I'm posting this before the sting becomes less sharp. I've just had a rejection from a publisher that I’d set much store by, and JEEZ, it hurts like hell.

I wanted to post this before the rational side of my brain kicks in, because rejection is something we all have to accept and get used to. Every time it happens I think I can't take it any more… and maybe this time I can't… I don’t know, it’s too close to the event to be logical…

Which is why I wanted to post this now. As writers, we all have to weather the bad times, the rejections that we don’t understand, the questions – Why? What’s wrong with it? What do we have to do to get published? Just what does it take? How many hoops do we have to jump through? What is that magic formula? Does it really exist?

I don’t have answers to these questions. All I have is the long experience to say to everyone else who is grieving for that lost opportunity… don’t give up. Many many writers are in the same situation. We can't all be crap. Keep going.

Uh-oh… logic brain has woken up… better post this before I bottle out…

Oh Dee, poor you. I don't know what else to say, so sending you a virtual hug (and choccie bar, of course).

Casey x

Ouch indeed! I'm so sorry, it hurts so much. The art of coping with rejection seems not to be deciding it doesn't hurt, but knowing that it will hurt, and it will pass.

Respect and hugs.

Emma

Oh Dee - it's pure crap isn't it. Big hugs and virtual choccy biccies
love
di

Huge hugs, Dee. We all know what you're going through. It's hell. I think that the very fact that we keep going through it is a sign of our writing humanity though - the day we don't feel as if we've been kicked in the stomach again is the day we should stop.

Lick those wounds and get out into the ring again, babe - we're all there with you!

A
xxx

All the best to you, Dee. Keep at it.

Harry x

Well, Dee, you are certainly not crap, and this rejection (corny as it sounds) is one step closer to an acceptance.

Take heart, and yes, do press on. I know it hurts (god I know) but take strength from this and let it harden your resolve, not weaken it.

Best of luck and a big hug

JB

When you believe that your work has some value - which I know it does - and someone else doesn't see it, then that's always going to hurt. The sting of rejection is a sign that you still care about your writing. Hope you feel better soon.
Tony

Everyone - or damn near everyone - who's got published has rejections in a drawer, too. I still have the rejection letter I got from Peter Straus, when he was editor-in-chief at Picador. Now he's my agent and Picador are my publishers, so things do sometimes work on a very slow burner.

In the meantime, be nice to yourself today, Dee. Hope you feel better soon.

It really hurts! It's awful! Not every rejection - just those few very particular ones. Hope it works out for you as it did for Lammi, Dee! Meanwhile, give yourself a really nice treat - you deserve it.

Frances

Poor Dee! I do know how you feel. A work I set much store by and had been given reasons to hope was going to be taken up was rejected by a publisher in May. And then it was rejected again by two agents in quick succession. It was not the agents' rejections that hurt so much but the publisher's, and I'm not even over it yet! But the sting has dimmed a little and it hasn't stopped me writing - far from it - and I think that no rejection will ever again hurt so much as that one did.

Big virtual hug and know that one day you'll probably look back on this memory and it won't have the power to hurt you any more - either because your work that was rejected today finds a publisher, or because the successes you surely have to come if you keep writing will have put this one setback into shadow.

Awww… thanks guys. Sorry about the bleat, but as you say, Merry, some rejections hurt and shock more than others and, yes, I think this one will take some beating.

However, onwards and upwards. TWH has been rejected because of the supernatural element, so I'm going to put it away until its time comes (as it surely will) and in the meantime I'm turning to crime. I've been chewing away on a first attempt at a crime novel for about eighteen months now, so I’ll probably concentrate on trying to finish it.

Many thanks, as always, for your support and hugs. It's much appreciated.

Dee

Dee - I thought you were going to self-publish TWH? I was looking forward to getting my hands on a copy next year! Hope it's not in abeyance for too long - you have customers!!

A
xxx

Hi Holly, you're right, I was. But then I heard about this particular publisher and liked the look of them so much I decided to give them a go. They liked it very much – three of them read the full ms, they called the writing ‘superb’, but still in the end they turned it down because of the supernatural theme… which is bloody heartbreaking, to be honest, because that’s what I really love to write.

I've been advised to try America. They love supernatural over there… but I just have this gut feeling that, regardless of what else happens, I want it published in the UK first.

To be honest, I'm undecided what to do now. I'm determined to see TWH published, but maybe its time hasn’t come yet. I’ve now had two agents, three publishers, a professional editor, and Hilary Johnson all tell me that supernatural doesn’t sell in this country, regardless of the quality of the writing – so I guess I have to start believing those in the know.

I'm moving house next month so, once I've got that out of the way, I can start thinking more clearly where I want to go with the writing. At the moment, my brain’s a bit scattered, to say the least. I’ll keep you posted, and many thanks for the support.

Dee

Dee, I have sent you a WW mail about this.

JB