Don't cry when you get these rejections slips, throw them away, or file them if you like, then write.

Rejection slips
by Jan Richards

Writers are familiar with rejection slips. Those form letters editors/publishers sometimes find time to send back in our self-addressed envelopes.

I had my share of those nasty little devils and I know they will never leave me alone. Once in a while they take a vacation and an editor/publisher asks to see my ms.

Beginners have to expect rejection slips. Cry a little, then get over it. You can either throw those rejection slips away or file them, whichever pleases you. But if you are going to become a writer you will need them when you file your income tax, if you do get published.

Once you make over $400.00 you have to file a form with the government. Saving your rejection slips will prove to the government you are serious about writing and it is not just a hobby, if you decide to become self-employed. If you do go this route, you are able to take off expenses for books, stamps, labels, envelopes, stationary, etc. But you need the rejection slips to prove you are sending out those queries, if you are audited.

But for goodness sakes, don’t stop writing because you receive rejection slips. Even the best writers get them. If you think the authors on the top seller list made it on the first try, you are mistaken. They probably have stacks of rejection slips, enough to wallpaper a room. Look how famous the Chicken Soup books are today. Do you think the first query got publication? Well you are wrong. I understand there were 300 rejections before the authors found a publisher. And there are many other stories about rejection slips, even some of the movies. What one publisher likes, another rejects. That is why you have to keep plugging your wares. Then and only then will you go to the mail box one day and find something you did not expect, a check.

When I received my first rejection slip, I stopped writing but a good friend of mine, long since gone, told me to get back to my writing. If I did not listen to him today, I would not be a professional writer. I was bitter because of the rejection slips and I did not want to write anymore. What was the use? Then my local editor looked at one of my clips and saw promise. All I had to do to edit it was put in a few quotes.
I did and saw my byline in print. An exciting moment, when it happens to you, I won’t have to tell you how I felt.

So take some advice from someone who has been there. Don’t let it get you down, instead send 10, 20, even 30 query letters, then write more. Once they are in the mail start another story, article, poem, or whatever you want to write. If you want to get published you should never give up. I didn’t and look at me now.