A friend of mine told me last week that he had a ms. accepted.
Wow, such great news. But then he went on to say how
he had sent it to 99 places. And 1 took it.
I don't even want to think about the other 98. Or the pain
of all those submissions. Maybe we all know this pain too well.
Me, I don't count. I never want to know how many acceptances
v.s. rejections I receive. I don't believe bad news comes in 3s
or good things either. But I am amazed at how we writers do it.
Kind of like living in eternal winter. No matter how many times
we shovel, there's always more snow coming. Some of it, it's okay.
After all, it's just the season. But after a while, well, I dunno.
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7 comments:
Thanks for this.
It reminds me that we are all going through many of the same things.
I don't count either.
Wow. If I were an editor, I'd feel lucky to get your ms.
The publishing world is so strange. Thankfully, I never think about it when I'm writing.
Yes, I'm amazed at how we writers do it, too. I always tell myself that I've grown inured to rejection and, at the moment a declining email or letter comes, I'm calm. I think, "Why, look how far I've come!" Then spend the next day bumping into walls.
I have to say that the difficulty of getting published often does keep me from writing. It's hard not to think, "But who cares if I finish this or not?"
Boy, you are not kidding. And yet, oddly enough, I am inspired by the 99 mailings. Makes me realize how soon I get discouraged.
so we all know the hours it takes to put together submissions, find the right person to send them to etc etc etc. Last fall I sent out 35-40 mailings and later realized I'd forgotten the SASE's ! Horrors! I kicked myself for days. I got a few demeaning emails about it too, which didn't help my self-esteem! Diane
Food for thought: Kate Greenstreet got 300 rejections for her book, case sensitive, before Ahsahta Press picked it up.
Oh man. 300. I'm impressed. By the book and the faith she has.
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