Is There Really A "Good" Rejection?
Hi ho, MMMLOGerinos!
Weather: Uh, gray. What else?
Good Rejection?
I belong to several writers' lists and the traffic can get pretty overwhelming on them, but most of the posts are so worth reading that it's hard to resist. When I can grab some time, I post, too, to offer help on something I know or a "good on you and your book, too." I've gotten lots of help myself from these kind people on the lists with everything from formatting hard drives to introductions to editors. Often writers will post about getting a "good" rejection, in that the rejection letter isn't a form or a single line of PASS! from an editor or agent to whom they've submitted their projects.
How can rejection be good, you might ask? It's the ole glass half empty/half full thing, IMO. Most writers, even those of us who've sold many books, will have gotten a lot of rejection in our careers. And those rejections run the gamut of type that I mentioned previously. I've even had a rejection where the agent returned my own query letter and scribbled across the top, "I don't like ghosts." No signature and it was crammed into my SASE. That's another thing, the self addressed stamped envelope that we must send with any correspondence to the publishers or agents. I really can easily afford the envelope and postage, but I always wonder why including an SASE is such a canon of the writer to publisher/agent submission process. There is one publishing house that never uses the SASE but sends the rejection letter in their own postage metered envelope. I've wondered what they do with all those SASE. Peel the stamps off and sell them on Ebay? Then I read in the recent industry magazine that a former editorial assistant advises us never to fold the SASE around the letter as the opening machine can slice them to ribbons. Ahhhh, the light dawns. Perhaps that one house has a very Jack the Ripperish opening machine that the assistants fear but evil middle management refuses to get them a new one . . .
Back to the "good" rejection. I submitted a paranormal proposal to an editor once and received what could be viewed by some as a good rejection. The editor said, "Thanks for sending (name withheld to protect--something, my pride probably). After having read it, I'm sorry to say I will be passing. The novel is highly imaginative, with a compelling female lead and a strong sense of setting and atmosphere. Unfortunately, though, I was not as engaged with the overall plot as I needed to be."
HUH?
Maybe getting the Dear Author form letter is the best way to go, because then I don't take it personally because it wasn't even addressed to me. Makes sense, in a weird way, huh!? Remember, the glass is indeed half full. Really, it's probably full to overflowing in some alternate reality where that highly imaginative project of mine is a NYT bestseller, so think about that!
Ciao, ciao, MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda
Weather: Uh, gray. What else?
Good Rejection?
I belong to several writers' lists and the traffic can get pretty overwhelming on them, but most of the posts are so worth reading that it's hard to resist. When I can grab some time, I post, too, to offer help on something I know or a "good on you and your book, too." I've gotten lots of help myself from these kind people on the lists with everything from formatting hard drives to introductions to editors. Often writers will post about getting a "good" rejection, in that the rejection letter isn't a form or a single line of PASS! from an editor or agent to whom they've submitted their projects.
How can rejection be good, you might ask? It's the ole glass half empty/half full thing, IMO. Most writers, even those of us who've sold many books, will have gotten a lot of rejection in our careers. And those rejections run the gamut of type that I mentioned previously. I've even had a rejection where the agent returned my own query letter and scribbled across the top, "I don't like ghosts." No signature and it was crammed into my SASE. That's another thing, the self addressed stamped envelope that we must send with any correspondence to the publishers or agents. I really can easily afford the envelope and postage, but I always wonder why including an SASE is such a canon of the writer to publisher/agent submission process. There is one publishing house that never uses the SASE but sends the rejection letter in their own postage metered envelope. I've wondered what they do with all those SASE. Peel the stamps off and sell them on Ebay? Then I read in the recent industry magazine that a former editorial assistant advises us never to fold the SASE around the letter as the opening machine can slice them to ribbons. Ahhhh, the light dawns. Perhaps that one house has a very Jack the Ripperish opening machine that the assistants fear but evil middle management refuses to get them a new one . . .
Back to the "good" rejection. I submitted a paranormal proposal to an editor once and received what could be viewed by some as a good rejection. The editor said, "Thanks for sending (name withheld to protect--something, my pride probably). After having read it, I'm sorry to say I will be passing. The novel is highly imaginative, with a compelling female lead and a strong sense of setting and atmosphere. Unfortunately, though, I was not as engaged with the overall plot as I needed to be."
HUH?
Maybe getting the Dear Author form letter is the best way to go, because then I don't take it personally because it wasn't even addressed to me. Makes sense, in a weird way, huh!? Remember, the glass is indeed half full. Really, it's probably full to overflowing in some alternate reality where that highly imaginative project of mine is a NYT bestseller, so think about that!
Ciao, ciao, MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMelinda
posted by MMMelinda at 10:10 AM
