Rejection Celebration T Shirt

[Rachel Caldecott]

Inspired by recent discussions on standard rejection letters I've come up with this...
In case you couldn't read the t-shirt.
We will all recognise these standard phrases. We belong to a club of doggedly determined writers who will not give up. Do you think there is a market for them?

 

[Malaika]

I need one of these.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

I need one of these.

I'm thinking of doing them as cotton bags too as well as the ladies and gents t-shirts. The sad realisation that I'd make more money making these than actually writing books hit me today.

 

[Rich.]

Please bear in mind that mine is only one opinion.

I may get this one as a tattoo. Possibly on a buttock.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

I may get this one as a tattoo. Possibly on a buttock.

I won't offer to make you one of those

 

[Carol Rose]

I'm thinking of doing them as cotton bags too as well as the ladies and gents t-shirts. The sad realisation that I'd make more money making these than actually writing books hit me today.

Why is that sad? It’s an awesome, clever idea, and you have a huge market for it. Go for it!

 

[Barbara]

I'm thinking of doing them as cotton bags too as well as the ladies and gents t-shirts. The sad realisation that I'd make more money making these than actually writing books hit me today.

How about putting it onto a writer's notepad?

 

[Robert M Derry]

Thanks for posting this great article about your T Shirt idea but I'm afraid my wardrobe has too many T Shirts at the moment and as much as I'd like to support your T Shirt, I won't be wearing any new T Shirts at this time.

Thanks so much for posting and I wish you the best of luck with your clothing line.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

Thanks for posting this great article about your T Shirt idea but I'm afraid my wardrobe has too many T Shirts at the moment and as much as I'd like to support your T Shirt, I won't be wearing any new T Shirts at this time.

Thanks so much for posting and I wish you the best of luck with your clothing line.

Perhaps pants... one can never have enough

 

[Lex Black]

I like this idea. I can wear one in public, and if ever I pass someone who points and says, "Hey, that's the generic phrase I use to crush hopes and dreams!" I'll punch them in the face.

…how soon will these be available?

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

A week and will cost £20 plus p&p (l'll have to check that out). But you'll be the first man in history to wear such a potentially provocative t shirt within the literary world. Let me know if you are still interested.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

This design would sell well, and you should think of others to add to your range (think big!). If your T-shirts prove popular, look at getting them made in the Far East. I considered starting a T-shirt business in 1999, using literary quotes as designs, and researching costs for my business plan, to use for applying for a bank loan, was shocked to find that factories in China, Taiwan and Singapore would do the work for one-fifth the cost of suppliers in the UK.

I hesitate to suggest it, but your list of rejection phrases would be ideal for printing on toilet roll! Not that you'd want the ink coming off and marking your skin with mealy-mouthed words.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

This design would sell well, and you should think of others to add to your range (think big!). If your T-shirts prove popular, look at getting them made in the Far East. I considered starting a T-shirt business in 1999, using literary quotes as designs, and researching costs for my business plan, to use for applying for a bank loan, was shocked to find that factories in China, Taiwan and Singapore would do the work for one-fifth the cost of suppliers in the UK.

I hesitate to suggest it, but your list of rejection phrases would be ideal for printing on toilet roll! Not that you'd want the ink coming off and marking your skin with mealy-mouthed words.

Love the toilet roll idea. I had Mrs Thatcher on some once. I was thinking of a more positive one too. I'll keep you posted. The trouble with China, of course, is that you need to order in bulk.. two problems with that is that a) I don't have the money to invest and b) I have nowhere to store them when 5000 t-shirts arrive on my doorstep. But I want to do something, so it'll take some planning and being creative in all sorts of different ways.

 

[E G Logan]

I think knickers and pants is a great idea. Very appropriate, very subtle.
Take up less storage space than T-shirts, too.

Also loo paper -- I have a couple of choice rejections I'm saving that would be perfect for that. Happy to pass them on. Besides the evergreen "I liked it, but I didn't like it enough". I was thinking of embroidering that one on a cushion...

 

[AliG]

Clever idea. Lots of writers around who can empathise. Or maybe it should just say:

, but...

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Love the toilet roll idea. I had Mrs Thatcher on some once. I was thinking of a more positive one too. I'll keep you posted. The trouble with China, of course, is that you need to order in bulk.. two problems with that is that a) I don't have the money to invest and b) I have nowhere to store them when 5000 t-shirts arrive on my doorstep. But I want to do something, so it'll take some planning and being creative in all sorts of different ways.

You could do a crowdfunded thing (kickstarter, or whatever), so you get the money to do a big order (and you'll have most of them sold before you even order them that way).

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

You could do a crowdfunded thing (kickstarter, or whatever), so you get the money to do a big order (and you'll have most of them sold before you even order them that way).

Brilliant idea. Thank you. Now I know what I'll be doing this week. I needed a break from manuscript/money/husband/health/housework/children issues.

 

[E G Logan]

Brilliant idea. Thank you. Now I know what I'll be doing this week. I needed a break from manuscript/money/husband/health/housework/children issues.

Of course you did. And this could be much more worrying. I'll start a file of my nastiest quotes for you right now.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

Of course you did. And this could be much more worrying. I'll start a file of my nastiest quotes for you right now.

Grazie!

 

[Lex Black]

I went back and reread the generic rejection I got this week that devastated me so badly, the one from the agent I think is so wonderful a person and whom I still follow on Twitter. I was too distracted the first time to realize there is a hideous grammatical error/typo in the two sentence message. I'm wondering if I should share that.

 

[Emily]

Rachel, you could always buy those iron-on transfers for t-shirts, then as you get an order, you could make the t-shirt. Might be a cost-efficient way to start your enterprise?

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

I went back and reread the generic rejection I got this week that devastated me so badly, the one from the agent I think is so wonderful a person and whom I still follow on Twitter. I was too distracted the first time to realize there is a hideous grammatical error/typo in the two sentence message. I'm wondering if I should share that.

I quite often get grammatical errors/typos in my rejection letters. I feel like marking the mistakes in red ink and sending them back with points out of 10. Another thing I've been daydreaming about is sending the complete lyrics of the Beatles Paperback Writer as my cover letter and seeing if anyone notices. (Of course, there are copyright issues, but it is an amusing thought)