So, I have been subbed my MS to about ten agencies thus far. With about four standard rejections offering no words of advice. I did get one back saying "There is a lot to like here" but they lacked the concivtion about my partial to take it on. So that's five of my ten back. Should I wait to see what comes of the other five or just go on subbing?

Bot finding the rejection as painful as I had anticipated, but I suppose it is early days for me, haha.

I rushed that so apolgies for the "bot" typo

Ouch! It does hurt so much. Sympathies! Take a bit of time to lick your wounds if you need to.

I think myself - and everyone's different - I'd wait and see what happens to the other five. If one of them produces some feedback that makes you go doh!, of course - or if you suddenly realise something that could be very different - then it would be frustrating to have a whole lot more out there.

But it does make it take longer. Others have a rule that for each rejection they send out another...

I agree with Emma - i'd wait for the other 5 to come back, see if you get any personal feedback which will help you tweak before subbing further.

Bad luck about the rejections, but you seem pretty upbeat - onwards and upwards!

In a way, I'd like to congratulate you on getting your first rejection... because it means you have the courage to put your work out there and see what happens. Rejections are inevitable at all stages of the game, and the only way to avoid them is to keep your work tightly under wraps and never show anyone!

But commiserations as well, although you sound reasonably upbeat about it. Hope you get a slightly more personalised response at some point, which means you can work on improving it.

In a way, I'd like to congratulate you on getting your first rejection... because it means you have the courage to put your work out there and see what happens. Rejections are inevitable at all stages of the game, and the only way to avoid them is to keep your work tightly under wraps and never show anyone!

I second this. Unfortunately, the only writers' stories that tend to get publicised are those involving lucky first-time breaks. The reality though is that rejection is the normal state, even for writers who publish a lot.

I've said this before but when I took up writing short fiction seriously (in 2006), I had over 100 rejections before I sold a story, and that's with a covering letter that showed I'd had several novels published. A few months ago I sold a story (to a very good market) that I've been circulating for 6 years and which had been rejected 24 times.

I can honestly say that rejection is no longer painful! The first caveat, however, is that you have to know you're submitting publishable work. And if you are, then conversely it may seem, you don't get hurt when it's rejected. You know there are just dozens of factors you simply can't control: timing, publisher's current needs, editor's taste, editor's hangover, etc. Which means you actually need to think this way about acceptance, too, of course.

Terry

I third it! We used to have a rejection thread where people gave themselves goals of getting rejections- in fact the real goal was to send subs out, but I think it was a really positive way of looking at it.

It really does hurt as a huge number of WWers know. You're in very good company! But well done for subbing and better luck with the rest of them. As people say all the time -' it only takes one'.

Naomi

I am going to keep on keeping on, as it were. Five rejections, one with at least a positive remark. Will await the other five and if nothing but standard rejections come back, move on and start the next project. The subbing process is my closure.

Thanks all!

Good on you. Don't quit. If you've something your burning to share with the world, there are people out there who want to hear it. There's maybe something you can do to improve the chances of getting there - what are your expectations when you submit? I've written the first of trilogy and now have an agent in London and it's out to publishers, but I had to rethink how I approached the writing and the submission. Self help for writers! I wrote an article on it because it worked for me, so it may for you. All the best!

<Added>

Sorry, article is on http://www.freeyourib.com/?page_id=185

Well done on that positive response, Fiction, and best of luck with the others.

I'm also querying, and I'm the biggest wimp, rejection hurts like hell, but I'm sure I'll develop a thicker skin as I go. Have an agent reading a full at present, so just everything is crossed.

I'm sure I'll develop a thicker skin as I go

If you figure out how to do that, please let me know!