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Welcome to part 3. Today we have Michael Tierno, author of Maldene Pt.1 and 2, and his take on

How To Deal With Rejection?

This is where I am a (sad to say) expert. Before I found a publisher for Maldene (Volume 1 and 2 by Publish America) I tried going the writing/emailing/phoning every agent I could find an address for. The first book of Maldene took me 9 months to write (I was only working part time on it at the time or it would have been quicker) but 9 YEARS to sell. A total of about 150 agents with only 10 or so of them bothering to send back a rejection letter and a mere 3 acceptances (the first an incompetent, the second either a crook or more concerned with his own career, and the third of, shall we say, limited use).

Yes, I said One Hundred And Fifty send outs to agents!

What keeps me going? Well, determination in part, the knowing that the one true thing in my life is the quality of my writing (backed up by abusive friends that could not find anything to abuse once they’d read my stuff), and this one single fact. If you give up, what then? Assuming this is your dream, then you can never ever let a dream die, else you will be forever regretting it as you’re flipping those burgers and wearing your paper hat. A successful career as a writer or novelist may be a one in a million shot, but one worth taking.

But to be sure then try this test. Look at your works dispassionately, read it like an average reader would, and then after you’ve had to edit it a few times ask yourself; are you still just as enthusiastic about it as the first time or has it all just worn too thin? If you still like it, if the friends and strangers you show it to like it, and if you still feel like a kid under a Christmas tree every time you’re back behind that keyboard, then this is a dream worth keeping. It’s at this point that it doesn’t matter HOW MANY rejections you get, just keep trying (though perhaps some new tactics would be in order).

Myself? 8 hours in a given day of Maldene writing and I come out of it not tired but refreshed, like I’d been meditating for 8 hours and I’m more energetic than before.

Or, you could just give up and… then what?

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