[krystiana]

Hi Everyone,
I'm Krystiana.  I write mystery novels. My first one, The Shattered Swan, is on Amazon Kindle and doing well - which is exciting.  I'm a little blue right now though because I just got the mail and in it was the umpteenth rejection letter from an agent.  Anyone want to share stories of how they get over the depression stage of this process?  I'll start.  First, I make a paper airplane.  These used to be intricately dotted with teardrops making it harder to fly them, but now they're dry and soar through the air just fine.  Then I spend the afternoon in the sun with my dog letting her chase and retrieve the folded missive.  Actually, it only takes a few minutes before she tears it up.  This is a good thing because then I can get back to writing. 
How about you?

 

[Valmore Daniels]

welcome

 

[Daniel Leston]

Hi, Krystiana, and welcome to KB.  Wishing you every success with your book.

Dan --

 

[Bob Mayer]

Rejection is a normal part of every writer's life.  I estimate for every yes I got over the years I averaged 49 no's.  It sucks but have to grow a thick hide and keep moving forward.

 

[telracs]

chocolate.
and ice cream.

Spoiler

scarlet's solutions for most things.

and remember, you don't need an agent, especially if you've already self-published.

 

[TJ Perkins]

Hang in there!

 

[PJHafner]

Krystiana,

Sounds like a good course of action after the rejection, especially where you let the dog tear it up! An alternative to the agent obstacle course is to keep writing and publishing on Kindle. Nobody knows what stories will take off next.

Anyway, welcome to Kindle Boards!

 

[NapCat (retired)]

Pick another color and proudly move on !!

Good Luck

 

[ajbarnett]

Hi, welcome aboard.

I could have papered my walls with rejection slips until I finally got published in 1994. Been okay since then - with just a couple of hiccups. But, I'm self-published now, so I don't have to satisy a gatekeeper. Rejection just means one person didn't approve, thousands more might approve.

 

[Stephen_Melling]

Weclome to KB. Rejection letters? Pah! We all get them. If the editor or agent gives you feedback, great. If not, then simply throw it in the trash. 

 

[MartinLake]

Hi,

I think what you do already is great.  I also recommend a few things:

Publish on Amazon and other sites, like you're doing.
Write more books.
Imagine the agent as being like the snottiest, slimiest kid you knew at school.

Marti

 

[krystiana]

Thank you everyone for the replies and encouragement! 

 

[jherrick]

Welcome, Krystiana. The first several rejections hurt, but then it just becomes part of the routine just like any other job. But keep your stack of rejections, because it'll be part of your testimony once the breakthrough comes along!  If they give you any feedback in a rejection, you can try to learn from it too, and sometimes it's just a phrase, not a whole sentence--an agent accidentally sent someone else's rejection letter to me along with my own. It was the exact same form letter, but one had about 5 extra words about the writing that she'd inserted as a personal comment. Hang in there!

 

[Mel Comley]

Hi Krystiana, brush it off, don't let it get you down. I always think of how many times James Patterson and JK Rowling got rejected and the world seems a much happier place. ;-)

 

[jamiedierks]

I've always seen it as, if you aren't getting rejected, you aren't working hard enough at getting published. So many people never even get to the point in their writing where they write a query letter.
I put my rejection letters in a folder to mind me that I'm doing what it takes to move to the next step in getting published.

Jamie Lee Scott

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Kristiana--

You're getting some good advice!  And since you already have an intro thread here, I'm going to move this thread to the Writers' Cafe, which is better for your title question anyway!  I'm sure you'll get lots more feedback there!

Have a great evening!

Betsy

 

[Theresaragan]

Hi Kristiana, I'm sorry about the rejection, but great that The Shattered Swan is doing well! There aren't too many successful authors out there that don't have a thick file filled with rejections. Every rejection I received made me work harder.

Wishing you much success!

 

[apbschmitz]

An idea I find to be a great antidote for the irritation of rejection letters is to imagine all those geniuses who received a JK Rowling novel, put the stock rejection letter in the envelope and sent it back. Who knows, maybe they're right about you and me, but they were certainly wrong about that. It's at least evidence that the people sending you those rejection letters can be profoundly dumb.

 

[Will Granger]

Ignore it and get back to writing. This business is filled with people who have received hundreds of rejections. I found that writing and publishing ebooks to be more fun and rewarding anyway.

 

[Ty Johnston]

I usually don't even think about it. I just ready the next package and mail it off within a day or two.

And there's always beer.