Should you give up on submitting a MS that has 5, 10 or 20 rejections?
If you believe in your work and have had it edited to within an inch of its life, I say no, don’t give up.
There are many writers who don’t want to self-publish and take on all the jobs the publishing house normally does. They just want to write books that people can buy and enjoy. These writers work hard on their babies and when they send them out to agents or publishing houses and the MS’s are rejected, maybe 1, 5 or 20 times they give up and move on to the next story.
Don’t give up! If you’ve made the book the best you can and you believe in it, keep sending it out.
I used to critique with three other ladies around 1997. One of the ladies was Sue Grant, a three time Rita finalist and one time winner. In the 1990’s she had yet to publish a book. I remember her telling us that she was papering the one bathroom wall with rejection notices. She felt the one she wanted most, the letter buying her book would eventually arrive in her mailbox. And it did. After 23? Some rejections.
She sold her first two books in 1999. She is now a NY Times best seller with many books written and bought by publishers. And with a big fan base she ventured into self-publishing too.
In 1973 horror writer, Stephen King sold his first novel, Carrie, the story of a bullied teen who gets revenge on her peers.
He sent Carrie to over 40 agents and publishing houses and then threw it in his office trash can. In his book on writing the novel he says his wife picked Carrie out of the trash and sent it in one more time. That was when it was bought and sold and he was able to quit his job and write full time.
I guess what I’m saying is if you believe in your work, and you’ve polished and made the MS as good as possible, don’t give up on it. If your dream is to be published by a publishing house keep trying, keep sending don’t give up.
Are you self-pubed or are you sending to agents and publishing houses?
If you are a reader, do you buy a mixture of self-pubbed and publishing house books? Or just one or the other?
5 comments:
There are plenty of examples out there of writers who persevered and eventually published. Even Nora wrote five books before selling one. Justine Davis wrote at least ten books before one finally sold. What's great is that the books under her bed eventually sold too! Harry Potter made the rounds.
As long as you can keep writing, keep submitting.
thanks Barb for your comments.
Diana - good sentiment. I have many, many rejected manuscripts sitting under my bed (okay- they are really n files on my computer.) But finally, I was offered a contract for one. I actually ended up turning it down, and the publisher went under soon after. So, I indie-published it. And have done so with 7 books and 2 more coming out this fall. But one of those was sold to a publisher. So, by this fall I will be a hybrid author. But believe me for all those books never published, I probably had up to 10 rejections for each one. If nothing else, write for the enjoyment, and keep sending them out. One will hit soon!
Good advice for sure. I've always believed persistence is as important as talent. Write other stories, but send out the old ones unless your goals have changed.
Thanks for a great post Diana!
Thank you Deb and Sarah for your insightful comments!
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