Comments on: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR WILLIAM.

By: Selma

Selma — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:42:42 +0000

kristaniles – I love it. You have inspired me to hold onto mine. I think I might decorate the garden shed with them. Don’t give up, by the way. I believe that in the end persistence pays off!

diamondsandrust – thank you for stopping by and for the kind comments. It’s true, you know, you never know what lies around the corner!

By: diamondsandrust

diamondsandrust — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:50:52 +0000

Don’t feel too bad about it . You make friends and give pleasure to a lot of people through your blog writing. It won’t pay your bills of course,but who knows what might come of it.

By: kristaniles

kristaniles — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:17:41 +0000

Selma,

I also have an immense collection of rejection letters. I’ve been saving them for when I purchase my one home. I plan on wallpapering my bathroom in them! I find it fun pull them out every once in a while and take stock of all the things I’ve tried to do, which is ever growing.

By: Selma

Selma — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:43:19 +0000

Travelrat – what a fantastic idea for a sculpture. I love it. You should post a photo of it on your blog if you can, it would give hope to rejected writers everywhere.

David – thank you for the pep talk. I know rejection is a major part of writing but sometimes you get sick of it. I can’t believe Jack London was rejected 600 times – what were the publishers thinking? He was one of my fave writers when I was a kid!

Anthony – Wow! To be visited by you is an honour indeed. I am a big fan of your blog but am usually too shy to leave a comment. I think it would be safe to say that, yes, you can write prose! Thank you so much for visiting. I am completely delighted!

Meleah – it’s actually not that bad, believe it or not. The first ones really hurt but then you sort of get used to it. It’s actually a really good way to fine tune your work.

David – thank you so much for your support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

By: David Mascellani

David Mascellani — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:07:11 +0000

“But you know what? I really don’t mind. I got a nice rejection letter. A handwritten rejection letter from a poetry editor who said that even though she couldn’t use my work right now she hoped I would consider submitting more work in the future.”

Back again. Another thing to keep in mind is that there are different levels of rejection.
Editors, especially ones who edited quality publications, are BUSY people.

If an editor has takes the time to write that she hopes you would consider submitting work in the future – then you should be encouraged by this , not discouraged. I mean she wouldn’t have asked you to submit more work in the future if she thought you were completely devoid of talent.

I believe she is saying that you have the potential to be a published poet but you still have some more learning and work to do.

So, keep on writing poetry and keep submitting.

David

By: meleah rebeccah

meleah rebeccah — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:53:06 +0000

I am FAR from a poet…but I can imagine how rejection letters feel. Thats why I have NEVER submitted anything.

By: AnthonyNorth

AnthonyNorth — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:52:44 +0000

I’m no poet either, although some people think I can write prose. But that hasn’t stopped me receiving over a 1,000 rejections from publishers over 20 years.
Never let a publisher put you off anything. Okay, you may not get rich, but someone has to use imagination, even if publishers don’t appreciate it.

By: David Mascellani

David Mascellani — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:29:53 +0000

“Jack London received six hundred rejection slips before he sold his first story. ”
http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/efficacynotgiveup.html

DavidM.

By: travelrat

travelrat — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:20:26 +0000

I have a friend called Roberta Jacobson, who once made a sculpture called ‘Writer’s Block’. It’s simply a transparent plastic cube, filled with rejection letters sent to her from every writer she knows, or communicated with via forums, etc.

It now stands in a museum in Frankfurt! (and, contains four of my rejection letters! )