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| The first Wednesday of the month is time for Insecure Writers Support Group, hosted by Alex Cavanaugh and his excellent team. |
1) "passes" sounds so much better than "rejections"
2) I have started a "surviving the querying process document" for my YA SF, Star Tripped. I went back through all my critique partners' and beta readers' comments and collected all the compliments, copied and pasted them into this document. That way when I get a "pass" and I need some encouragement, a reminder to keep going, I have instant access to some positive words.
3) I have links to other authors' posted statistics to remind myself that offers do appear even after fifty or seventy rejections. After first, second and even third books have been shelved, the fourth book gets an offer. Or the first book gets dusted off and revised and then gets an offer on its second round.
4) I remind myself of the best, most concise advice about publishing I've heard: "it's all about the timing" - from our IWSG inspiration, Alex Cavanaugh.
5) Keep writing. Start another project. Free write. Journal. It reminds me of why I love being a writer: because I LOVE TO WRITE.
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Those are fantastic ideas! As I've recently re-entered the trenches myself, I definitely need to gather up a folder of positive comments. And referring to rejections as "passes" is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks fellow trencher!
DeleteAll good advice. And yes, a pass does sound better than rejected.
ReplyDeleteOh yes! Thanks for commenting
DeleteI have a binder/scrapbook of sorts with copies of my published works, and when I start feeling like I want to give up, I flip through it and see all that I've already accomplished. It gives me the strength and the hope to keep going. :)
ReplyDeleteMadeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
Yikes! I know published authors say things don't get easier, but I tend to forget that! Thanks for the reminder and for taking time to comment.
DeleteThat is one awesome list, Margo. I have enough rejections to wallpaper our ensuite. Recently I started querying agents and guess what! Now I have more rejections. Yay. LOL
ReplyDeleteHappy IWSG!
Thank you!
DeleteI actually giggled at:
ReplyDelete1) "passes" sounds so much better than "rejections"
It made me think of my husband passing gas... sorry. In that case, I reject his passing. :)
Those are some great points! Very encouraging, and a beautiful quote too.
Loni
I reject his passing!! Hilarious!!! Thanks for giving me the giggles too.
DeleteHey, that was me!
ReplyDeleteIt is in the timing and yours will come. Keeping a list of the good things your critique partners said is a great idea.
Great ideas, Margot! It's been awhile since I've been in the querying stage, but am gearing to jump back into it soon. I will definitely have to remember some of these. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the concept of a pass. Because that's what it really is. And that's a great idea about keeping the list. Published authors do that with the positive reviews. It's nice to be able to revisit them when you need the little boost.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to receive any rejections, simply because I'm not far enough along in the process to have submitted anything yet. One of these days, however...
ReplyDelete