Rejection: A Write of Passage

Yesterday I received my FIRST MS rejection.

Some of you may remember that months ago I blogged about a new publisher I had discovered called Shooting Star Stories. Their lovely editor chatted with us here and shared a little of their vision for childrens literature (see here and here).

It was here that I submitted, I am ashamed to say, a very over written and not at all ready to be seen by the world MS. Of course, at the time I thought it was ready - or I wouldn't have sent it - now however, I would like to hide my head in the sand and say "Who me .... NO ... I didn't write that!" but of course it has my name on it and no one is likely to be fooled.

What I will say is, after reading about all the horror rejection experiences of other writers out there my first rejection experience was a "nice one."

The editor explained why she rejected my work - partly because it wasn't the sort of thing they planned to start off with (it is historical fiction) and because it was terribly overwritten (my words not hers), which I already knew so it wasn't a big shock that she thought so. She even gave some suggestions of how I could improve it.

She was very encouraging saying nice things like "you have a huge amount of talent" and "a knack for storytelling," which helped cushion the blow.

If anything it has made me want to keep writing and learning and improving.

Surprisingly the rejection hasn't depressed me in the least.

I feel ... invigorated ... as if in receiving my first rejection I've passed through some Writerly Rite of Passage and I'm now a real writer.

Some might say, "I hate to break it to you sweetie, but it actually means you FAILED!"
But I'm not listening to those nasty voices right now.