Donald Maass sends a polite rejection.
I have noticed among some of you a reluctance to be rejected. It is an important part of your growth as a writer. Everyone tells you that you will be rejected much more than you will be published, and it’s true. Please don’t allow it to keep you from sending things out. Every rejection I get for a query I write is someone who will remember my query as professional and sincere. Perhaps the next time I take a manuscript out for a spin, they will remember the promise of this one, or that they were favorably inclined toward me.
You can’t build that kind of coin when you stop sending out queries, or you’re afraid to.
***
The other trap a lot of new writers fall into is “revision unto perfection.” I’m not a seasoned pro, so take this advice for what it’s worth, but you may want to work on something else, sit on the rejected work for a while (I’m thinking a year or two) and circulate something new. Why? Because several agents ask you specifically not to resolicit a work they’ve rejected. I think that you may need substantial time to re-envision your work, so that it is truly something different for them.
This would be the keep writing advice.
Wow. Who put this soap box here, and when did I decide to climb up on it? I’m getting back to making dinner.
Catherine
