You don’t know what I saw yesterday. Believe me. You don’t.
Yesterday was a game changer. I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but lets just say this: something was bound to give, and give it did in a very big way. So much so I didn’t even feel the passage of time for most of the day. So much so that I wasn’t certain what day it was today.
Let’s just say there will come a time when I do talk. Maybe in a week, maybe in a month. But it will come.
What do talk about, then?
Rejection.
After a month of being out with a publishing company, I finally received an email regarding one of my novels–specifically, my NaNo Novel. I knew it was a long shot to get it out there, but I went for it anyway–
The letter was a rejection. Not what they’re looking for, maybe not be sellable, various things like that. At least it wasn’t a, “Your book sucks, why are you wasting our time?” sort of letter. I went ahead and set it up as a milestone on my Author’s Page, because it is. It’s not the good sort of milestone you want to see, but if you write, and if you’re serious about wanting to be published, then you’re going to see these.
See, it means you’re trying. Every time you send a manuscript out, there’s a 50-50 chance it’s going to come back to you mutilated and stomped upon. Someone isn’t going to like it. Some suit may say it’s not going to sell. Some editor may tell you the characters are unlikable. Doesn’t matter. There will be a reason, and one of those reasons may be that your work does blow just a little–or a lot. Maybe you have to work at it a little harder.
I spoke with The Muse a little yesterday, and she said, “If there weren’t rejections, there’d be a lot more books out there.” She hasn’t been roaming about Smashwords of late–ba, da, boom! But true enough. There are a lot of things out there driving the sales of books these days, and I’d say I’ve got a one in four chance of getting any story published any time I send out a manuscript.
So what is next? Find another publisher. As Isaac Asimov stated, ”You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success–but only if you persist.” Since the Good Doctor knew a little something about sending manuscripts out, it’s advice to take to heart. It’s one thing to say you’re writing for yourself, but you should only do that for yourself first: you gotta remember, you’re also writing for the gallery, and it’s not fair to keep them in the dark.
So, onward. I’ll start looking for another publisher today, check their submission guidelines, then get something prepped for them. Gotta do it, ’cause I gotta get that story published.
It might take a while for anyone to admit it, but there are people out there just waiting to read this novel.
I can’t keep them waiting.
