Rejection is an enormous part of many creative industries. If you want to be in a creative career, expect to be rejected at some point. You and your projects will never be everyone’s cup of tea. There is nothing out there that is suited for everyone. Some things might be suited to a more general setting, others will be for a more nuanced crowd. I wholeheartedly believe there is an audience out there for anything and everything, but that also means there’s a lot of audiences whatever you’re creating isn’t suited for. Expecting rejection will actually save your sanity, and if you’re creating for a more niche crowd, expect even more rejection than someone else might receive.
It’s not a bad thing to be rejected. If you’ve sent someone a manuscript for example and they tell you it isn’t for them, that doesn’t mean it’s terrible, that means it’s simply not something they want to represent. And that’s good, because you don’t want someone representing you who isn’t excited by what you’ve written. You want whoever is representing you to enjoy your work, to want to champion it and push it forward. If someone accepts being your agent, you want that person to be someone who wants to work with you to make your work stronger, you don’t want someone who doesn’t think much of your work but will represent it anyway.
Does that mean it’s nice being rejected? Of course not. Who wants to be told that something you’ve poured your heart and soul into for months, maybe even years, isn’t something someone is interested in? Obviously, if we send something to someone, we want to be told they absolutely love it (only if they’re being truthful though, do not get me started on someone telling you they liked it if they didn’t; honesty is the only way things get stronger and white lies really aren’t beneficial in creative industries). But we have to have resolve when we’re trying for creative careers and so when the inevitable rejection comes, we have to learn to accept it, to be resilient, to maybe be disheartened but only for a minute before you pull yourself back together and try again.
Do you know what’s harder than rejection, though? Silence.
Nowadays, it’s bound to happen just as much if not more than rejection. There’s a lot of people submitting a lot of things, and so it’s hard to respond to everyone, particularly if you’re a bigger company. It’s not ever something to feel ashamed about, and oftentimes people put on their websites now that no response after a certain amount of time means an offer of representation isn’t coming. It happens to everyone, but it’s harder than rejection. At least I think so anyway.
With rejection, at least you get some feedback, right? You know, should you choose to accept it, that you might need to work on your proposals, your style, your plot, your characters. If you want to change direction, you have advice there that can significantly push you where you want to go. Sometimes, they might simply say that the project isn’t for them, but at least that offers a certain amount of closure and you know you can move on.
How can you do that with silence? Was it the style they didn’t like? Did they just not enjoy the themes? Did I come across too arrogant in my enquiry letter? Or perhaps they thought me meek? Was it something I said? Was it something I wrote? Is it simply just not for them and do I need to change nothing at all because someone else would like it exactly how it is? Silence is absolutely golden, something that in many circumstances is exactly what you need. Except when you’re after critiques or, better yet, an acceptance.
Is it something that you should take to heart? It simply can’t be. If you fear rejection and you fear silence, then I fear that a creative career isn’t for you. You can certainly feel a little upset, taking criticism (or lack thereof and simply knowing they weren’t into it but not knowing why) isn’t an easy thing, even when you expect it. But you can’t let it deter you. You accept it, you move forward, that’s the only way, otherwise it’s just not going to happen for you. Most creative industries are over-saturated at this point and if you let silence or rejection deter you, someone else is going to fill your spot very quickly. Resolve and determination are the only way to persevere.
So, how do you deal with silence? Well, the only way is to move forward. It can be a shame to craft an enquiry letter and make sure your email and manuscript is formatted in the way they like best only to hear nothing in response, but these agents and publishing houses are inundated with proposals all the time. If yours didn’t stand out to them, that doesn’t mean it won’t stand out to someone else.
There does come a point, however, when you’ve been trying for a certain amount of time with no success where you need to decide if what you’re doing is working. Do you submit to agent after agent year after year in the hope that someone will eventually like it? Or do you try something else? Do you try self-publishing, Kickstarter, hiring an independent editor to see what they think? That’s the beauty (and maybe the curse) of the modern age we’re living in; silence and rejection don’t have to be the end of your attempts. There are other options out there, though each option comes with its flaws, of course. The only thing to decide is how long you’re going to try one thing before trying another.
As you might be able to tell from this post, I have started submitting a certain manuscript of mine with a myriad of rejections and silences in response. I am, as of this moment, not deterred just yet. For the time being, I will continue to submit and query because I believe in my manuscript wholeheartedly, but I know, should the silences and rejections continue, there are other avenues I might venture down. Everyone has a different point they must reach before they start to consider other options, and I’ll let you know when I reach mine.
So keep submitting, don’t let rejection or silence deter you from creating or from pursuing a creative career. I promise you that you are not the first to be rejected and you will not be the last. Just think of how many amazing pieces of art we wouldn’t have if that artist had decided a rejection was the end for that project? There are always other avenues to find, you must just have the courage to find them.
Robyn x
R. A. Howard 