Rejected countless times now - give up?

[Shaffron]

My children's novel has been rejected by a significant number of agents now. I've lost count.

Yet I was invited by my local librarian to read it to her after school reading group and they seem to love it.

I'm torn between giving up and focusing on my next novel I'm currently writing or keep going. Surely if it was any good then it wouldn't have been rejected this many times?

Occasionally.

I'm currently listening to an audio book where the child is being taken into care without a court hearing and I'm biting my knuckles!!!

It's not that I'm pedantic. I'm not. I certainly play very fast with fact/truth/research. I'm happy to use what could happen as opposed to what does happen (which is often far too dull) and I'm not above just making shizzle up. But I can't actively include stuff I know is plain incorrect.

I totally agree with everyone - if the goal is to be published and you don't reach that goal, then you feel like you've failed. My goal with this book is just to finish. Just to write 80,000 - 90,000 words in (roughly) the right order. That's enough! And then I'll put it in a drawer for a few months and then I'll decide if it's worth having another goal for it, but meantime I will start another one.

I'm a huge believer in the 10:1 rule - you have to do something at least 10 times until you become good at it. In writing terms, that means writing 1 million words to get one good novel. Some people think that's terrifying, I think it's liberating. Today's words don't have to be perfect, because they are moving me towards my million.

Great attitude Lonny!

Did you kiss a hundred frogs, too, Lonny?

Well, actually.

I did.

jk rowling was rejected for a year before she was published. Don't give up

This is a great thread and timely for me. I really do agree with this Countess - ''either this book will succeed and that will mean I am talented and a writer, or it will fail and that will mean I can't write and I might as well give up.'' - I've been feeling like this over the past few weeks since I began to submit my first novel (had three generic rejections so far) - all of this major angst about me being utterly self-deluded about my ability to write and that these rejections mean that I am obviously not able to and thus should give it all up and not bother again.

It's daft, but I bet most authors think like this from time to time. I'm beginning to appreciate that you need a strong stomach to go forward in this business. I will keep going, because I do feel I have a strong concept, but if nothing comes of this round of submissions I think I may leave it for a few weeks/months, then come back to it for another rewrite, rewrite the submission package etc and have another go, then, if nothing comes of that, perhaps move on (perhaps self-publish, although the thought of all that self-promotion, Twitter etc doesn't fill me with joy) and get on with another. The problem is, the book I've written is the first in a trilogy and I have the plot pinned down in a fairly detailed way for the other two, so I think I should probably get on with the second book - if nothing else, it keeps that writing muscle going.

Whoever said that writing is a vocation - I think there is something in that. I've always had the itch, but it's been particularly strong lately, so there's something in following that up to the best of my ability.

Can I ask about these critique partners / groups - how would you go about finding something like this? Do you have online groups from places like Goodreads/Twitter or do you have local groups? I feel a little on my own with it all and it would be good to have others to bounce ideas off and hopefully who I could help too.

Good luck Shaffron - it does sound frustrating, the woman who took your details but I would agree with Imperial that agents are so incredibly busy that they simply have no time to report back on every submission, much as we would like them to :) Hope you get somewhere soon with yours - maybe a standing back from it all and working on something else would be a good idea at this stage.

Madhair, I would get going on the second and send out the first to more agents. By the time someone comes back with a positive reply they will want to know what the second book is like. It would be so much better to be able to show them something concrete at that point. Don't give up too easily!

Imperial - yes I think you're right. I think I've allowed myself to become a little bogged down in the 'it must be no good' kind of thinking which is counterproductive to me actually writing, so I need to let go of that and get on with it, and recall my sense of excitement about the plot I have ahead - I don't want to lose that.

How many agents have it at the moment? Have you been careful enough in selecting people who like that sort of novel?

MadHair, have a look at the web page of the regional writing bodies relevant to where you live for links writing groups. I know there are Writing East Midlands and Writing West Midlands, and New Writing South, but assume there are others to cover all areas. I don't have a critique group myself, though I'm lucky enough to have trusted, critical friends. I know what you mean about feeling on your own with it, but to me (demanding job, small child, non-driver, isolated village) the time and effort spent on getting to a writing group and reading and critiquing others' work could better be spent at my desk.

Also, have you considered entering competitions as a method of getting attention from agents? There are some quite prestigious unpublished novel awards, some with specific genre subcategories - often the shortlist is judged by an agent building a list, and there seems to be a reasonable record of people publishing those novels.

I know nothing about this prize, which just came up on an e-newsletter because the closing date is Sept 30, but you send in your novel's gusto age and a synopsis, and part of the prize is a report from an agent at Darley Anderson.

literatureworks.org.uk/opportunities/literature-works-first-page-writing-prize/

Your novel's FIRST page. Though a first page with gusto might be good too!

