Rejected? Maybe it’s not you. Today we’re celebrating Ruth Harris’s 13th blogiversary. Ruth joined this blog in June of 2011, and I know it wouldn’t have succeeded without her expertise, humor, and warmth. To celebrate, we thought we’d re-run Ruth’s very first post. It’s packed with wisdom that still applies today.
How to Keep Rejection in Perspective
by Ruth Harris
I’m a traditionally published New York Times bestselling author gone indie. I was also an editor for over 20 years and, for a while, the Publisher of Kensington. So let me put rejection into a little perspective:
Manuscripts get rejected; not writers. Trust me. (Most of the time) it’s not personal.
The reasons for rejection start with the basics, i.e. the ms. sucks. Author can’t format/spell/doesn’t know grammar, is clueless about characterization and plotting, writes incomprehensible sentences that thunk and clunk like a bulldozer moving ice-age boulders.
Maybe, though, it’s just not that bad and with competent editing, it’s publishable. But the days of Maxwell Perkins are long gone. Staff editors, these days, don’t have the time and sometimes don’t even have the necessary experience.
If you need an editor, hire one.
Occasionally, other hazards present themselves. Way back when I was a child working at Bantam, a would-be author showed up at the office, ms. in hand. As the least important, most expendable (what if this guy turns out to be a nut & has a gun?) warm body on the staff, I was sent out to Reception to find out what he was offering. Shook hands, introduced myself, he yackety-yacked, blabbity-blabbed about his masterpiece.
Then he opened the ms. box and a cockroach jumped out.
True story. Ms. rejected. Politely, I’m proud to say.
Why a Good Manuscript Gets Rejected
The ms. is really good. Timely subject, credible characters, good plot, well-executed pacing. Lots of us really like it BUT. Here’s only a partial list of the buts.
Personal (or Personnel) Reasons Your Book was Rejected
- The boss (or my secretary or DH or pet goldfish) is giving me or the editor-in-question a hard time today & I’m/he/she is in such a lousy mood we’d turn down War & Peace. So fuddgetaboutit. You’re Tolstoy? Tough. You’re toast.
- The sales dept. just informed us that books about aboriginal bisexual zombies in Manitoba aren’t selling the way they used to so we’re not going to make an offer for your (well-written, scary, hilarious, fabulous) novel about aboriginal bisexual zombies in Manitoba. Sorry. Right now it doesn’t fit our needs.
- The boss (or his/her wife/husband) hates (insert genre) so be glad your ms. got turned down because even if we bought it, it would be published badly. Very badly. You’ll get a crappy cover, miniscule print run, zero advertising, promotion or publicity, positioning spine-out on a top shelf in the poorly-lit rear of the unventilated, un-airconditioned third floor next to the men’s room. You won’t be able to find your own book. Not even with a state-of-the-art GPS. Your book is guaranteed to be a floperoo. You’ll be miserable and you’ll blame us and you’d be right. So be happy.
Business Reasons Your Book was Rejected
- The company’s in a cash crunch. Of course we’re never going to admit that but we’re not buying anything. Nada. Not right now and not for the foreseeable future. Not until said crunch passes and the money’s flowing again. Bottom line: you don’t know it and you never will but your timing sucks. Not your fault.
- We have too many of that genre already and we need to publish down the inventory so right now we’re not buying any of that particular genre. Sorry. Right now it doesn’t fit our needs.
- A major “reorganization” has taken place. Maybe business is lousy and it’s a bottom-line issue. Maybe the decision has come down from somewhere Up There in Corporate. Anyway, half the staff (at least) has been fired. A new regime is hired & they hate all the genres & authors the previous regime loved. The new regime wants to prove that their predecessors were stupid, incompetent and a toxic blight to literacy and that they are going to turn the company around by doing exactly the opposite. Not your fault, has absolutely nothing to do with you or your ms. but your ms. is going to get turned down.
