Handling Rejection as an Author
Who here has been rejected? This girl.
Okay, truth time. Raise your hand if you have ever been rejected as an author. If your hand is NOT in the air then I want to know your secret!
Over the past few years, I have been rejected for all of the following:
Author award submissions
Printing collaborations
Requests to be a guest blogger
Requests to be a guest speaker at a conference
Requests to be a guest speaker on a podcast
Requests for social media collaboration
It's never fun to receive a rejection. But sometimes it can lead to new opportunities.
Reframing Rejection as An Author
When I wrote my first book, I sent it to a nearby publisher naively thinking that of course they would want to support a local author! Nope. They very politely declined, letting me know that my work didn't fall into one of the categories they had selected for the coming year. That was a tough blow.
After spending a week (or more) sulking, I started looking into other options. And that's when I first discovered the world of self-publishing.
As someone who receives this newsletter, you likely already know that I looooove being a self-published author. I find it to be incredibly powerful, exciting, profitable, and fulfilling! But I wouldn't have discovered any of that if the first publisher had said yes to my manuscript. Truthfully, I think they did me a favor.
Finding Success as a Self-Published Author
And guess what? Over the past few years, I have been accepted for all of the following:
Author award submissions
Printing collaborations
Requests to be a guest blogger
Requests to be a guest speaker at a conference
Requests to be a guest speaker on a podcast
Requests for social media collaboration
Notice any similarities? :)
So if you've experienced rejection recently, I want to you remember that there is still a path forward. There may even be many paths forward. Keep going!
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