Handling Rejection From Publishers: A Dialogue With My Muse

The Dialogue: Handling Rejection From Publishers

Muse crouches on the back of my ugly yellow sofa, quivering with excitement. I sit on the sofa, laptop open, staring at my Gmail.

MUSE: Awesome Publishing finally responded to that haunted house story you submitted six months ago. This is it! They’re gonna accept it!

ME (Reading): Dear Mr. Barron.

MUSE: Good Start. They got your name right.

ME (Reading): Thank you for submitting to Awesome Publishing.

MUSE: Get to the good stuff.

ME (Reading): We regret to inform you that we will not be publishing your story. Please understand that….

MUSE (Leaping off the sofa): WHAT?

ME: Another form rejection to join the pile.

MUSE (Flames shooting out their ears): They rejected our story?

ME: Sure looks like it.

MUSE: Bastards! (Muse erupts into an apocalyptic explosion that wipes out all civilization, decimating the planet and eradicating most of our galaxy.)

ME: It happens.

MUSE: Write a new story. A better story! This story sucks. Haunted houses are dead. No one wants them. Throw it in the trash, throw that trash can into a bigger trash can and throw that second trash can into a volcano. Go back to the drawing board and create something brand new. Time to start over!

ME: I already have enough projects to work on.

MUSE: Hey! What’re you doing?

(I cross out Awsome Publishing on my list of potential publishers and highlight Mega Publishing, the next on the list.)

ME: I’m submitting to another publisher.

MUSE: They’ll call it crap. They’ll tell you that you’re a shit writer who’ll die alone in a ditch.

ME: Have you ever heard of a publisher doing that?

MUSE: Then they’ll send another form rejection, and you’ll know that’s what they’re thinking.

Me: Or they might accept it.

Muse: At least add a sub plot with a cute dog. People love dogs.

Me: I’ve tinkered with this story enough. It’s time to just keep on submitting.

(Muse opens their mouth to respond.)

Me: You need to go away for now. At least until this afternoon when I’m working on revising that psychotic grandma story. I’ll need you for that, but I don’t need you for this.

(I start typing the new query letter.)

(Muse takes three deep breaths and then climbs back up onto the sofa to watch me type.)

In Short

One of the strangest bits of writing advice I have ever received is that writers should aim to receive at least one rejection email a day. While this may seem utterly depressing, the more rejections you receive the more stories you are submitting and the better chance they will be accepted.

While one rejection a day may seem excessive, rejection is a part of the submission process. The best way to deal with it is to take a deep breath and then submit to more publications or agents. Be sure to have a list ready so you know who to reach out to next.

Also I find it very helpful to have (at least) one project that I am currently submitting and another project that I am working on, to balance out the “selling” side with the creative side.

What Else Happened This Month

I submitted my novel Edge Country to an editor. She will be getting back to me in mid-September, I am extremely excited/nervous about what she will say.

My short story “The Thrilling and Sensational Flock Lifestyle” will soon appear in New Myths Magazine. I believe I already mentioned that my story “Rage and Redemption” will soon be appearing in Graveside Press’ Soul Anthology in October.

And I am SUPER excited that I have signed with an illustrator for my comic “The Secret Lives of Demon Hunters.” April Martin of Purple Inkwell Studios has already done some brilliant work for the story and I can’t wait to see the comic in its entirety. Here are the characters Ashley, Jordie and Duke.

(I’ll let you guess which one is the villain.)

I didn’t get a ton of reading done this month because I was traveling. However, I am re-reading Lord of the Rings. I have also started reading the manga One Piece, which has so many volumes I’ll be in a nursing home before I finish it.

I have also been listening to The Failures by Benjamin Liar, a fantastic fantasy novel I highly recommend. The world he creates is incredibly unique. The various storylines cross a variety of sub-genres. The imagination behind this work is monumental.

As I said, a good chunk of July was spent traveling. We went to Illinois where my family owns a farm. After a few days of talking farm business we had a family reunion in Kentucky. None of us are actually from Kentucky (or maybe we are, it’s a big family) it’s just a good centralized location. Then we hung out with my wife’s family on the beach.

I could include photographs of all this but instead, but I think you would all prefer it if I shared a random photo of my cat.