Missing The Mark With Rejections

I had ESPN on yesterday and the local reporters were playing some clips from the recent NFL Draft. They were focusing in on one conversation between a dad and his son. Apparently, the son was going into the draft knowing good and well he was going to get picked up in the first round. 

He wasn't, and he was angry about it.

He was going on and on about how the coaches really were not respecting his talents. Didn't they know better? Now, I do also have to add that he was picked up early in the second round of the draft. 

But, here is the real point of this. The dad was saying he should use that chip on his shoulder to prove to the world that they made a mistake. Channel that anger. I understand what the dad was saying, sort of, but even the dad was missing the mark.

Think about it. This guy has always wanted to be in the NFL. He wanted to get picked up by a team. And you know what? He did. All of his hard work, all of that practice throughout high school and college worked out for him. 

There are, of course, other things that this player is clearly forgetting. The draft is about the teams picking the players THEY need at a particular time. They have to pick who is available when their time to choose comes up. If this angry player is a position that they do not need right now, they are not going to pick him. If there is someone who shows up at their time of choosing, but if they pass on the player, he will end up with another team and they lose out, they will pick that player right on the spot. They don't want to miss that opportunity. They may also know that this player will be there later on and they can still get the guy. Essentially, they have priorities.

So, what does this have to do with publishing? If you get rejected from a publisher, it does not mean it is a personal slam against you. They just didn't need your type of book "at that time." Maybe you are just as good as one of those NY Times Best Selling Authors, but, if they already have that type of author, adding another is not getting them what they need. 

Let's take this a step further. You want to be published. You send out your manuscript to all of these publishers and one of the people you sent it to wants to sign you. Because you are a new author, you get the boilerplate contract. You just got what you wanted. Should you really be complaining? No!

What if your agent finds you a publisher that wants your book. In fact, they want your book and like it so much they want to offer you a multi-book contract. Should you be complaining and saying, "but I want to be with another publisher!"? Again, this is what you worked for. The agent got you want you wanted. 

Just think a bit beyond that single moment in time. Think about all of the variables. I would highly recommend, not being like this NFL player and his dad.