Thanks, but no thanks

Today another milestone was reached: my first agent rejection.

It came the same day as the query, just two hours after submitting.

Let’s talk about how strong I wished to be picked, and how humbling it is to get a “no thanks” in a matter of hours.

It’s sad. It’s bad. My tricky brain whispers, How could you think anybody would want this? You are not a writer. You are a scam.

And the thing is, it doesn’t matter if you are fifteen or fifty. Rejection sucks.

Because it goes straight to the latent insecurity and festers right there.

I know I was lucky to have an editor who believed in the book before starting this agent-query path. I really was. Her belief gives me something to hold on to when the no comes fast and without explanation.

Because of course you wish you could get a why. You wish someone would say, This is what’s wrong. But in the end, books are also taste. A story can hit one person deeply and leave another completely unmoved.

When you start to want to give up, maybe that is exactly the best time to insist instead.

Stephen King got rejections. Tons of them. Can you believe it?

And still, with every piece of evidence telling me not to worry, I do worry.

And it sucks.

But I’m not giving up.