Alan R Marble

So, I got back a polite response from one of the agencies I've queried letting me know it wasn't what they are looking for.  I'm not perturbed by this fact, though; I rather expected it.

I have been questioned, however, on whether I have been a bit 'negative' in expecting rejections.  Part of it I suppose is a sort of self-deprecating sense of humor, but more than that it's a sense of realism.  I understand that a rejection is not necessarily an indicator of failure, nor must it be construed as saying something negative about my work or writing style.  Agents are busy people; they receive a lot of queries from a lot of authors (hundreds a week) on top of their duties to their existing clients.  They have an idea of what sorts of things they are looking for, what sorts of things they are interested in.  It's a nature of the beast that you are going to get rejections.  I expect them not because I lack confidence in my own work, but because I understand that these things just happen.

No one gets accepted on their first try.  No one.

JK Rowling had to wade through 9 (or 12) rejections before she found someone who was interested in her new children's novels.  Who hasn't heard of "Chicken Soup for the Soul?"  Rejected 33 times.  The novel that would eventually become the popular series M*A*S*H was turned down 21 times.  Stephen King's first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times when he gave up and threw it in the trash; his wife dug it out and encouraged him to keep trying.

Like I said.  No one gets a "yes" on their first try.  So when I have said that I am preparing to get rejection letters, it's not out of a lack of confidence in my work, it's not out of a sense of negativity or giving up.  It's merely my way of acknowledging the realities of the industry, and preparing myself for the inevitable.  It's thanks to this knowledge that my first rejection letter does not strike me as a failure, does not discourage me from pressing onward.

It's just an important milestone on the path!