I was in the middle of an important call on my office phone when my cell phone sang its little melody.

SCHEDULING DEPT

I hadn’t scheduled any appointments, so I let it go.

The phone summoned me again less than a minute later.

SCHEDULING DEPT

Goodness! This must be urgent. I hung up on the other person with a promise to call back.

SCHEDULING DEPT turned out to be a salesperson calling from a home improvement company. We employed the company to perform several projects in the past, but they changed their name (and, ostensibly, their ownership), and they don’t offer any further improvements we need. We asked them to take us off their list. And asked. And asked. I found this call especially aggravating. You must know that no one wants to talk to you when you spoof your calls. All I can do is keep blocking every new number they use.

I’m not venting. Rather, I hope to prevent authors from making a similar mistake when approaching traditional publishers without success. Maybe you’ve been told:

Your book is too long (and you need all 250,000 words).

Your book is too short (and you don’t know how to make it longer).

Your topic isn’t in demand.

The market is oversaturated with books on your topic.

Your book doesn’t stand out enough.

There is no discernable market for your book.

The story/topic/writing isn’t standing out enough to get attention.

You may not believe anyone delivering these verdicts. After all, you are the only person who can write your book. Your grandma loves it. Your mother’s garden club thinks it’s fabulous. Your pastor thinks it should be published. In fact, everyone seems to think it should be published, except editors, agents, and publishers.

What not to do:

Pitch the same book over and over and over. Or even a slightly different, recognizable version, of the same book. Please don’t be SCHEDULING DEPT. That technique ensures your book will die a long, painful death.

What to do instead:

Well, you can contemplate how everyone in publishing is foolish, though keep this to yourself. You can eat ice cream. You can buy new shoes.

But there’s something better to do…

And that is…

Wait for it…

Write a new book.

Before you do, look at the rejections you’ve received. Not all will offer helpful advice, so disregard those responses. Resist the urge to write the agent and say, “How come you rejected my work?” Why? Because no comment means the project was too far from the agent’s wheelhouse to garner input.

Instead, consult those rejections that offer criticism, even reactions you don’t agree with. Take notes. See what you can learn, and when it makes sense, apply that wisdom. Make a note of which agents and editors gave you advice along the way, again, even if you didn’t agree with it at the time. You can thank them later.

Auf Wiedersehen doesn’t have to mean forever.

According to Wiktionary, auf Wiedersehen means, “until our reunion; that we may see again.” You may pull out that first book and revamp it later to great success. By that time, you may be a busy author who’s grateful for having that old manuscript to edit. And this time, it may quickly sell.

I hope it does!