Rejection

Jackie ♦ February 18, 2010 ♦ 2 Comments

Every writer interested in publishing knows that rejection is part of the game. I know this, and have heard and read many great quotes and stories from working writers about this unsavory aspect. Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help is one of the year’s runaway successes, and she stopped counting her rejections from agents once she passed 45 letters. Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time was rejected by 26 publishers before being accepted and going on to win the Newbery medal and being one of the classics of modern children’s literature (in my humble opinion). Roots, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Diary of Anne Frank, Dune, Watership Down and Gone with the Wind are all examples of legendary books that were rejected many times by publishers.

Here are some of my favorite quotes on the subject:

“This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don’t consider it rejected. Consider that you’ve addressed it ‘to the editor who can appreciate my work’ and it has simply come back stamped ‘Not at this address’. Just keep looking for the right address.”–Barbara Kingsolver

“I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, “To hell with you.”–Saul Bellow

“Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential.” –Jessamyn West

“We keep going back, stronger, not weaker, because we will not allow rejection to beat us down. It will only strengthen our resolve. To be successful there is no other way.” –Earl G. Graves, founder and publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine

Having said that, when I got a rejection recently, I did not immediately react with a “go to hell” attitude, and I have not yet started looking for the right address. Instead, I moped for awhile and doubted whether or not I’ve ever written a poem worth anything or in fact should ever try to publish another poem. Then I ate some pizza, spent quality time with my husband and kids, graded a pile of papers, watched Lost–and still felt lingering feelings of failure.

But in the very act of writing this blog post, I am trying to get some much-needed perspective. Because I’m not going to stop writing poetry, and because I think trying to make my poems better is a worthy goal, and because I would like to see a poem or two in the pages of a journal someday. And because all those things are true, perseverance is the order of the day