Hello, W&A. Today I got an interesting question for you. In my opinion, there are lots of ways to deal with a rejection, and even more ways to interpret them. So, if you be rejected, how would you interpret it? Would you throw your project away? Would you laugh and say "They don't know what they're loosing..."? (Just examples) What would you do?
The different reactions to rejections were unsurprising but comforting to read. Personally, when a piece comes home, I am disappointed but not cast down. I am grateful if helpful comments are attached and furious when a totally irrelevant remark accompanies the rejection. For example: In advance of the 50th anniversary of a Coup d'Etat that took place in an African country, where I was living at the time, I submitted an account of my experiences during the frightening/exciting/odd events in which I was involved. The rejection slip came back with the comment: "We are not planning to deal with this subject." Of course I didn't expect "them" to have that unusual topic on their current agenda. Had I not thought the subject "Different" yet topical because of the anniversary, and my twist interesting, I would not have submitted it. In my opinion there is no point offering a piece that will be among umpteen others on the same theme. A more acceptable rejection would have stated: "We do not consider this topic suitable for our present purposes".
As usual I have filed the story and hope to use it at some later date, either as it stands, or rehashed.
A rejection gives one the chance to think (albeit sadly) and learn.
Oh, that's chocking, George! Haven't you registered your book at any national library or something?
How to deal with rejection?. Sometimes it is difficult to accept something when you're convinced that your work as a writer or artist in any industry is well managed. Everyone has had experiences in their nations. For example here in Peru, when I was still studying architecture and I had to present a project on kindergarten. My proposals were new to the whole architectural comcepcion here in Peru, and was sure to get the best note. Guess: my job was rated the lowest note (here the score is 0 to 20), they put me in note 11. And there was not any, but at the end of the academic year those architects asked for my project for them to pass it off as his own and built it and of course won a competition with my architectural idea.
Was it a rejection of those architects?, Yeah. It took me time to recover.
For the second time was the same, but now as a writer. In 2009 I sent the main synopsis to a publisher in Mexico. Responded even if you received my email with my main snopsis, so I sensed that he was rejected. But guess what happened now, almost at the end of 2010 a Mexican filmmaker has almost gone in the television media with the idea of recreating a fabulous story that is coming in 2012, but curiously with the main idea of my science fiction book that does not I know how to filter from that publisher in Mexico to his office at the filmmaker. What do I do?. That synopsis that I delivered to the publisher of Mexico is the central idea where it turns all a great story of three separate worlds in a book and a saga of 8 parts. What a dilemma. I'm in a race against time. I can only patent all my books here in South America before the movie comes out of a Mexican filmmaker.