It's with five now. I think I've been careful - reading through profiles etc to ensure I'm only sending it to those asking for that particular genre and type of story. A couple are building lists and sound like they are looking very much for the type of thing I've written, but we'll see what happens.

I think I need to keep looking carefully. Do you think it's worth getting a copy of the Writers and Artists Yearbook - seems a lot to pay for some info you can find online - but a lot of blogs recommend that you do.

Thanks Liomsa - that looks worth a go.

I'll have a look for local groups as well, though I do agree that time is a huge consideration and getting time to write is of foremost importance!

I totally recommend the Writer's and Artist's Yearbook. Yes you can search online but there is info in there that you might not even have thought of to search for. It's totally worth the 14 quid. Many established authors swear by it. JK Rowling wrote the forward a few years back. It's one book that I think is worth buying a hard copy of even in the digital age.

I'm a writer and I definitely say keep going. I was rejected so many times before my first was published. I've now written six novels and my contract with my current publisher is at an end so I'm starting to submit again - and I'm sure I'll be rejected all over again! Chin up. Write because you've got a story to tell rather than a story to sell, and all will be well.

Oooh Kathy, would we have heard of you? What type of novel do you write?

I've heard of cathybeale! ;)

Ha! No I doubt it. My sales are meagre but I am hoping they're the first step on a long road. Someone on another thread thought I was Maggie O'Farrell. Sadly I am not. I have written a variety of things but seem to have found my 'home' writing what I believe they call 'time slip' where there is a story in the present day and one in the past. I'm currently writing one set in 1855 which is brilliant fun to research.

Wow, six books published Kathy - great achievement. Was the first book you submitted eventually published, or did you give up on that after a round of rejections and start new with something else?

MissBattleaxe - thanks, it does sound like it's worth getting hold of a copy, then, to search in some more depth for someone who really matches what I've written. Online searches only go so far, I suppose.

Have felt a bit better after this thread and done a bit more tweaking on the first book, but will leave it alone now (apart from sending to more agents) and get on with the second (have written 25,000 words on a first draft of this one but abandoned it for a while.)

Its worth it madhair as it has lists of all competitions and large and small publishers, as well as niche houses, poetry magazines, and helpful articles as well as all periodicals that have writing opportunities. You could search the internet for months before you collated all that.

Have you considered indie publishing? Crowd funding to get a book published is a new avenue.
My advice would be to keep on trying to get your book published but start writing your new novel as well at the same time.
I'm currently writing a children's book and I've heard how difficult (almost impossible) it is to get published. My thinking though is that if I enjoy writing I will keep on doing it. If no one ever gets to read my story other than me than that's fine!
At least you've had positive feedback from children on your story and that's a great achievement. Keep on wriitng and I'm sure you will get there. I know you've probably heard this a hundred times but even JK Rowling got lots of rejections so I say don't give up!!
Good luck and I hope to be reading your story one day. :)

JK got accepted by the second agent to whom she sent Harry Potter, so she didn't have too hard a road, though it was then rejected by a dozen publishers, before being accepted by Bloomsbury. I think I could cope with that writing journey!
It's the silence from agents that's most difficult, when you don't hear one way or another, and have to presume its a no.
Competitions are a good first step I think. That's how I got my children's novel published and being published is a fantastic feeling. But as Kathy says,authors keep having to submit work to agents and publishers and there is always the distinct possibility/probability of rejection. My advice is to develop a hide like a rhino and keep trying. And if an agent does give feedback, act on it and resubmit. If you're enjoying the writing, what do you have to lose either way?

Rowena, I wouldn't try Crowd Funding myself since self publishing is free and there are many success stories. I also don't really trust Vanity Publishers who often take money just to print your book.

But yes, you are quite right to say don't give up! So many do, and you win every time you keep going after a knockback.

I got rejected from so many agents I lost count for my first book. So I stopped sending it out and started writing a sequel. Halfway through that, I got distracted and started (and finished) a completely different - historical - book. I was intending to send that one out instead and give up on the others - just use them as a learning experience. However, on a whim one day I sent my first MS and the first three chapters of the sequel to a new digital imprint of a large publisher which had just launched - and they offered me a contract.

I've now published the original, the sequel and three others in the series, plus a stand-alone novel. I'm still sitting on the historical one and that's what I'll be submitting to agents in the new year.

Anyway, I'd advise you to keep going and maybe finish your second book, then submit both together. Definitely get the Artists' and Writers' Yearbook. I go through that to find likely agents, then check their websites for submission guidelines. There are brilliant resources online for writing synopses and covering letters. Make sure you use them. If your letter or synopsis isn't right, an agent won't read on. Only send what they ask you to send, in the manner in which they ask you to send it - use the right font, the right spacing etc.

But don't give up. Never give up!