Dealing with rejection

When you’re an author, dealing with rejection can be really hard. This is because it is almost impossible not to take it personally. I think this is because writing is such a personal thing, and you can (and should) put your heart and soul into your work.

What I hadn’t anticipated was how personally awful and down I would feel when my clients’ work is rejected by publishers, especially when a publisher has had a full manuscript for a while and been seriously considering it. Yes, I can keep telling myself ‘this is business’ but my feelings don’t seem to want to listen and obey.

What are your any tips or strategies for dealing with rejection? Are some rejections harder to bear than others?

What is a synopsis?

I can forgive a lot of faults with submissions: query letters that ramble on, query letters that don’t introduce the work or the writer properly, the odd typo… However, one of the most frustrating things with a submission is when the synopsis is simply not.

So, what is a synopsis?

For a start, it is not a blurb.

• A blurb is that teaser piece of writing that appears on the back of books to entice readers to want to read them. This is a piece of marketing writing aimed at readers.
• A synopsis is also a piece of marketing writing, but it is one aimed at introducing your novel to agents and editors. We don’t want to be “teased”. We want the facts.

A synopsis must:

• be no longer than a page, about 500 words (my preference – some agents and editors prefer longer synopses)
• include the main plot turning points
• introduce the main character(s), their goals and their “problem” (which the story will “solve”)
• include how the story is resolved i.e. how it ends

A great synopsis will:

• read like a story in its own right
• give a flavour of the style and pace of the story
• show the main character(s) growth arc / emotional development
• leave out the names of the secondary characters
• leave out the secondary plots (unless they are essential to mention to explain the main plot)

I just have to say this now

Don’t send me something from your back catalogue that’s been out of print ten years. Don’t send me your oldest shoved-under-the-bed manuscript that’s reeking of mothballs and doesn’t represent either what you write now or want to write in the future.

Send me sample chapters of the best thing you’ve ever written, that you’ve written recently, and best reflects you the writer today.

Does that make sense? Hope so.

Are you ready to submit?

You’ve finished your novel but before you start to query, I think a writer needs to pause and ask, “Am I ready to submit?”

• Have you written a novel for a 21st century audience – with emotion, pace and action? Agents will always be keener on a book that has screen potential.
• Have you edited the manuscript to your satisfaction? Have you undertaken a copy edit to remove grammatical errors and typos?
• Does your title capture the spirit, and ideally the story of the novel? Your publisher may want to change it, but for now it’s a selling tool for your very first reader – the editor or agent. I’m a huge fan of conflict-driven titles for example.
• Is your first sentence utterly compelling? And your second, and your third… Make sure you started your story at the start of the book so your reader is drawn in and is compelled to keep reading.
• Have you erred on the side of suspense and kept the backstory out of the opening chapters?

I would say that if the answer to any of these questions is no, then you’re not yet ready to submit.