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Four Reasons to Embrace Rejection by Christy Mossburg
| Posted on April 18, 2014 at 7:10 AM |
In any business, rejections are a fact of life. You're going to hear the word no. You may be offering the best, most fantastic product in the world that Joe Smith desperately needs, yet Joe may say no anyways. If you're a writer? Well, you may have pitched the best article idea ever to the editor of Awesome People Magazine. It was timely, it was flawless and it was perfect for the demographic. Guess what? The editor may very well tell you “no thanks.”
Rejections will happen but you cannot take them personally. Here are a few reasons that you should learn to love the no.
1. A rejection means you're doing the work your business requires. You're putting yourself out there and letting people know who you are and what you can do. If you're NOT getting rejected you're likely not getting an adequate number of pitches out. (Granted, maybe you ARE one of the lucky writers that have never been turned down. In which case I can only say “carry on.”
2. Rejections give you some insight into what your weaknesses may be or what adjustments you need to make to your pitches and/or article submissions. Be sure to ask for feedback when you a pitch is turned down. Feedback is critical to improvement. There will be pitches that you send where you get no response at all. In these cases maybe take a look at them and see if you see a pattern and can determine some areas that may be weak. Ask a writer or editor friend if they would mind giving you some feedback.
3. Rejections help you narrow your list of potential clients. You're able to rule out who you may not want to work with going forward. How an editor responds to you can determine if this is the type of person that you truly want to work with. A rejection from one editor may make you available for an even better project with another.
4. Every rejection brings you one step closer to your goal. With each pitch you are perfecting technique, putting in the necessary practice hours to improve and become the best writer you can be. There will be a better opportunity around the corner.
With every rejection, remind yourself you're in good company. You'll be hard pressed to find a successful person that has not dealt with rejection. Take a look at some of these well known “rejects”:
Walt Disney was told he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
Elvis Presley was told by a manager after a performance at the Grand Ole Opry that he should return to his job of truck driving and had no future in music.
Steven Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times before he entered a different school and went on to become a director.
Stephen King's first book, Carrie was rejected 33 times. In his frustration he threw the manuscript away. His wife dug through the trash, found it and convinced him to give it one more try.
Michael Jordan, who was cut from his high school basketball team once said “I have missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I have missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Rejection is part of the equation that leads to success. So now, you know what you need to do, right? Figure out what your next pitch is. Pick up that pen, grab your laptop and start writing. Then hit “send.”
Start collecting those rejections proudly and know that the more you get the closer you are to the big yes!
What great rejection stories do you have? I would love to “celebrate the no's” with each of you. Be sure to share here.
Christy Mossburg is a freelance writer & copywriter from Middletown, MD where she lives with her husband and two teen-age children. You can read more of her musings on life at www.simplychristy.com or check out her writer website at www.christymossburg.com.
Categories: Guest Posts, Business Building, Personal Development
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11 Comments
When you get a rejection, it does NOT mean that you will never be able to write about topic X or that you will never write for magazine Y. It simply means that you need to regroup.
What I find helpful about a rejection: to determine if you believe the outcome was under your control or not. For example, if an editor tells you that they currently have a backlog of submissions, it's highly unlikely that you could effect any other outcome. On the other hand, "Not for us, thanks" suggests that the topic or the angle that you took may not have meshed with the magazine's theme or tone. So, something WAS under your control. What was it? How can you improve your process to include a new step, devised from what you learned after a particular rejection, to reduce the percentage of rejections going forward?
Great article! Thanks for sharing your insights.
Kelly Boyer Sagert says...
Here's another thought. . . . sometimes, a rejection may mean "not yet." It may mean that your idea wasn't developed fully enough or, perhaps, you aren't yet ready in your career to tackle this subject to the degree to which it deserves.
When you get a rejection, it does NOT mean that you will never be able to write about topic X or that you will never write for magazine Y. It simply means that you need to regroup.
What I find helpful about a rejection: to determine if you believe the outcome was under your control or not. For example, if an editor tells you that they currently have a backlog of submissions, it's highly unlikely that you could effect any other outcome. On the other hand, "Not for us, thanks" suggests that the topic or the angle that you took may not have meshed with the magazine's theme or tone. So, something WAS under your control. What was it? How can you improve your process to include a new step, devised from what you learned after a particular rejection, to reduce the percentage of rejections going forward?
Great article! Thanks for sharing your insights.
I wanted to share something about when you query and don't hear anything back. There's still a lesson in this, but the difference is that YOU have to figure out why you didn't hear anything back. When you finally accept that you've been rejected and get over the emotional sting, it brings a sense of clarity. It's at this moment that you need to go back and really look at your query. Switch it around for next time. Keep playing with it. I keep all my query 'tweaks' on a spreadsheet with a counter of how many times it was accepted and how many times it was rejected and continually revise over and over. All of my letters are based upon Sophie's templates...and I tweak to fit the particular publication I''m going for. Okay, I just went and counted. There are over 200 rejections... mostly no replies and 17 acceptances. Over 200 people have rejected me since January! OUCH! But I've learned from every single one of them. THAT is the biggest value of querying..is learning from the rejections. I guess my point is that when you think of rejections, think 'LEARNING OPPORTUNITY.'
This is such an encouraging post and I'll refer back to it often.
Thanks for the reminder!
Your words speak so honestly about the truth of rejections and that they're just part of a writing venture. I couldn't agree so much more!
I love the list of "rejects!" My favorites are Stephen King and Walt Disney. We've seen how far they've come since their 'rejections' and how it pushed them to continue. I've had my share of rejections, most of them tame, some of them kind of crazy, and only one down right racist, but I kept going. You just gotta keep truckin' along. GREAT post!!
Lynn Silva says...
Christy! What an empowering article. I especially love the story about Michael Jordan. I'd never heard that, but I do know that there's two guarantees in life: risk comes with reward and failure comes before success.
I wanted to share something about when you query and don't hear anything back. There's still a lesson in this, but the difference is that YOU have to figure out why you didn't hear anything back. When you finally accept that you've been rejected and get over the emotional sting, it brings a sense of clarity. It's at this moment that you need to go back and really look at your query. Switch it around for next time. Keep playing with it. I keep all my query 'tweaks' on a spreadsheet with a counter of how many times it was accepted and how many times it was rejected and continually revise over and over. All of my letters are based upon Sophie's templates...and I tweak to fit the particular publication I''m going for. Okay, I just went and counted. There are over 200 rejections... mostly no replies and 17 acceptances. Over 200 people have rejected me since January! OUCH! But I've learned from every single one of them. THAT is the biggest value of querying..is learning from the rejections. I guess my point is that when you think of rejections, think 'LEARNING OPPORTUNITY.'
This is such an encouraging post and I'll refer back to it often.
Nida Sea says...
Oh, Christy! I LOVE THIS POST!!!
Your words speak so honestly about the truth of rejections and that they're just part of a writing venture. I couldn't agree so much more!
I love the list of "rejects!" My favorites are Stephen King and Walt Disney. We've seen how far they've come since their 'rejections' and how it pushed them to continue. I've had my share of rejections, most of them tame, some of them kind of crazy, and only one down right racist, but I kept going. You just gotta keep truckin' along. GREAT post!!
Robin Dann says...
Wonderful reinforcement as to why we should never give up!
Thanks for the reminder!
Rejection hurts. But it's a learning process. Nobody who ever succeeded has never experience any rejection. And I love the rejection stories you included.
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