What’s the best tool a writer can have — besides the obvious imagination and creativity needed for fiction, and a good enough way with words to make your story readable? I believe it’s determination.
As a writer you’re going to get used to hearing the word ‘no’. Or worse, you’ll grow used to that soul-destroying silence in the days, weeks, even months spent hoping and praying for a response that never comes. Whether it be from agencies or publishers for those seeking publication through the ‘traditional’ route, or from the media you’re contacting in search of publicity, you need to be prepared to deal with rejection. And I’ve found the best way to deal with the word no — or no response at all — is to let it fuel your drive and determination, and simply keep going.
I feel adopting a positive attitude is a must. Often it simply takes finding the right person at the right time to find that yes you’re looking for. That also translates into sales. I read something on marketing recently which advised taking it one sale at a time. So for every person that visits my sites and doesn’t go on to buy a copy of Hybrid, I remain optimistic that eventually someone new will stumble on my sites and check out the content, resulting in a sale and a new fan being born. It’s the same approach I took whilst trying to get published, remaining determined to get Hybrid out there one way or another even if I had to self-publish. It’s the mindset I’ve retained despite the new challenges I face as a currently unknown debut author. Regardless of how many places I contact in the hopes of getting an interview or a book review and how many of these places say no — if they bother to respond at all — I’ll just keep on pushing until eventually I find somewhere that says yes.
Maybe this post says more about my personality than anything else because I think I am a pretty positive and optimistic kind of guy for the most part, but I do think it’s important nevertheless. If you take each rejection to heart and eventually just give up you’re never going to get anywhere. You have to cling to the belief that your story is good enough to exist as a published work for the enjoyment of your target audience; and if you’re not confident in that belief perhaps that’s a sign your novel still needs more work before you send on to anyone else. Or if the rejection you’re dealing with is in terms of marketing like me, maybe it’s time to review your approach and try something new. For each marketing idea I have that doesn’t seem to do me any favours, I reassess my approach and put my effort into trying something else, and I remain confident that eventually I’ll find something that helps me reach the masses.
Don’t let rejection get you down: use it to fuel your determination to succeed instead!
