I was another writer who did not get chosen for a mentor during PitchWars. I had some great feedback that can really help me in my revisions and future books. It’s a subjective process and one contest shouldn’t make me feel down in the dumps about the work I’d done so far. After all, I entered the contest when my brain told me to not bother because no one would be interested anyway. Now that I know that I’ve not been chosen, I can just pick up where I left off and keep going.
You believing any of this? Nah, didn’t think so.
I was upset. I cried on the phone to my folks in Florida about how no one wanted my work. I didn’t want to do anything. I stayed in bed, I felt sorry for myself, I contemplated why I was writing what I was writing, who it was for, what it was for, and if I should just try something totally different. Seriously, the sadness wasn’t just from not being chosen so much as that it stopped my mojo from flowing. Since Wednesday, I have been so weepy and wallowing in my self pity because I didn’t know if I should keep working on this big series book project I wanted to do, or just set it aside and do something completely different.
I sort of still don’t know.
I know quitting is not an option because, seriously, how would I spend my time if it weren’t working on a book, or writing notes for another book project? (I have too many notes and plans for books to ignore them at this point anyway.)
But, I do think it’s perfectly okay to take a step back and reflect on what you’re doing. I know all the motivational quotes in the world about never giving up and how failure isn’t an option and how rejection is all part of the game. However, it’s hard to be positive all the time, especially when you’re just having a crummy week and the rejection letter sort of solidifies your belief that, yes, things just suck right now.
So, as a help to you and myself, I’ve comprised a little list of articles regarding rejection to help us all get through the painful process.
- Rejection SUCKS: How To Move On
- What it Feels Like When Your Writing is Rejected – and How to Bounce Back
- Turn rejection on its head – accept it
- Best-Sellers Initially Rejected
- On Writing: Everybody Gets Rejected
I hope that everyone who was rejected for PitchWars still participates in PitMad on Monday, Sept 9th. Personally, I’m just going to put some queries out to prove to myself that I’m moving on, getting back on the horse, not letting it get me down, and all that junk.
Here are a couple of resources for helping you write a good Twitter pitch:
And finally, here’s a motivational speech from Sly Stallone:
Honestly, from what I've heard about these contests, the BEST one isn't always the one picked. Sometimes they'll pick one that is less amazing but they feel they can better help. If the MS is wonderful already, then it's all a matter of targeting the right agents who REALLY want MG. In my internship, I see a lot of rejections sent because the agent simply is full on clients that write that genre/style/age range. She'll look at it, sure, but it has to sweep her off her feet to even get a request right now.
ReplyDeleteKeep at it. You'll get there.
I had never thought of there being something other than "BEST" to consider for these contests. Thanks so much for the pep talk and the insight. I appreciate it. :-)
DeleteA great post, though sorry that you've had to deal with rejection. I think of it as something you need to grieve about. No way to make it easier, no way to avoid the hurt, or take away the negative feelings that rejection engenders. You just have to work through it in a way that's helpful to you. You will live to write another day, I'm sure of that--but rejection truly and utterly sucks!
ReplyDelete