I recently heard of the idea of 100 Rejections on a podcast. This is the idea that promotes "getting you out of your comfort zone and get your creative work out into the world." (Han). The idea is to push you into not just waiting until something is perfect to get the idea out there, but to be aggressive with your creativity.
On the surface, this sounds like a great idea. In fact, as I listened to the idea, I was thinking it sounds pretty good. There is this thought that the "law of averages" will eventually tip in your favor.
But the reality of the situation is that just throwing things out there and keeping your fingers crossed is not the best approach.
In publishing, we always hear of these statistics of how many times a certain author was rejected before being published. Authors like to use this as a motivating force to just keep trying and eventually things will click - very much like the 100 rejection theory. But when we look at these rejections, we see another side of the story that authors are missing.
As I started writing this post, I did a little searching and sure enough, there were a few nuggets out there that we need to consider.
1) Many of these rejections were for projects OTHER than the one that finally got published. In other words, check your facts.
2) Some of the people claiming rejections were for "non-responses." So if you sent something to an agent that is no longer there, that is a non-response, and not a rejection.
But let's look at the bigger picture of why that 100 Rejection things is not something you should be proud of. Let's examine why.
First of all, if you are sending out projects that are really not ready to be published due to your lack of experience or the lack of prep-work on the story, then you should never have been submitting the project. This is not showing your persistence or your motivation to be published, in pretty harsh words, this shows your lack of education about the business or writing. In many ways, this is similar to getting rejection letters from a hospital to be a chief surgeon when you are still in high school and have not gone to medical school.
Secondly, if you are getting rejection letters because you sent projects to agents or editors who do not acquire your subject, this is not something to be proud of. This shows your lack of doing quality research. Had J.K. Rowling sent me Harry Potter, I would have sent her a rejection. Not that the series is bad, but I do not acquire the genre.
Finally, if you are sending a project to someone but your voice, style or plot is not something we represent, you will get a rejection, but again, this comes down to your lack of research. I have talked about this in the past. Many publishers acquire Contemporary Romance, but each one looks for something completely different. If you did not take the time to do your research, you deserve that rejection, but you should not be proud of it.
Taking risks is one thing and with that part of the 100 Rejection theory, I am fully backing. Taking the approach of just "throwing darts" and hoping something is going to stick is not a way to be successful in publishing, for for that matter, in any business out there.
I read with interest this post. I agree having 100 rejections is not something one is proud of. In fact, once I am ever at the level to write something that will sell, I do not want my name out there so I will have to legally change my name or come up with a great pen name. I do not want someone to pick up book and say, "Oh yeah, she's the one with 156 rejections" and then put it back down.
ReplyDeleteBack in the late 70's the rejections didn't seem so much like a form rejection. The ones in the 80's were a little detailed. The ones in the 2003-2010 period were usually two or three pages and had points of what was not working or believable and to keep writing.
As the self-publishing wave hit, the reductions at publishing houses and the closing of a few lines and the sale of publishers, the rejections started taking longer to receive (many over a year), the rejections were more form, brief or just a sentence or two.
I think now that the editors are so busy and over-worked, there is not much time to do the rejection letters of old. I don't think 100 rejections today has near the meaning of 100 from years ago, since the depth, help and tips contained in the R's have declined in number. I agree people should send their best work out.
Now, I write some ms's for my own enjoyment that I would never submit, and after a name change, I may get back into the fray.
Thank you Scott for your always insightful articles. I am learning much!