Last week, something went terribly wrong with my blog site. And it took me several days to find the problem and correct it. As a result, Stephen’s blog was not available when it should have been. So, to make it up to Stephen, I’m leaving his blog up for a bit longer. We’ll get back on our regular schedule next Friday with an interview with Marian Merritt, who will tell us a little about her Louisiana & Colorado connection. Be sure to stop by. Thanks. And now for Stephen.
Today’s post is from Stephen L. Brayton, who lives in Iowa and 
owns and operates Brayton’s Black Belt Academy (so, don’t mess with him). He has been writing since grade school and he has written many things from comic books to horror and mystery. He fiction works now are mysteries. Here’s Stephen’s take on THE LETTER.
Unless you’re one of those authors who, by some miracle, had a manuscript accepted by the first publisher you contacted, (and, by the way, if you are one of those people, the rest of us want to smack you), you’ve received the dread rejection letter.
They come in a variety of forms. From the standard: “This does not meet our needs.” to: “Thank you for your query, but I think I’ll pass.” One author told me she received the first page of her manuscript (back when the majority of publishers wanted snail mail) with the word NO written at the top. Nothing else, just NO. I received a letter that tried to let me down in a nice way by saying I shouldn’t consider it a rejection but as an opening for somebody else to accept. Uh, no, it was a rejection.
I’ve had rejections show up two years later after the book was already published by someone else. It would have been interesting to see that be a letter of acceptance. The record for shortest duration between query and rejection was about thirty minutes. I emailed a query at 9:45 in the evening and by 10:15 I had the rejection. So much for the trite phrase also often seen: “We have carefully reviewed your material but have decided…”
I’ve kept every rejection letter. I printed the email rejections and they and the rest are bundled up with rubber bands. I have a large collection. I keep them to remind me to stay focused and determined and motivated.
I know, you hear how J.K. Rowling was rejected scores of times before she made it big. Dr. Seuss was rejected 27 times before being accepted. Others who have been rejected multiple times:
Stephen King (“We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.”)
John le Carre (“You’re welcome to le Carré – he hasn’t got any future.”)
Tony Hillerman (“Get rid of all that Indian stuff.”)
William Faulkner (“Good God, I can’t publish this!”)
Rudyard Kipling (“I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.”)
For a list of others go here: http://www.examiner.com/article/30-famous-authors-whose-works-were-rejected-repeatedly-and-sometimes-rudely-by-publishers
JIM: Anybody out there have a good story to tell on getting a rejection letter? I also had one of those that arrived two years after the book was published by another publisher. Oh well. Tell us your story – please.
Alpha, one of Stephen’s mysteries, features Mallory Petersen, a Fourth Degree Black Belt detective. It can be purchased at: http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Stephen-L-Brayton/dp/1610091159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420699752&sr=8-1&keywords=alpha%2C+brayton
We once submitted a YA coming-of-age story about a young farm boy. It was read in-house by three different people. The first said: Not enough dialogue. Second said: Too much dialogue. Third said: This is false; farms are run by computers now.
We’ve yet to see a computer that can milk a goat. We’ve discovered that some people’s prejudices cloud their judgement concerning writing. We submitted the same book to an agent and she rejected it because on the first page the boy popped a styrofoam cup at his mother’s wedding. (The agent was a “go green” type.)
Enjoyed the blog very much – keep up the good work!
Some years ago I had a manuscript rejected because my protagonist talked to his computer. “Nobody talks to a computer.” Obviously that editor didn’t use a computer. Then again, I had to agree. I don’t usually talk to my computer – but I do yell at it or scream at it. Oh well. We must remember it is a subjective business – and maybe the editor had a fight with her husband that morning and nothing is going to please her today. Thanks for visiting. It’s always nice to have the Cuffe sisters stop by.
I knew about the advice to keep all the rejection letters… and decided my house wasn’t big enough. And now some of the rejections are emails anyway. Certainly it’s annoying to get rejections. One thing that gives me hope–bad books that get published. If there’s room for those books, there’s room for me……
DR
Doesn’t it make you wonder what the agents and editors are thinking? They publish a really bad book, and pass up my really good one. Strange bunch. Thanks for stopping by, D.R..
Stephen,
Before I wrote my first novel, I wrote short stories. I could’ve wallpapered my entire apartment with all the rejection letters I received. Not fun!
Glad they’re going green – and not wasting all that paper. Of course, they could just say YES!
Some years ago I sent an e-mail query to an agent and received the following reply: “I’m sorry. I’m sort of going out of business.” Haven’t seen one to match it since.
“Sort of going out of business.” Sounds like he was a great agent – or perhaps I should say, “Yes, I see why you are going out of business.” Thanks for the comment.
Several years back a number of writers were querying an agent and getting rejection letters back from him in minutes or seconds. I tried him and got mine back in seconds. Someone accused all of us of being mean. Not mean at all, I would have jumped at a “yes”. I never heard of him accepting anyone.
Rejecting that fast means he didn’t want anything. So, why not say, “I’m not accepting queries just now.” I know they are busy. But so am I. They could do better than that — IF they cared at all about others.
Stephen – So, your record rejection took thirty minutes? I got a rejection just fourteen minutes after submitting Black Cat’s Legacy. I’m sure the publisher carefully considered my extraordinary story line, charismatic characters, scintillating dialogue, and quintessential subplots and felt that publishing the novel was beyond their capability to handle a number one best seller due to limited staff, miniscule budget and substandard ability to deal with the notoriety that would accompany such a purchase.
That’s my story, anyway, and I’m sticking to it!!
Good story – and you should stick with it.
I always enjoy your posts, Stephen. Let’s see. I remember a rejection where someone said the book was four hundred pages of boring. It wasn’t boring, and it was only 400 pages because it was double-spaced. Oh well…
I’d have to say that was rude. Glad you didn’t let that get you down.
I tell writers I mentor that they should expect enough rejection letters to wallpaper a bathroom to put it in perspective. Forget the NOs and keep writing!
Good advice, Marni. I have a very large bathroom.