Rejection, My New Partner

It was a blow to my confidence. Doubt swept over me. Another “no.” Another pass by a major publishing company.

This week I had to do mental gymnastics to encourage myself in this process of becoming a published author. It has become crystal clear that rejection has joined me in my journey. 

What is surprising is that I found encouragement in other author’s rejection letters in order to get out of my emotional slump.

​ On the website LitRejections it lists many best-sellers and how many times they were rejected before getting a book deal. Some of my favorites were:

Diary of Anne Frank as it was rejected over 15 times and eventually sold over 25 million copies. In addition,  C.S. Lewis’ work was rejected for years before Chronicles of Narnia was accepted and went on to sell over 100 million copies.

Even author J.K. Rowling received 12 rejection letters in a row before the famous Harry Potter series was published. And we all know how crazy popular this series has been abroad and in the United States.

According to Scholastics.com,  “The Harry Potter books are distributed in over 200 territories, are translated into 68 languages and have sold over 400 million copies worldwide.” Amazing right?!!  

​So, it  looks like rejection is just par for the course!

The biggest hurdle is rejection. Any business you start, be ready for it. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the successful people do all the things the unsuccessful people don't want to do. When 10 doors are slammed in your face, go to door number 11 enthusiastically, with a smile on your face.
John Paul DeJoria

In Put Your Dream to the Test, author, John Maxwell says that every dream needs to be put to the test and one way to do that is by asking yourself the question, “Am I willing to pay the price for my dream?”

​My answer is yes! I am willing to travel with rejection as my partner.  I won't stop but will keep moving forward. I won’t give up because my dream is calling me to continue to press on. And then,  one day, rejection will have to go find someone else.

A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success.
Bo Bennett