Editors and Publishers Make Mistakes
Plenty of times editors and publishers are just plain wrong…zillions of examples of that all over the place from J.K. Rowling to Steven King. We turned down your ms? Maybe we made a mistake. Possibly. Maybe more than just possibly.
We’ve made plenty misjudgments in the past and we’ll make plenty more in the future and we know it. Turning down the ms that becomes a hot bestseller is an occupational hazard. We don’t like it any more than you do but it’s a fact.
Difficult Authors Get Rejected
Once in a while, it is actually personal. We’ve published you before or a friend at another publisher has. So we know from experience (or the grapevine) that you’re a whiny, nasty, demanding, narcissistic, high-maintenance PITA. No one wants to take your phone calls and everyone who’s had the misfortune of working with you hates you. We’ve had it with you and your diva-like tantrums and we’re never, ever, ever going to publish another book of yours again.
Except, of course, if you’re making us a shitload of money. Even then, we still hate you and we’ll tell everyone (off the record, of course) that your books “aren’t as good/aren’t selling as well as they used to.” Payback is a bitch.
Being Rejected isn’t Always What it Seems
Just like a lot of things, rejection isn’t always what it seems to be. Writers need to put that stack of rejection letters into perspective. Sibel Hodge turned 200 rejections into a place on Amazon’s bestseller list. Joe Konrath got rejected even though his books were selling and making money for the company.
I once got a form rejection letter for a book (Husbands and Lovers) while it was on the NYT bestseller list. No kidding. Who knows why? I don’t and never will. My agent and I laughed our asses off and I went back to my computer and continued working on my next book.
You should do the same.
By Ruth Harris (@RuthHarrisBooks) June 30, 2024
What about you, scriveners? If you’re a writer, I’m sure you’ve dealt with a lot of rejection. How do you handle it? Do you think you usually manage to keep it in perspective? Did you take rejection more seriously when you were starting your writing journey?
BOOKS OF THE WEEK
This is the book that was on the New York Times Bestseller list when Ruth got a rejection for it!
HUSBANDS AND LOVERS (Park Avenue Series, Book #2)—The Married Woman—Once a shy wallflower, Carlys Webber marries multimillionaire Kirk Arnold. When Kirk changes from a loving husband to an angry stranger, will Carlys risk her precious marriage for a few moments of stolen passion with the irresistibly handsome and sensuous architect, George Kouras?
The Single Woman—Fashion world superstar, Jade Mullen survives deception and divorce. She vows never to be betrayed again but what will she do when her devoted lover, architect George Kouras, asks her the one question she doesn’t want to answer?
The Husband—Kirk Arnold struggles to forget the dark secrets of his tormented past. He achieves one dazzling success after another but will he succumb to the tragedy that destroyed his family and will Carlys pay the price?
The Lover—George Kouras rises from humble beginnings to the top of his profession. He and Jade fall madly in love and think they have discovered a new way to live happily ever after, but what will she do when she finds out about George and Carlys?
Set in the glittering world of fashion and in high-powered executive suites, in run-down houses, ethnic neighborhoods and sedate suburbs, Husbands and Lovers is about men and women losing—and finding themselves—in the gritty 1970s and glitzy 1980s. “Steamy and fast-paced, you will be spellbound.”–Cosmopolitan
Available from All the Amazons Nook Kobo Google Play
AND Don’t Miss this FREEBIE BEACH READ!!
(This is the one that got me a poison pen letter from the Kremlin.)
free at Amazon from July 3-July 7
From cozies to contemporaries, with a crime caper or two thrown in for good measure, A Sampling of Sleuths features short stories from 10 proven mystery authors, each one with strong backlists. It’s a great, risk-free way to quickly explore authors you may not have heard of yet — and find the ones that you deem bingeworthy. After that, the rest is up to you…
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featured image by Gerd Altmann for Pixabay
I, too, have had many a rejection. Over lo these many years I’ve trained myself to respond with something like, “Oh, this one’s come home again. Time to send it back out into the world.” And I do. Admittedly, the training only goes so far. For instance, when the manuscript has been enthusiastically requested, or I’ve met the editor & we really hit it off, or…
CS–I love your attitude! “This one’s come home again. Time to send it back out into the world.”
