You've finished your book that has taken months, maybe even years, to finish. You've even joined a Writer's Group and changed a few things around. Now what?
When I first started reading other sites all I heard about was preparing yourself for rejection. I freaked out! I mean, how could someone say no to my masterpiece? I was sure someone would see the creativity that I've poured into this manuscript. The only question I had in my mind was how was I going to pick which agent from the hundreds who would want to represent me? Then I started to get the rejection letters. One after the other. What? How can they not see my genious? After a few months, and ten rejection letters later, I started to see what everyone else was talking about. I was a little upset, but I also knew that I wasn't alone. This is a hard business to get into. So this leads me into Tip #3.
Tip #3- Don't quit
I've been to so many workshops and conferences where I've heard tale after tale of people giving up after only a few rejection letters. They said after five letters they are just giving up. Why? You're never going to reach your goal is you don't keep trying. Does it hurt? Yes. Are you going to die from it? No. So you didn't get the agent of your dreams, it's okay. That just means they wern't the one for you. Move on and figure out why they keep saying no. Is it your query letter? Should you go back and take things out or add something more? Is it your first couple of chapters? Could it be edited a few more times? All of these things could effect how an agent feels about your manuscript. Something I've learned on this journey is that you should be proud to even get a rejection letter. These agents recieve hundreds of letters every day and they don't write back to everyone. Be happy that you even got a nod. And don't quit!! Keep going!!
Happy New Year!!
When I first started reading other sites all I heard about was preparing yourself for rejection. I freaked out! I mean, how could someone say no to my masterpiece? I was sure someone would see the creativity that I've poured into this manuscript. The only question I had in my mind was how was I going to pick which agent from the hundreds who would want to represent me? Then I started to get the rejection letters. One after the other. What? How can they not see my genious? After a few months, and ten rejection letters later, I started to see what everyone else was talking about. I was a little upset, but I also knew that I wasn't alone. This is a hard business to get into. So this leads me into Tip #3.
Tip #3- Don't quit
I've been to so many workshops and conferences where I've heard tale after tale of people giving up after only a few rejection letters. They said after five letters they are just giving up. Why? You're never going to reach your goal is you don't keep trying. Does it hurt? Yes. Are you going to die from it? No. So you didn't get the agent of your dreams, it's okay. That just means they wern't the one for you. Move on and figure out why they keep saying no. Is it your query letter? Should you go back and take things out or add something more? Is it your first couple of chapters? Could it be edited a few more times? All of these things could effect how an agent feels about your manuscript. Something I've learned on this journey is that you should be proud to even get a rejection letter. These agents recieve hundreds of letters every day and they don't write back to everyone. Be happy that you even got a nod. And don't quit!! Keep going!!
Happy New Year!!