Blowing a Raspberry at Rejections

[KateESal]

I just read Stuart White's weekly newsletter (from WriteMentor...if you're a writer for children, it's well worth signing up) in which he mentions that a member of his writing group sends the others a resounding fart gif with "CONFARTULATIONS!" (or similar) every time they announce they've had a rejection.

It's done in the spirit of fun and it works, because it raises a smile in everyone, including the despondent, rejected author.

Wondering if it might be an idea to indulge in similar silliness in the colony, to help keep up morale after a knock-back?

It's not for everyone, so maybe the rejected author who needs a lift could invite raspberries (or similar) on their status..?

What do you reckon?

 

[Tracey (T)]

Like it. Anything to raise a smile after the awfulness of rejection.

 

[Mythobeast]

Absolutely. I actually planned on hanging my rejections on a wall as badges of honor. The obstacle I ran into there was that so many of the publishers require that they be the only person you're submitting to for the three months it takes them to get back to you. And then COVID happened and I got sucked down into the mathematics of epidemiology, and I no longer had time to follow that path.

I think it would be amazing for a group to list their rejections, just so that writers had an idea what a reasonable submission effort looked like.

 

[KateESal]

Another option is to have an ongoing rejections thread, to which we can add our latest rejection everytime we feel like we need a boost/burst of silliness/hug from our fellow authors...

What do you reckon? Status, or thread (then we can wallow collectively in the mire of disappointment)?

 

[Nikky Lee]

I'm happy to share my querying/submission spreadsheet -- there are a lot of rejections on it.

 

[E G Logan]

many of the publishers require that they be the only person you're submitting to for the three months...

I think you may be submitting to the wrong people. You could grow quite old doing this.

 

[RK Capps]

Love this idea Turn something that stings into fun

 

[Robinne Weiss]

We had a thread for that a long time ago--ding the bell when you get a rejection, sort of like the fund-raising 'thons' on public television. It was fun.

 

[Jonny]

Think it's rather a good idea. I can contribute this for now. Seems to strike the right note.

 

[KateESal]

Okey doke, I'll get a rejection thread started and we can all blow sympathetic raspberries and honk sympathetic horns, ding sympathetic bells....whatever floats your boat...at each other when the publishing world slams its door in our faces.

 

[Mythobeast]

I think you may be submitting to the wrong people. You could grow quite old doing this.

I'm always willing to believe that I'm doing it wrong. I pulled down a list of every Sci-Fi/Fantasy publisher I could find, and most of the ones that didn't require an agent also insisted on non-simultaneous submissions.