No one wants to work with someone who is a pain in the ass.
Funny story about the cockroach. First impressions really do matter.
Alex–Some writers do, alas, act entitled and bratty, especially when they’re starting out. After reality sets in, they usually get a little bit more reasonable in their expectations. But we all know a few who don’t. 🙂
Thanks for the insight into why manuscripts get rejected. Next time I won’t include those aboriginal bisexual zombies in Manitoba in my manuscript.
The story about the cockroach is really funny.
I just grabbed a copy of “Husbands and Lovers” and I’ll be back on Amazon to get the “Sampling of Sleuths” later this week.
Kay–Thanks so much for buying Ruth’s book. I know you’ll enjoy it! Sleuths will be free starting Wednesday.
This blogversary is lucky 13 for us followers of Anne’s and Ruth’s wit and wisdom!
Ruth, when the cockroach jumped out, didn’t you recognize Franz Kafka?
I survived hundreds of rejections. Many times I lost my “one and only chance” at publication. At that moment, the disappointments felt crushing but they weren’t fatal.
Fall down ninety-nine times, get up 100.
Toasting you both on this blogversary!
Debbie–Of course it was Kafka! The tortured writer along with his manuscript. 🙂
Many thanks to Ruth for 13 years of great blogposts! Your wisdom on what really causes rejection has helped a whole lot of aspiring writers. Even established writers. We all get rejections. They come with the territory.
Congrats on your blogversary, Ruth! You’ve hit on many reasons manuscripts get rejected. You’re right that we shouldn’t take any of it personally. Funny how you got a rejection when your book was already on the NY Times bestseller list.
Natalie–We’re so much looking forward to your guest post next week!
Thanks, Ruth. So spot on. I once had a manuscript rejected via email on Christmas Eve, we’re very Dickensian over here in Australia. Book later went on to be listed in Kirkus’s 100 Best Indie Books of 2022.
Danielle–We love success stories like that! Writing well is the best revenge. 🙂
I wish I would have kept all of my rejection letters. I have received hundreds.
I have kept some important ones, however.
In 1993 after my self-published “The Joy of Not Working” had sold over 10,000 copies in Canada, I sent the book to several publishers in the US including Ten Speen Press. I got a standard rejection letter from Ten Speed Press with just my name handwritten into the letter. I still have this rejection letter that I treasure and show others.
After “The Joy of Not Working” had sold 50,000 copies in Canada, I sent it to several US publishers again. Phil Wood, owner of Ten Speed Press, called me and offered me a contract with no advance but with royalties of 30 percent of net (equal to about 15 percent of suggested retail price) that even major publishers will not give for a paperback. It has sold 125,124 copies with Ten Speed Press and earned over $300,000 in royalties. It is still earning me money.
In 2004 when I had a fairly good track record, I sent my “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free” to over 35 publishers. It was rejected by all of them including Ten Speed Press. So I self-published. It has now sold over 460,000 copies and has been published in 11 languages. It continues to sell over 10,000 copies a year.
I have many more stories about being rejected not only by publishers but by women too.
In short, rejection can be good for you if you know how to handle it.
I look at rejection as a form of an attempt to intimidate me.
At the same time, I keep these words of wisdom in mind to motivate me to greater heights:
“My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
— Jane Austin
“A tiger doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep.”
— Unknown wise person
Ernie–Thanks for your encouraging story and also those great quotes!
I left a comment and received this reply: “Nonce verification failed.” Hmmmmmm
Patricia–Those “nonce” notices are new. They usually show up when somebody uses a brand new email address they don’t recognize. But obviously that’s not the case here, because they let you through with a different comment. I think the elves have gone “nonce”-happy and they’re just throwing that around for fun. I wish I had some way to control what WordPress does, but they don’t care what I think. Sigh.