The internet has been great for writers who just want to be read. . .put your stuff on a blog, publish it to a website like Scribd. or even your own; it’s there for life. Sometimes you get paid; most of the time you don’t. But if you want to get more exposure, upgrade your writer status, publish something longer than a few hundreds words, or – dare I say – get paid for your writing, querying publishers, agents, magazine editors is still the way to go. And also to get a lot of rejections along the way.
For most writers, the rejection is inevitable. It’s almost the only sure thing in the publishing process. Until now, I’ve always made a goal for 1 or 2 acceptances. But I’ve read several articles and commentary that suggest otherwise–to make a goal for a certain number of rejections instead. A great one that I found via Erika Dreifus’ Friday Finds for Writers blog written by Pushcart Prize Nominee Kim Liao explains “Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year”. A great response article by Laura Maylene Walter explains how she “received 215 rejections in 2015”.
For me, a good rejection is one that has helpful feedback on it. That feedback helps me get one step closer to the dream of being published. While an acceptance is nice, it’s also rare. Considering having a rejection goal keeps you writing and not wanting to instead drown yourself in a bottle or throw yourself off a cliff.
I’ve heard this 100 rejection thing too… It makes them not so hard to take. The problem with querying is it takes up so much time. Each publisher or agent wants something different… And this time is taken away from actual writing… But alas, it’s part of the process.
Keep your blog posts coming, I’m enjoying reading your journey. Good luck!
You’re right, it does take a lot of time away from writing. You want the book to be sold already because you are already thinking about the next one!