While preparing one of my article-writing classes for current students, I came across this phrase: \u201cRejection is only an opinion and a circumstance.\u201d Yet, how many of us take those rejections we receive from publishers and editors personally? <\/p>\n
Rejection is only an opinion and a circumstance. <\/p>\n
For those of you who don\u2019t know what I mean by this, let me explain. Sure, sometimes a manuscript is rejected because the writing is not up to par. It happens. But for the most part, rejection happens for any of the following reasons:<\/p>\n
For magazine articles:
\n\u2022\tThe editor is not in the market for a piece on this topic at the moment.
\n\u2022\tThey recently published an article on this subject.
\n\u2022\tThis subject is counter to the beliefs of their advertisers.
\n\u2022\tThe editor received several articles on the same topic and yours didn\u2019t make the cut.
\n\u2022\tYou have no credentials in the topic and the next writer does.
\n\u2022\tThe slant and style of the article is wrong for that particular magazine.
\n\u2022\tThis is not a popular topic for readers of this magazine.
\n\u2022\tYour article is too short, long or you didn\u2019t do enough research.
\n\u2022\tThe editor doesn\u2019t like cats, so isn\u2019t interested in your cat story. (His opinion, right?)<\/p>\n
For book manuscripts:
\n\u2022\tThe topic doesn\u2019t fit the publisher\u2019s current needs.
\n\u2022\tYour angle and style isn\u2019t appropriate to this publisher\u2019s audience.
\n\u2022\tYour platform isn\u2019t impressive enough.
\n\u2022\tYour proposal indicates that you don\u2019t have a handle on what it will take to promote this book.
\n\u2022\tThe publisher feels that this topic should be handled by an expert in the field, not someone who had one experience with it.
\n\u2022\tYour proposal isn\u2019t as strong as the next authors.
\n\u2022\tYour research skills are lacking.
\n\u2022\tYou did not hire a professional editor before submitting your manuscript.
\n\u2022\tYour name is Bob and the publisher\u2019s wife ran off with a man named Bob, so he refuses to accept anything from anyone with that name.<\/p>\n
Or it could be that the editor or publisher woke up on the wrong side of the bed and has decided to hate every manuscript that comes across their desks the day yours comes in. I had an editor reject me once because I misspelled his name. The sad thing is that I carefully copied his very long, very complicated name from my current copy of Writer\u2019s Market<\/em>. It was correct as far as the listing in Writer\u2019s Market. In fact, in this editor\u2019s nasty letter to me, he said, \u201cI\u2019ll bet you used the erroneous spelling from Writer\u2019s Market<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n The fact is that if you want to be a freelance writer or a successful author, you must be able to withstand the discomfort of rejection from time to time. The more active you are at submitting articles or stories to paying markets, the more rejection you will experience. The more books you write and the more publishers you approach, the more rejection you will likely experience. It\u2019s a fact of life for writers and, while repeated rejection letters could be a definite red flag indicating that you are a lousy writer with projects that no one wants, this is probably not the case for most of you. Most likely, the reasons why your work is rejected are listed above. <\/p>\n For more about rejection, writing a book proposal, submitting to publishers, promoting and distributing books, self-publishing, public speaking, self-editing and so, so much more, read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em><\/strong>. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While preparing one of my article-writing classes for current students, I came across this phrase: \u201cRejection is only an opinion and a circumstance.\u201d Yet, how many of us take those rejections we receive from publishers and editors personally? Rejection is only an opinion and a circumstance. For those of you who don\u2019t know what I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t