What Is Worse Than A Rejection Letter?

What is worse than receiving a reject letter? Not getting a response at all. Was your
submission received? Was it read or is it buried with other entries in some junior editor’s
inbox, and never to see daylight again?
A good rejection will tell you why the publisher didn’t accept your story and may give
some insight into how to improve it so you can submit it elsewhere.
If you’ve been rejected, you are not alone. Many famous authors received rejection
letters before their book got to the right publisher.

Here are some examples:
A Time to Kill – John Grisham – 12 publishers and 16 agents rejected the book
Carrie – Stephen King – 30 rejections
Chicken Soup for the Soul – John Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen – 144 rejections
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell – 38 rejections
Harry Potter/The Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K Rowlings – 12 rejections
Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach – 18 rejections
Lord of the Flies – William Golding – 20 rejections
The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank – 15 rejections
The Help – Kathryn Stockett – 60 rejections
The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter – 6 rejections

If you believe in your story, don’t give up. Stick with it and keep improving your craft.
Lilac City Rochester Writers welcome all levels of experience and our aim is to make
you a better writer.

BarbaraHelene Smith, Author
Uprooting the Family Tree
The Connie Murphy Mysteries
Assume Nothing