Like it or not, rejection is a huge part of becoming a writer. Immediately after writing my first manuscript, I did a quick edit of the first chapter, and like a whirlwind sent it off to practically every agent on the planet. Okay, so maybe not every agent, but it was a lot of them.
And you know what happened?
One of two things. Either nothing, I’m talking crickets, or I received a polite, but still heart wrenching letter from an agent saying that my book just wasn’t right for them.
What?! How could they do such a thing! Didn’t they know that my book was the best thing that had ever been written . . . ever! I was so convinced of this, and so sure that they were going to see it too, that with every rejection I was sure a piece of my soul was being chipped away and blasted into particle dust.
But you know what? They were right. It took me a few months before my wounded pride was wiling to see that I still had quite a bit of work to do, and like the novice that I was, I had completely jumped the gun. In truth I wasn’t ready to submit my query, manuscript, or anything else to any agent. I had to learn that the hard way.
The good news is there is a way to avoid feeling like your will to continue writing has not been completely sucked away, forever. What worked best for me was what had got me to send those query letters out in the first place: I believed in my story. I knew that what I had written was a story worth being told. Some people might hate it, but there was an equally good chance that some people might really like it, too. So I had faith.
I stepped away from my manuscript for two months and then came back with a set of fresh eyes. I was mortified at what I saw. Boy oh boy did my book need some polishing. But that was something that could be done. So that’s what I did. When that was done, I found a graphic designer that I loved and had the cover made. When I was ready, and this time I made sure that I was ready and not just over-eager to get my book out there, only then did I release it.
Then came another form of rejection: reviews
They came. Some were good, some were bad. But always, each one made my heart seize up inside of me. The good ones bolstered my spirits, while the bad ones made them sink. However, rather than get stuck in a sea of misery and woe, I took a lesson from what I had learned before and believed in my book. I still do. Enough that when a negative review comes in I don’t take it to heart. I wrote as story that I love, and that is what is most important. If you can’t love your story, than how could you expect others too as well?
YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE LIFE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN.
All that you can do is make the most of what you’ve been dealt—fight a good fight, resist being beaten by circumstance, and hope that somehow, despite it all, you’re able to accomplish the impossible.
But even then you cannot change the fact that you were born cursed.
I am one of those unlucky few upon whom the Curse of the Four Fathers has fallen.
It is I who must bear the burden of having a life that is unchangeably intertwined with the Fae. A sorrow made all the more great by knowing that where they are tragedy, loss, misery, and despair most assuredly follow.
As a Druid it is my responsibility to uphold the boundaries that keep the worlds of the Tylwyth Teg, and our own, separate. As a man it is my only ambition to protect the family and woman I so desperately love.
The only problem: I'm not sure this curse will allow for me to do both.
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Genre - Paranormal Fantasy, Horror
Rating – PG-13
More details about the author
Connect with Marie McKean on Twitter
Website https://www.mariemckean.com
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