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The Steve Laube Agency

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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Rejection

Rejection

Rejection: A Fact of the Writing Life

By Steve Laubeon August 15, 2022
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Rejection is a fact of life. Especially the writing life. As one crusty publishing veteran said:

“Welcome to the industry that will break your heart.”

Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it? But let me put a little perspective on it.

I admire writers. You put your souls on a few pages and send them to strangers and pray for acceptance. How do you do that, day in and day out for your entire career? And then, how do you maintain any sort of sanity and dignity in the process?

Some claim that the day their book hits the shelves or is posted on Amazon.com they no longer have to worry about rejection because they are now a Published Author.

Think again.

When that author goes into a local bookstore and fails to find their book, is that rejection?
Or could it be that the store is in-between order cycles and yours is sold out?
Or what happens if your book is hard to find online?
Does it mean the retail marketplace hates your writing and refuses to carry your titles?
What if you only get 3-star reviews online?
What if your book gets panned in a review in Publisher’s Weekly or The Gospel Coalition?

Does it mean the end of your dreams? Are you through before you even begin?

Let’s back up to the very beginning of the process.

When an agent says no with a rejection letter that turns out to be a standard form letter, is that bad? Hardly.

As an agent, I receive dozens of unsolicited proposals each week. The standard letter is a practical necessity. When possible, we try to add a personal comment of some sort; but it is rare. When you receive something specific from an agent or an editor in a rejection letter, treasure it like gold. There is no obligation for them to say anything at all in reply to you.

But what about a one-on-one meeting with an editor or an agent at a writers conference? Around 25 years ago, I sat with Cec Murphey (co-author of the bestselling book 90 Minutes in Heaven) in a hotel lobby and for an hour he pitched ideas at me. I rejected every single one of them.

His response? “I love this! I can bounce all sorts of ideas off of you and you are honest with me. No patronizing! How refreshing.” He was the consummate professional seeing it as a brainstorming opportunity, not a success or failure exercise.

Five years later he pitched just the right idea that turned into a two-book deal with Bethany House (The God Who Pursues and The Relentless God).

Not every rejection is laden with negative connotations. Sometimes it just isn’t right at that time. The industry tends to cycle. In the mid-2000s, few publishers wanted historical novels; they only wanted chick-lit or other contemporary stories. Within a few years, the pendulum swung the opposite direction; and we were getting calls and requests for historical fiction. The wind keeps shifting.

John B. Olson tells the story of his first writers conference where I boldly declared in an evaluation of his story, “I wouldn’t touch that with a 60-foot pole!” At the same conference, Karen Ball, also an acquisitions editor, tracked him down to talk to him about it. About ten years later the same novel was represented by our agency and sold to Karen who was working for B&H Fiction at the time. That initial rejection was the right decision because the market wasn’t ready for his novel Shade at that time. To further make this story interesting. In John’s proposal, the one Karen bought for B&H, Shade was actually proposed as book three in a trilogy. With many brainstorms and creative thinking, it became the first book in the trilogy. (And by the way, Shade was a finalist in the 2009 Christy Awards for the best novel of the year in the speculative fiction category.)

Ask any editor or agent about the “one that got away.” We have all rejected a book or an author that ended up being a wild success. I asked this of an editor-friend who remembered a meeting at the pub board where everyone looked at one another around the table and laughed. “Talking vegetables? What a silly idea.” And that group of successful publishing executives rejected VeggieTales.

Over the past few decades as an editor and agent, I have dozens of infamous rejection stories. It has even become somewhat of a punch line. All the great writers have experienced rejection at one time or another. But the professional realizes that it isn’t personal. They knuckle down and try again. That is why it is called “work.” If it was easy, anyone could do it.

 

(An earlier version of this post was published in 2014.)

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Category: RejectionTag: Get Published, Rejection

Responding to Criticism

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 18, 2020
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When someone tells me she’s not sure she wants me to read her manuscript, I know she’s not ready for publication. Such sentiment shows a lack of confidence and a fear of both rejection and criticism. Even though readers usually treat writers with respect, a critical word can puncture the heart.

