Wonderful rejection

Sounds like an oxymoron, right?

Getting rejections is part and parcel of trying to be a published writer. You learn not to take it personally – I barely flinch when the ‘thank you, but…’ emails come in.

Of course it does get weary, receiving the usual form rejections without any feedback. That’s not a criticism of agents or publishers – they are ridiculously busy people and I’m grateful for even the most basic of ‘no’s.

But it makes you question yourself. How do I know if I’m even a good writer? Is my work even close to publishable? Am I chasing a ridiculous dream?

Today I received the best rejection I’ve ever had, because it included some lovely, extremely positive feedback about my writing. The reason for rejection was that my manuscript was a little too similar to another in their portfolio, which of course is fair enough. But they loved my work.

Just that little bone thrown to me by one person has such an impact. They think I’m good enough, so I’ll keep going.