Let's talk Rejections!

Ohhh... the dreaded 'R'! Do we really want to talk about rejections. Getting the Dear John letter from an agent, editor or publisher?

Yes, yes we do!

Harlequin recently held a week long event labeled, So You Think You Can Write, or as we on the HQN forums call it, SYTYCW. During this week long event wanna be HQN writers were able to take a deeper look at what the editors over at HQN wanted to see in a query letter, a synopsis and in the actual manuscripts that pack in their in-boxes and mail room. It was a very valuable learning tool for any new and even seasoned author to attend. If you missed this event, never fear, the forums are still there for you to go back and read. My guess is the questions you have will have been asked by someone else so go on over and take a look by clicking this link HERE.

All that said, the final challenge in the SYTYCW gig was for everyone to send a synopsis and a first chapter to the editors via e-mail (something HQN doesn't do) and they would respond by January 31st. Yesterday, the rejections started pouring out. When several aspiring authors receive rejections at the same time, the topic is hammered. So here I am, hammering the rejection process.

Rejections are a badge of honor folks. It means you've written something and had the courage to send it to someone to read and either smile or toss in the trash. Ouch, that toss in the trash thing hurts. But I ask you, dear author with a pile of rejections sitting on your desk, have you ever read a book and thought... UGH, what a waste of money that was? Of course you have. In this subjective world of fiction many a book has been loved by one and hated by another.

A couple of years ago, in my quest to find a publisher for Binding Vows *Top 100 seller in Amazon Time Travel for more weeks than I can count* I sent out queries to publishers and agents to the tune of maybe 25 queries. Not that many really... but the rejections came in. Then I read an article in RWA magazine about The Wild Rose Press. Rhonda, the goddess of TWRP stated that they responded to every query personally and if they request a partial they would give feedback even if they rejected your book. So, what the heck did I have to loose? Next thing I know I have a revise, resub request and off I went... It took some time but my finished product was worth it.

Publication is a journey and the only real difference between a published author and a non published author is persistence.

And one more cliche for the road... If you toss enough shit against the wall, something is going to stick! Keep writing and subbing, everywhere... with agents, publishers etc. Rejections don't sting as hard after you've had a dozen or three or five.

Pen Names...

This is a topic that comes up a lot. I'm always interested in how an author came up with their pen name, and why they decided to use one.

I'll go first:

Catherine, as many of my author friends know, is my real first name. I thought it would be easier to respond to if I recognized it during a chat or in the off chance that someone recognizes me on the street. LOL -

Bybee, is a family name... but I didn't finalize on Bybee until after I made sure there wasn't another Bybee author out there to compete with shelf space. I read somewhere, from an author blog, to make certain that the .com was available for the pen name you've chosen.

So there you have it... how Catherine Bybee came to be!

What's your story?

Authors Helping Authors

I have hit my head against the proverbially brick wall many times in my writing. And I'm not talking about writers block. No, I'm talking about the grammar wall. I want all of you to meet and welcome a friend of mine who writes a blog dedicated to the writing process. From the submission process to grammar woes, Sandra really knows her stuff. And thank you Lord, she is willing to share that expertise with us. Take a moment and stop over and say hi. I believe, and Sandra correct me if I'm wrong, that she is a teacher of English Literature and boy does it show. She writes her erotic and edgy work under the name of Angel Martinez, and her mainstream romance under Sandra Stixrude.

So visit her Writers Habitat and enjoy.