Imagine the wounds delivered on Internet sites such as Amazon from readers who lack that respect. A …

Read moreResponding to Criticism
Category: Book Business, Career, Social Media, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Criticism, Rejection, Writing Craft

4 Things I Learned from Rejection

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 12, 2020
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Nobody likes to be rejected. Not middle-school dance attenders. Not job applicants. And definitely not writers. Unfortunately, however, rejection pretty much comes with the territory for writers—at least for writers who are brave enough to submit their work to agents or editors for publication. And it hurts. Every. Single. Time. Take it from me, I know. I’ve been rejected hundreds of times, and …

Read more4 Things I Learned from Rejection
Category: RejectionTag: Rejection, rejection letters

Never Burn a Bridge!

By Steve Laubeon December 2, 2019
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The sale of Thomas Nelson to HarperCollins and last week's sale of Heartsong to Harlequin brought to mind a critical piece of advice:

Never Burn a Bridge!

Ours is a small industry and both editors and authors move around with regularity. If you are in a business relationship and let your frustration boil into anger and ignite into rage...and let that go at someone in the publishing company, …

Read moreNever Burn a Bridge!
Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Business, Career, Communication, Rejection, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Agents, Editors, Get Published, Rejection, Trends, Writing Craft

Criticism Is an Unhappy Part of the Business

By Steve Laubeon April 22, 2019
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I would like to tell you about a most enjoyable day. Our agency's guidelines request that unsolicited manuscripts come via the post (I know it's old-school but it works for us), but we still receive e-mail submissions. I spent an entire morning going through that particular in-box, having an assistant send standard e-mail rejection letters, since none were anything our agency could/would …

Read moreCriticism Is an Unhappy Part of the Business
Category: Agency, Get Published, RejectionTag: Book Review, Criticism, crtics, Editors, Rejection, Writing Craft

Even the Best Get Rejected

By Steve Laubeon April 15, 2019
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I've written about rejection before and yet it is a topic that continues to fascinate.

Recently Adrienne Crezo did an article on famous authors and their worst rejection letters. I thought you might enjoy reading a couple highlights of that article and some additional stories I have collected over the years.

George Orwell's Animal Farm was rejected by Alfred Knopf saying it …

Read moreEven the Best Get Rejected
Category: Career, Get Published, Rejection, Writing CraftTag: Rejection, Writing Craft

That Conference Appointment

By Steve Laubeon April 8, 2019
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You snagged one of those valuable 15-minute appointments with an agent or an editor at a writers conference. Now what? What do you say? How do you say it? And what does that scowling person on the other side of the table want? You’ve heard the reputation of that agent as being rough and gruff. What if you blow it? What advice would you give to a beginning writer about attending a writers …

Read moreThat Conference Appointment
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Conferences, Pitch, Pitching, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Conferences, Get Published, Pitching, Proposals, Rejection

Why I’m Not Mysterious

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 13, 2018
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I don’t believe in being mysterious, especially as an agent. Since I used to write books for publication, I know what it’s like to put your career in the hands of others. As a writer, I wouldn’t want to send off my precious work and then hear no updates or any word from my agent. I realize any agent will update a client when a contract offer is made. And I realize that, technically, that’s all the …

Read moreWhy I’m Not Mysterious
Category: AgentsTag: Agents, Contracts, Rejection, The Writing Life

The Slush Pile: Enter at Your Own Risk

By Steve Laubeon August 6, 2018
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The publishing world is divided between those who have read the slush pile and those who have not. If you have, then you can understand some of the cynicism and jaded eyes you see behind the glasses of an editor or an agent.

If you have not, then it is difficult to comprehend the unbelievable variety of ideas that can cross our desks.

Read moreThe Slush Pile: Enter at Your Own Risk
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Get Published, Writing CraftTag: Agents, Book Business, Editors, Get Published, Pitching, Rejection, Writing Craft

The Ultimate Sound Bite

By Steve Laubeon July 16, 2018
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Can you boil the essence of your novel or non-fiction book idea into twenty-five words or less?

This is one of the keys to creating a marketing hook that makes your idea sellable in today's crowded market.

You have less than a minute to make that hook work.

It is also called creating the "elevator pitch" or the "Hollywood pitch." The goal is get the marketing department to exclaim, "We …

Read moreThe Ultimate Sound Bite
Category: Book Proposals, Marketing, Pitch, Platform, Writing CraftTag: book proposal, Marketing, pitch, Pitching, Proposals, Rejection
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