to take it on. She also adds a few more: saleability of a book, because, of course, publishing is a business; length; author; timing; and conflicts of interest with current clients’ work. It’s a great look into the considerations an agent must give every project they’re offered.

For the writer getting the rejection, we often won’t know what the reason is. Most of the time we’ll get the standard “it’s not for me” form letter. Sure this can be frustrating, but as agent Janet Reid pointed out this week in a post called A Reminder That No Means No, it’s not an agent’s job to tell writers why their work isn’t right for them. And when they’re reading hundreds of query letters a week, plus requested manuscripts, clients’ manuscripts and contracts as well as selling and negotiating for their current clients, it’s understandable that they don’t have the time to give personal feedback to every query they receive. Think of how you would feel if your agent delayed getting your book out because she was writing personalized emails to every query she received.

So what’s a writer to do when we get rejections: First, don’t let it get us down. Keep things in perspective.

Have you sent out 10 queries and gotten no requests for the material? If so, rework your query letter. Are agents asking for fulls or partials but not offering representation? If so, consider your work. Is your opening the best it can be? Is your book the best it can be? Does it need another revision? If you can look at your work and say you’re truly happy with it, then you’ve just not yet found the right agent. Continue to research agents and send out your work. If you persevere, you’ll find the right match eventually.

But most important of all, don’t let a rejection stop you from writing. The best thing you can do to combat a rejection is to write something else. Agent Rachelle Gardner suggests this in her recent post entitled Write Another Book!

If you don’t attract an agent with your first project, you will with your second, or third. Nowadays, agents don’t have the time they once did to take on books that need a lot of work. So your manuscript has to be at a higher standard. The more you write, the better your work will get. And once your writing has secured that agent, there’s nothing to say those earlier works might look better now.

So, keep rejections in perspective, and remember author J.A. Konrath’s quote: There’s a word for a writer who never gives up — published.

Queries and Corey Hart

Firstly, a side-note. What do you think about the slight design change on the blog? Ok, it was a small change, and you might not notice. But what do you think of the little flowers in the nav bar? I love the little flowers. Ok, now onto writing…

Yay! I have a query letter.

After much frustration and my husband pointing out that if I rewrote the first six chapters of my book six times, it’s not unfathomable that I would have to do the same with a query, I finally have a letter I like — and, better yet, it has the approval of my circle of critiquers.

A letter is such a small thing, compared to a novel, and because I was having difficulties coming up with a compelling, fun letter that hooks the reader and gives the voice of the book, I was starting to have doubts about myself as a writer — and the validity of my book. What good am I if I can’t write a simple letter? And, if I can’t distill my book’s plot into a couple sentences, that must mean the story isn’t streamlined enough, it’s too complex, to busy and NO ONE WILL EVER READ IT!!!

See how easy it is for a writer to overreact? Come on, don’t tell me you haven’t felt this way, if not about a query, about your book, your chapter, whatever. We writers tend to be insecure types.

But I’m here to tell you, push it aside. It’s not true. None of it. It’s all in our head.

When I came out the other side of this rant, I realized — as my husband had been telling me — I wasn’t seeing the forest for the trees. I was so busy trying to write about all the little things that happen in the book, I wasn’t focusing on the overriding theme.

A few things helped me get over myself and write a better query: 1) my husband telling me to have fun with it, like I did with the book; 2) one of my fellow critiquers saying I should talk about the conflict of the main character (an obvious point that I had completely overlooked); and 3) a blog post from an agent who says she reads story blurbs in queries to get the hook of the story (sorry, I can’t find the post otherwise I’d link to it). Now I have a query that’s fun, in my character’s voice and focuses on his conflict and the overriding theme of the story. I’m happy with it, and if it gets attention from agents, I’ll post it on this blog for you to see. Stay tuned.

Today, as I scrolled through the blogs I read regularly, I found a link to a great video that summed everything up for me. Literary agent Janet Reid linked to the really cute and funny video below. Although it’s actually about debut author Lara Zielin getting editing notes, it struck me that the song could work for queries too.

The line, “With a little perseverance, I can get this done,” works so well for writing in general. And besides, I’m a sucker for Corey Hart songs. (Sunglasses at Night, anyone? No matter how silly it is to where sunglasses at night, I didn’t care when I was 14 and in love with Corey Hart.)

Enjoy! (Ok, I realized the video wasn’t showing up. Let’s try this again…)

Write On!