I've just received ANOTHER rejection letter. Am I really that bad at writing?

Question

This is getting ridiculous!! I either get a rejection letter or I don't get a reply at all!! I need a serious confidence boost!

So what do you think of my writing? Please be honest.

http://www.booksie.com/Amity_Willows

Thank you.

Answer 1

I read some of the stuff on there and I think it was quite good, personally.

I had a teacher in college and he is currently a published author of five books. He said he received hundreds of rejections before his first book was published.

So don't give up. If you really want to be a writer just keep writing something (anything!) every single day. That's all it takes. Keep sending out letters asking for someone to publish you. Every rejection letter you get send out two more. Just keep trying and it one happen one day!

Answer 2

In 1990 I started submitting to magazines and put the books on hold. My rejection slip count that year was 72. My sales count that year was 7.

That was actually a pretty good first year. :)

Do not look on rejection slips as being personal. They aren't. They simply say your writing doesn't suit their needs at this time. They could have all they need at this point, the focus could be different than what they want to give their readers, etc.

What a rejection slip DOES give you is affirmation that you are more than a hobby writer. That rejection slip tells you and the world that you are serious. Post them above your computer until you can post a copy of the first check there (or first book cover).

Answer 3

Rejection letters are quite common, unfortunately. Stephen King was rejected something like over 50 times before he finally got published.

The hardest part is actually breaking into the world of the Published. Once there, it should become easier.

In the meantime, try sending short stories to magazines, etc. Getting published in magazines is a bit easier, and it looks good on your "resume," sometimes making it more likely to get picked up by a publishing company.

And if you don't have an agent, seriously consider getting one. Yes, you have to pay them a percentage, but your chances of getting published are better if you have an agent. And since an agent is getting a percentage of what YOU earn, they will try to sell your book for as much money as possible to a publishing agency.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I'm a writer myself (though I'll add the adjective 'struggling' to my case). I've read some of your work and first, I would have had a better understanding of the character's situation if his or her ideas have been more fluid. While reading,it felt like being flung from idea to idea, and would have been much better, say, if there were less sentences, but more content per sentence.

I don't know if this was any help, but I can tell you I come across the same problem of fluidity in my own writing. When I write a sentence my second thought is, "Alright, sounds goo...but where to?" and then I have to find a way to connect the entire paragraph to make it not only enjoyable, but thought-provoking as well. Rod Serling said the most difficult thing he had ever done was writing, but also the most rewarding.

I hope this was at least of some help. But practice does make perfect.

Answer 5

Rejections are a fact of writing life. Even published authors have new stories rejected. An important thing to look at is the TYPE of rejections you're getting. Are they mostly "Dear Author" form letters or do any of them comment specifically on your story or ask you to resubmit new work in the future?

The non replies are definitely frustrating but agents usually state the "no reply if not interested in reading further" policy in their guidelines.

Answer 6

I must tell you one reason you are getting rejections is you are posting your work online. NO publisher wants material that has been previously published online. It is virtually impossible for them to ensure it has not been plagiarized and sold to another publisher. They would have to go through all kinds of expensive legal mambo jumbo and they just will not bother to spend the time and money on a new author. No doubt, publishers and agents are googling you and finding the work, and that is a huge red flag to them to stay away. If you are truly reading submission guidelines, you will see that more and more there is a statement about NO material previously posted online. Try sending something that hasn't been posted. I say this again and again to all. DO NOT POST ONLINE - YOU ARE GETTING PLAGIARIZED. I have nothing posted online now and never will. It only gets stolen. Don't lose precious work by posting it in stupid story sites. People just steal it.

Answer 7

You're not alone. On average, 99% of all submissions to either agents or publishers get REJECTED.

Most of the standard complaints from the industry are as follows:

Bad grammar

Lack of understanding your said genre (writing what you don't know about)

Not following submission guidelines

Not writing what they represent

Poor spelling

Poor writing

The industry is simply weeding out what they see as piss-poor talent--or those whom they think won't make them any money.

