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 8th
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?
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.”
