Rejection is part of the life of EVERY writer and it often feels as though they are coming up against nothing but locked doors. In this post I look at rejection and show why it is essential to rationalise and react correctly to the rejections that will certainly appear.
The very nature of seeking to get a book published means that rejection is part of the business. Writers sit at one end of the process thinking up ideas, whilst publishers sit at the other looking for products they can sell. Writers often have little opportunity to learn exactly what it is that a publisher is looking for. So, what appears to be a great idea to a writer, may not be the product a publisher requires. I still find that even though I have an agent and a publishing track track record, ideas and book pitches I produce continue to get rejected. That is just the way of the business.
In 2009, Literary Agent Janet Reid decided to make public the reason why she had rejected or accepted 124 manuscripts. The results make very interesting reading
- Just plain not good enough: 21 (a novel needs to be in the 99th percentile-these were closer to 90%–not bad, but not good enough)
- Good premise, but the rest of the novel didn’t hold up: 11
- Not compelling or vivid, or focused; no plot/tension: 10
- Slow start or the pace was too slow: 9
- I didn’t believe the narrative voice: 5
- Structural problems with the novel: 8
- Interesting premise, but not a fresh or new take on familiar plots/tropes: 7
- Had caricatures rather than characters: 2
- Boring: 3
- Grossed me out: 2
- Major plot problems: 2
- Needed more polish and editorial input than I wanted to do: 2
- Good books but I couldn’t figure out where to sell them: 7
- Got offer elsewhere; I withdrew from scrum: 2
- Great writing, just not right for me: 2
- Not right for me, refer to other agents: 9
- Not quite there/send me the next one: 1
- Sent back for revisions with editorial suggestions and I expect to see them again in 2010: 9
- Getting second read at FPLM: 1
- Got offer from me: 2
If you look closely at this list two things jump out. The first is that being ‘not good enough’ presents only a relatively small percentage of the nos. The second thing of interest is that most of the rejected manuscripts had problems that could have been fixed.
What is important is the way you think about, and react to, the certainty of rejection.
Rejection is not always a function of quality. As we cans see from above, books get rejected for many reasons and not being good enough is just one. Therefore, you mustn’t take rejection personally, you must not assume that when an agent/publisher has said no, it is because your work is sub-standard. NO is not a reflection on your work…unless it is!
It is essential that you spend as much time and effort as possible, in making your work the best it can be. Only this way can you go forward with the confidence in your manuscript.
If you read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers (and you should) it demonstrates that in almost every case the success of a project is not dependant on the quality of the work. In other words, though a book being good enough is essential for it to be published, it is not the determining factor. Other factors, beyond quality are almost always the deciding factors. In fact, Gladwell goes on to suggests that being good enough is enough. Being better than required is often just a waste. In other words, Gladwell’s research suggest that being better than ‘good enough’ does not increase your chances of success. So, as long as your book is ‘good enough’ then other factors will determine if the book is offered a deal.
It would be impossible to list all the possible factors, but here are a few common, key reasons a manuscript is rejected:
- Your book is not correct for the publisher or agent. It is very common for writers to pitch their work to the wrong people. Take a look at this company…They publish history books. In all their years, they have never published a fiction title. This means that Osprey could be pitched a potentially award winning fiction book and they will still say no! This is an extreme example, but the same remains true when pitching a romance to a publisher specialising in Science Fiction.
- The book does not fit the future plans of the agent/publisher. This is a tough call for writers but they may have work rejected by a publisher, simply because the thrust of the publisher’s future output has changed. Perhaps the publisher has published three vampire novels in succession. The writer sees this and pitches their vampire novel. However, the week before the pitch the company make an internal decision to not publish any more vampire novels, since they feel a new vampire novel would impact the sales of their current list. The writer will get a rejection, despite it looking from the outside that they were a perfect fit.
- The marketing and distribution are not right. Publishers will be painfully aware that they need to sell the book to book buyers (and even readers). If the publisher fails to ‘get’ the writer’s work, or can’t come up with a suitable marketing and distribution approach, they will say no. The result is a rejection…
- Finally, the agent/publisher may not have the time or budget to take on new titles. This happens! Publishers spend their budget but continue to accept submissions, writers get rejections but never really stood a chance in the first place.
This means that getting published is all about being in the right place at the right time. Luck plays a big part. The result is that writers needs to do two things. The first is to make sure their book is good enough, the second is to be persistent. To not become down hearted but to keep submitting. In fact the best (and most healthy) way to view each rejection, is as just one step closer to finding the agent/publisher that will say yes!
