(Also Beatrix Potter and Louisa May Alcott.)
Our prized common thread? 20–30–45 rejections before a publishing contract. Files and drawers and stacks and piles of rejections.
I started writing for children in the last century. Since then, I have traditionally published 45+ picture and board books and co-authored seven resource books for librarians.
I have submitted manuscripts at the rate of 20–25 per year for 40 years, adding up to a whopping 1,000+ rejections. I’ve been rejected through my agent, out of slush piles, at pitch parties, via contests, and through online opportunities in writing groups.
If your writing has never been rejected, you don’t know what you’re missing!
Most of us know that stomach-plummeting no, despite publishers’ attempts to frame it as a “wrong time, wrong place” moment. Or we recognize the silence—no response at all—as we work through submission lists of editors or agents who never write back. I might have another 500 of those!
“A 2019 study found that among scientists and entrepreneurs, those who ultimately succeeded had actually failed more frequently than their less-successful peers. What set them apart wasn’t luck or genius; it was their ability to learn and adapt quickly after each failure.”
Psychology Today
Success is resistance to rejection. It is the ability to show up—and keep showing up. Try and try again (and other things my mother used to say!).
So how do we develop this mindset?
Share
Your critique groups and conference colleagues understand rejection better than your spouse or sister ever will. They know what it means to pour hours, energy, care, and love into a manuscript. Overcome the fear of being thought a failure and share with those who truly understand.
Sustain
Give another set of editors and agents the chance to publish your book. Explore larger or smaller publishers. Tweak the pitch or cover letter. Find more recent comp titles.
Shift
Revisit earlier drafts. Try a different point of view. Run the manuscript past your critique groups again.
And as a last resort, don’t forget…
Stubbornness!
“By George, this is a good manuscript, and I am going to find the right person to love it as much as I do!”
Success is resistance to rejection.
Robin Currie is a multi-award-winning author who led public library children’s departments as a preschool literacy specialist before becoming a Lutheran/Episcopal clergyperson. With 1.7 million copies sold across 45+ traditionally published books, she writes stories meant to be read—and read again. She has also amassed a lifetime collection of 1,000+ rejections.
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