Rejection is a Test of One's Character

 There are writers who submit their story, the same one over and over until it’s accepted. Other writers polish their draft then send it again. There are still others who learn from the rejection and write a totally different book. But each one of these authors is persistent. They don’t give up their dream. Some are rewarded for their tenacity and move from writer to bestselling author.  (See the end of this article and read about a few famous people and their rejections.)

I’ve gotten my share of rejections. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” But it’s hard when you’ve dedicated so much of your time and energy to a story. While you’re writing, your characters become part of you, your family. You know their deepest fears and shiniest achievements.

I understand that reviews are subjective. You can’t please everyone. But some reviews are downright… well, see for yourself.

Nora Roberts, the queen (if not empress) of romance had a reviewer say “I was very disappointed with this book. It is nothing but a romance novel which doesn’t interest me. I will not read Nora Roberts again!”

Georgette Heyer, another grand dame of romance had a reviewer say, “Gag, awful, tossed it across the room 30 pages before the ending because it was so glittery and lame.”

Sylvia Day is a top selling Amazon erotica author. “What REAL man can have sex in the morning for 2 hours, a quickie at lunch, one in the limo, 1 in the shower at home and another 2 hours before bed...EVERYDAY?!!” 

Debbie Macomber “I don’t like it because I ordered a hardcover edition and received a stinky paperback book!”

Julie Garwood “I downloaded the audio book and was very disappointed in the sound level throughout the recording.”

Hannah Howell writes historical medieval Scottish romance. Those categories stir a sense of what her books are about. “A girlie book.  I was very disappointed.”

Ruth A. Casie for one of my stories, “…no romance whatsoever. Ruth darling stop writing drivel and TRY TO PASS IT OFF AS romance, call it what it is DRIVEL!!! Never waste my coin on another piece of trash from this author!!!”

I don’t think any author expects every reader to like their stories. Gracious disagreement and constructive criticism are welcome, but a pointed attack is… I’ll let you fill in the word(s) you think are most appropriate. By the way, Nora Roberts book was marketed as a romance and Sylvia Day's story was an erotic fantasy. As for mine, it was published by Carina Press, a division of Harlequin. It’s a romance.

When my writing friends Emma, Lita, Nicole and I brainstormed our collection, Christmas in Havenport we decided to use the town bookstore as a central point in all our stories. I decided my story would be about an author. I knew I had to use that review, well paraphrase it, in my story.

Happily Ever After includes three stories about Beth and Jarred. Part One is I’ll Be Home for Christmas from Christmas in Haven, Part Two is The Game’s AFoot from Welcome to Havenport, and Part Three is the exclusive, never before published conclusion of Beth and Jarred’s story. Emma said it’s one of the best wedding scenes she's ever read.

Happily Ever After released June 8^th

From a fall from literary stardom to becoming the heroine in her own romance story, Beth Holmes has turned around her career and her love life. She owes it all to one very special person. 

Jarred Watson has loved Beth since he read her first novel and suspected the heroine was the embodiment of the author. But the road to romance was fraught with pitfalls. He almost lost everything because of a conniving agent and a little white lie that got out of hand. At the eleventh hour, with honesty and hard work, their book sales are off the charts and a movie deal is in negotiations.

Interfering families and changed plans take their toll. Will they go their separate ways or will Holmes and Watson continue their literary collaboration and personal partnership in order to find their own happily ever after? 

Amazon/Kindle: http://a.co/8DGxCzf  

iBook: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/happily-ever-after/id1231892165?mt=11  

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/happily-ever-after-69

As promised! A Few Famous People and Their Rejections

Below are stories of authors who have written some of the best books in their genre and have been commercially successful. But each of these authors was rejected by agents and publishers and told no one would read their book. Ha!

Agatha Christie had 5 years of being continually rejected. Her sales are more than $2 billion. She is second to William Shakespeare.

J.K. Rowling’s agent received 12 publishing rejections. It was only after a publisher’s young daughter demanded to read the book that her books were published. He still told her not to quit her day job. Besides being the fastest selling series in history, her combined sales of $450 million books.

Dr. Suess received the following rejection, “Too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.” Sales are over 300 million copies.

Dan Brown was told the following about The Da Vinci Code, “It is so badly written.”  It sold 80 million copies.

Margaret Mitchell got 38 rejection letters before finding a publisher for Gone With the Wind. It sold 30 million copies.

Stephenie Meyer got 13 agency rejections for her story, Twilight. It was on the NY Times bestseller list for 91 weeks and sold 17 million copies.

Meg Cabot got three years of rejection letter for The Princess Diaries and is rewarded by selling 15 million copies.

Nora Roberts, the queen (if not empress) of romance had a reviewer say “I was very disappointed with this book. It is nothing but a romance novel which doesn’t interest me. I will not read Nora Roberts again!”

Georgette Heyer, another grand dame of romance had a reviewer say, “Gag, awful, tossed it across the room 30 pages before the ending because it was so glittery and lame.”