In this day and age, the craft comes SECOND to the promise of MONEY. If you can't write what will make them money, then what good are you to them?

It's simple business economics. The mom and pop publishers of "nuturing" the writer is long gone. Now, it's a dog-eat-dog world.

And if you want to survive and get traditionally published, you're going to have to follow their lead and do what THEY want from you.

Not what YOU want from them. Or what YOU want from your writing.

But don't let a rejection get you down. I got 100 in the last 7 years of submitting myself. Does that mean I suck at writing?

No.

I'm just not writing what the industry wants.

Plain and simple.

They go on with their lives, I go back to writing my books.

So should you.

Answer 8

Personally, your work is not that bad! Of course everything can be fixed, but you are off to a great start! I know at 13 I sucked a WHOLE lot haha.

But, rejection letters are common. Many well-known authors go through a lot before they get recognized so, don't fret! Keep trying and you'll succeed. =) Never give up. Keep up the good work!

Answer 9

Look, I won't be doing you a favour by telling you that you write well, so I'm just going to be honest and say that I'm not particularly impressed with your writing. I picked a story at random - I chose "Alexander Applebaum" and I found a few problems:

The first problem I noticed that you used "I" everywhere. Another word that appeared a lot was "my." That problem is immediately solved by switching to third person - which immediately allows "I" to be replaced with not one, but two words: "He" and "Alex." In addition it is not necessary to say "my gown" or "my table." It should suffice to say "a gown" and "a table," and ownership is understood.

The second problem, in my opinion, was that it was that introduction was not very strong. A person waking up, getting dressed, and going down for breakfast isn't a very interesting sequence of events. Perhaps you can start by describing the events in the nightmare and then reveal that it is a dream a paragraph or two later.

There is also a lot of unnecessary phrasing in your story. In Alexander's confession to Berta, for example, it isn't necessary to say "you know you are much more then a cook to me." You can say "You are like a mother to me," and leave it at that. Also, it isn't necessary to say "pocket watch." I could be wrong about my history, but as far as I know, no one wore wristwatches during the Civil War. Simply "watch" should suffice. Take things like that into consideration.

You are only thirteen, however, and you're doing quite well for your age. Your style and diction will improve and your vocabulary will grow as you go through high school and college. Keep it up.

Answer 10

I must tell you one reason you are getting rejections is you are posting your work online. NO publisher wants material that has been previously published online. It is virtually impossible for them to ensure it has not been plagiarized and sold to another publisher. They would have to go through all kinds of expensive legal mumbo jumbo and they just will not bother to spend the time and money on a new author. No doubt, publishers and agents are googling you and finding the work, and that is a huge red flag to them to stay away. If you are truly reading submission guidelines, you will see that more and more there is a statement about NO material previously posted online. Try sending something that hasn't been posted. I say this again and again to all. DO NOT POST ONLINE - YOU ARE GETTING PLAGIARIZED. I have nothing posted online now and never will. It only gets stolen. Don't lose precious work by posting it in stupid story sites. People just steal it.

Also, a few rejections or even a lot of rejections is not unusual. Gone With the Wind got 50. Stephen King got so annoyed over Carrie he threw it out and his wife rescued it from the trash. I have heard James Patterson got something like 70. Getting the old "no reply" is worse. That means you made it to the slush room - never to be seen or heard from again.

Are you SURE you are following submission guidelines to the letter? If not, you are seriously hurting your chances. I would seriously start by looking at my query letter and synopsis. If you aren't getting past them, there is a problem with them to begin with and they need to be revised.

The author Nicholas Sparks has very kindly put a tutorial on his website that includes a great segment on how to write a great query letter. Look into it.

YOu might also check my profile. I star all great Q and A about writing and publishing. Some very successful authors have come here and posted information. Look through the starred Q and A for some ideas to help you. Print them out.
----
They're, Their, There - Three Different Words.

Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.

Pax - C