by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: July 18, 2009

Within the desk of even the greatest writer, there is likely to be one drawer filled with rejection slips and yet another with acceptances. During the process of becoming a writer, many potentially good writers give up in dismay after the first rejection. Instead of seeing this as a learning device, they perceive it as a negative response to their writing skills, when this may not necessarily be the case. This article is written with the budding writer in mind who wants to get past the rejection slip level and launch a writing career.

*Choosing editions for your writing.

*Keeping records of who work was sent to.

*Editing upon rejections.

*Using the rejections as a tool to further your career.

*Learning to please editorial staff.

*Timing.

*Success

Choosing editions for your writing.

Many writers choose their market haphazardly. They think that their work is perhaps better than work they have seen in publications and in an attempt to start their career, send their work off to magazines or publishers. The problem with this approach is that all companies who accept freelance work will have strict guidelines as to what is acceptable. Sending on speculation is not wise, and often results in frustration to the writer and to the publisher.

If you research your market, you can avoid the rejection slips and target your work to markets who seek the kind of writing you do. To do this, it's a good idea to write an introductory letter and to ask the kind of work this particular publisher is interested in as many will have guidelines.

Keeping records of which work was sent where.

Record keeping is essential. Once you have a rejection, that isn't the end of the story. If you mark down the rejections, this acts as a learning tool. You can always look up your notes of what publishers refused and avoid sending the same kind of work to that particular publisher. If anything a rejection slip helps you to narrow down the markets in an attempt to find out what works with each particular publisher and should never be looked at in a negative way. Just because one publisher does not like the work doesn't mean that another will reject it. Half the battle is finding the right market for particular pieces, and the rejection slips help you to do this.

Editing upon rejection.

Often when that rejection slip hits the letter box, it gives the writer a chance to look over the work submitted and this really is an opportune moment to evaluate what you wrote.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>