JW Newsletter: How to deal with rejection
How to see the positive in a ‘no’
Here’s a fact. Every single writer in the world gets rejected. If you’ve got a ‘no’ recently – then all that really means is that you are officially a real-life writer… but why doesn’t knowing that stop it from hurting? And how do you keep going when that one ‘no’ turns into a hundred?
EVENTS: The Self-Publishing and Getting Published Day events (10% discount for members)
Which route to publication will you choose? Pick yours from our information-packed day events in London this March. I’ll see you there!
- The Self-Publishing Day (Regent’s College London – 14 March 2020)
- The Getting Published Day – Special Edition (Regent’s College London – 28 March 2020)
Spotlight
SNAPSHOT: What to do when you’re facing rejection (FREE for members)
A six-minute film that outlines the positive steps you can take when faced with multiple rejections from literary agents.
BLOG: What are the odds on getting a book deal?
This blog looks at the numbers behind getting an agent and getting a book deal, with tips on how to go your own way if those numbers aren’t working to your favour.
BURSARY: Two, free places on our Self-Edit your Novel course
LAST CHANCE! Thanks to a self-edit alumni who wishes to remain anonymous, we have TWO free places on this life-changing course to give away to under-represented / low-income writers. Deadline 1 March.
Content corner: One trick to making rejection hurt less
It’s fair to say that I’ve had more rejections than most published writers. Hundreds, in fact. But as I said at the start of this newsletter – rejection is an inevitable part of being a writer. Getting lots of rejections is good, because it means you are putting yourself out there. For every 10-20 rejections I got, I also got one competition win, or one writing job, or even – eventually – one literary agent.
Knowing this doesn’t stop it from hurting. But you can try to trick your brain into seeing rejection as something positive. One way I’ve done this is to create a scrap book called ‘How I made it as a writer’. It contains every single rejection I’ve ever received – from the “we didn’t really read this” from publishers in 2006, all the way to the “sorry, but this is way too dark” from publishers in 2018.
When printing off my rejections and sticking them in, I tried to think about them as beats in a story. Things were looking almost impossible after twelve years and four different books. But as with every good story, things are darkest before the dawn. And eventually, all those ‘nos’ became steppingstones to that ‘yes’.
How do you deal with rejection? Sign up to the Townhouse community, and share here.
Sarah J
Plus, don’t miss:
Complete Novel Mentoring (Discounts available for members)
NEW MENTOR: Work alongside author, editor and mentor Philip Womack, who specialises in Children’s books, YA, literary fiction, fantasy, and literary biography.
Manuscript Assessment (Discounts available for members)
Our most popular editorial service matches you to your dream editor and gives you tailored feedback on your work. It doesn’t get better than that.
Community Writing book club (Open to all)
Join the Townhouse community for the first writing book club! We’ll all be reading ‘Into The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them’ by John Yorke by the end of March.
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