A Round of Rejection...yay!

Caspian Terns dive into water to fish, just like I'm diving into publishing.

I received the nicest rejection letter yesterday.  I actually re-read it because it made me happy.

It made me happy because the editor liked my story.  He kept it longer than normal but, in the end, he decided not to publish it.

But he still liked it.

He is actually the first book publisher who told me he liked my manuscript.  And that made me happy.

It also motivated me to polish up some more manuscripts and send them off.  Somewhere, there is an editor who will not only like one of my stories, but will think that it is in his best interest to offer me a contract.

In the meantime, I always appreciate stories like these:

**  Judy Blume said, "For two years I received nothing but rejections. One magazine, Highlights for Children, sent a form letter with a list of possible reasons for rejection. "Does not win in competition with others," was always checked off on mine. I still can't look at a copy of Highlights without wincing."  She's now written over two dozen books.

**  J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected by twelve publishers.  Bloomsbury finally accepted it, but only because the CEO's eight-year old daughter wanted her daddy to publish it.

**  A San Francisco newspaper once told Rudyard Kipling, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you don't know how to use the English language." 

Why does hearing about successful author's rejections make me feel even better?  I keep hoping that one day my story will read like theirs: "Carla had many rejections before her first book sold.  She's since written dozens of award-winning books for children and adults.  She saw each rejection as a chance to improve her writing and hone her craft.  She encourages new writers to keep their spirits high and their pencils flying."  Yeah, I do actually think stuff like that.  Call me crazy!