Cooling Heels, Cool Head
Nothing’s quite as exciting as sending out a brand new pitch, and nothing’s quite as mind-numbing and disappointing as waiting to hear from a response. However, there’s a little section in the new Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls on how to keep your head during that tense time:
The Waiting Game: Tips for keeping cool
- Keep sending your writing out so that you always have an “iron in the fire.”
- Know that rejection is just part of the publishing game. If you aren’t getting rejections, you aren’t sending stuff out–and if you aren’t sending stuff out, you aren’t going to get published.
- Don’t linger on disappointments. “When I first started sending my writing out,” says Laurie [Henry, author of The Novelist's Notebook], “I thought it would be a good idea to pin all my rejections on the wall above my desk. It turns out that was a bad idea–too depressing!”
-Don’t get too fixated on any one publication. As Laurie says, “If you repeatedly get a form rejection letter, with no personal note from the editor or reader, you might be barking up the wrong tree.”
- Learn to recognize success. If your recipient takes the time to add a personal note, suggesting revisions or inviting you to send in other material, rejoice! Editors are busy, so this is a good sign.
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