Last week, my book on resisting gossip was simultaneously submitted to 19 evangelical publishers for their consideration. Exciting!
We've heard back from 5 of them already. Disappointing!
Of course, we expected to receive rejection notices, and they have all been gracious and winsome--some have even offered suggestions of other publishers to consider. It's nice to know what they think--and whether or not my book is a good fit for their catalog.
But it's still not fun to receive a "no" in your inbox.
There are a lot of things I'm doing mentally/spiritually to handle these disappointments as they come in:
- I remind myself of Who is in charge here. (It's good to be a son of the King!)
- I remind myself that there is nothing at stake, nothing to lose. This book is not ultimately "mine," and is at God's disposal to do what He wills.
- I remind myself that my identity is not in being a published author (just as it is not in being a pastor or even in a being a husband or daddy). My identity is rooted in being a child of God.
- I remind myself that this whole thing is a story-being-written and an adventure. No adventure is worthwhile if it doesn't have trials in it!
- I remind myself that this is another way God is using to draw me to Himself in prayer and faith.
- I remind myself that I only need 1 publisher, not 19.
- And I remind myself that all great authors, including Snoopy, have dealt with rejection notices.
Blogger and Christian literary agent, Steve Laube, recently posted these cartoons about the rejection that the great author Snoopy has received, but with a twist. Laube had discovered why he was getting so many rejection letters.
Steve Laube: "What Snoopy didn’t realize is that he was sending his material to this editor:"
How do you deal with rejection?
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