How Do You Take Rejection

I probably hit on this subject before in another post in one way or another, but I've been thinking about it lately and have new thoughts. 

I always tell all that come to me when they've been rejected send it on to the next place. 

Onward and upward. 

Easy to say when it's not happening to you, but you have to follow this. You can't just give up. 

It's rough. Even I feel those moments of extreme rejection, a feeling we all go through. 

It happens to all of us. Some of the big time authors went through a lot of it. Dean Koontz always comes to mind. He had about 75 rejections after his first short story acceptance. 

But why does it hurt so bad? 

Maybe because we feel it's personal, even just for a moment. It could be prior experiences that shape this feeling, as well. 

What I know is, most rejections aren't because of quality, or anything personal, but simply because the story didn't fit with what the pub had in mind. Maybe the writer didn't do their homework and find out what genre is wanted. Maybe the anthology calls for zombies and you sent vampires etc. 

It can be because the quality wasn't there, but you get the story back, go over it again, and send it out. Maybe you even have it looked at by someone else. 

Either way, you don't dwell upon it, you don't stop. You send it out. Keep moving forward. 

Funny story. I was waiting for a rejection because I had another place. As soon as I got the rejection, an hour later the story was out somewhere else. And luckily they sent the rejection on the day the other sub call was ending. 

There are many places to look for new calls for subs, Horror Tree and Dark Markets are two off the top of my head. Great places. 

And of course talking about it always helps. This blog for me is a release. You can do one as well. Or just answer the question and get in on the conversation. There are tons of writers out there for you, going through the same rejections. 

How do you take rejection? Do you move on quick, or mourn a bit? How fast is that story out again? 

Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @Wcmarchese

Hope to see you there.

WCM

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