Preparing to Submit: Part Two

If you've ever sent a query letter to an agent or editor, you know how exciting and stressful the act is. If you haven't, I want to help you mentally prepare for the submission process.

On Monday, we talked about the basic preparations writers take when preparing to submit their work. If you've finished your book, polished it until it shines, researched agents and editors, studied their submission guidelines, and written your synopsis and query, you're ready to send that baby out.

You are...aren't you?

When I started seriously pursuing publication, I'd read many articles about how competitive the publishing business was, but it didn't really register. After all, no editor or agent had read my work. New authors' books hit store shelves all the time. Maybe my first one wouldn't sell, but surely the editor would see my potential?

Oh, those were the days. I'm still chuckling at that one.

Yeah, it didn't work out like that. I earned my college degree in science--not arts. Did I ever stop to think about that? Of course not! So I polished my book as much as my meager skills allowed, wrote a query, sent it off, and the publisher requested a partial. This was it!

Although the publisher's website clearly stated it would be six to twelve weeks before I would hear from them, I stalked the mailbox every day. A giddy expectation arose every time the postal truck chugged by.

Twelve weeks later... I opened the mailbox and it came--a form rejection. Huh? No problem. They'll love the next book.

Three books later... An entire twelve months passed between my submission of book number three and the day I received the lovely rejection on it. And the letter was lovely; I still get happy chills thinking about it. But in the meantime, a spirit of humility had spread through me. I realized my writing wasn't at a publishable level--far from it.

Why am I telling you all this? Certainly not to discourage you. I learned priceless lessons by submitting my work. Each rejection told me something, and my more recent rejections, while painful, were especially enlightening. If it's a form rejection, it might just mean it's not the right book for them, or it could mean your craft needs developing. I realized pretty quickly that my craft needed work!

Some of you are going to submit your work, and you are going to have a very short journey to publication. Some of you are going to submit and will have many rejections before an editor will take a chance on you.

Here's part two of preparing to submit:

Are you psychologically prepared to get rejected? If you get a rejection, will it destroy your confidence? Cause you to quit writing?

Rejection hurts.
But... Don't think you only have one shot at impressing an agent or an editor. That's not the case. They want talented writers, whether you submitted a less than stellar manuscript three years ago or not. In some ways, you're building a relationship with agents and editors while you're unpublished. If you continue to query each new project, they will recognize your name, so be professional. If you get rejected, don't bad-mouth the agent or editor in any form of media. Accept their decision and move on.

For all you writers who are seasoned at submitting, do you think it's important to consider the possibility of getting rejected before you submit? How do you handle rejections?

Join me on Friday when we'll discuss the nitty-gritty details of preparing to submit.

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