By Stacy Lipson
No one ever said freelancing was going to be easy. Still, I was unprepared when my first rejection letter rolled in. And then twelve more. Some were short in length; others ran for a paragraph or more. No thanks. We’ll pass.
I’ve received rejection before. The first college I ever applied to rejected me before I even finished my application. My first summer home from college, I applied for a part-time job as a cashier, and received my rejection letter in a pink envelope. Ouch.
When I received my pack of rejection letters by e-mail, I wanted to crawl into a ball and hide under the covers. I wanted to quit. I was pulling fifty hour weeks with no payoff. Family members were sending me emails with subject lines like YOU ARE GOING TO GO BANKRUPT. I started to wonder if I was in over my head.
And then my first acceptance letter arrived. The silver lining!
I don’t know what lies ahead. But I’m not giving up. I have a steady supply of Ramen noodles and my Silver Reed typewriter (yes, I’m old-school). My parents have blessed me with an incredible stubborn streak, and in the off-chance that fails, I know that a career at McDonalds awaits me. Kidding.
A writer friend of mine recently sent me an e-mail: Have courage. She’s right. You’re going to need courage for the days when the only thing that you write is a check for your electric bill. And you’re going to need courage for the days when your shrink is out of town and your friends have blocked you because you’ve been bouncing too many ideas and they just can’t take it anymore . Courage. It’s a start.
Stacy Lipson is a freelance writer specializing in health. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications including MarieClaire.com, YourTango.com, Natural Health magazine and other publications. In her free time she likes to bake and watch television sitcoms.
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Rejection and writing go hand-in-hand, especially at first. Later, people we've worked with before tend to ask us to write more for them. Then, the biggest challenge isn't finding paying publishers and clients but figuring out how to meet multiple deadlines. That 'never give up' advice comes in handy then too!
I faintly remember those rejection letters of which you speak. I used to get them at the very beginning of my writing career.
I get plenty of "rejections" now, too, but not in the form of letters. Most of the rejections I get today come in the form of silence, even after repeated follow-ups. I'm finding that the industry has changed dramatically in the past few years, and most publications have cut budgets and staff so much that they no longer find it necessary to actually acknowledge submissions they don't want. Instead, they simply ignore them.
I just wanted to make that clear in case some beginning writer reads this and expects rejection letters to come rolling in. Chances are better that you won't hear anything at all.
Hang in there… with freelancing, assignments always seem to come in waves (at least for me). A dry spell followed by so much work you can't sleep. LOL By the way, if you're getting responses — even rejections — that's a good sign that you're doing something right, especially if the editor took time to give you feedback beyond a standard "no thanks." In fact, quite a few of my assignments have come because I followed up after a rejection, with other ideas/questions about what type of topics are needed/etc.
Good luck, and happy pitching!
Very inspiring! Thanks for sharing your story.
Shows us that everyone receives rejection at some point, but it's up to us to keep on writing and believing ourselves.
~TRA
http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
I second what Kelly said in her comment. I'm a new freelancer, and mostly don't hear anything back, which is frustrating because you have no idea if the editor even considered your idea. But once I received a detailed rejection, and that was really helpful because at least I knew what was wrong with my query!
Wow. I love this post. I've been freelancing for about a year and a half and have only got very few paid assignments. But, deep inside, I know this struggle is worth it. Thank you for the enlightening courage-post
Thanks for sharing honestly about starting off as a freelancer. It's definitely not the "easy" route, but hard to avoid the tug to give it a whirl for those who feel the freelance life best suit our personalities and skills. Keep on keeping on!
Stacy, you know what I'm going to say: Don't give up! We writers have to develop a thick skin. You'll start getting more and more Yesses if you keep at it. And I wouldn't say that to everyone — some people simply can't write. But you can!
I feel all of your pain! My rejection has been in the form of letters from publishing companies! My completed book has so much promise, is fascinating… yet not quite right for their company!
I shall persist and thank goodness I have a day job as a therapist! I reframe these negative vibs constantly!
I have great respect and admiration for the courage all of you have that do this writing job on a daily basis. Your courage is remarkable!
You go girl! Stay positive and motivated.
Best wishes for success in your endeavors.
Rejection always hurts, although Kelly and Joanna are right, rejection these days is more neglect than response.
I always remind myself that Stephen King claims to have stuck his rejections up on a nail over his desk. . .until he had to graduate to a bigger nail.
And I remind myself to laugh at the darkness. It's always easier when you know you're in this leaky little rowboat with others, particularly people you admire.
Freelancing is a tough world. You've just got to do what's best for you.
I'm new to submitting my work as well, and it's frustrating how long it takes to hear back sometimes – six months…a year in some cases! – only to receive a form rejection letter.
What can we do but keep writing, keep submitting, and hope our aim gets better and something finally sticks?
How we handle rejection in our daily lives will help condition our response to rejection in the literary world.
I have always been my own worst enemy when it comes to this… I tend to take it too personally. One thing that helped was being on the other side of the equation, being a fiction editor and having to pass judgement on other writer's work. I began to understand it was never personal; editors simply have a responsibility to choose what's best for their publication at that moment – even if the piece is perfect it might not make it in because of something as innocuous as timing or a curry lunch that's not sitting well.
I agree that the worst response possible is silence. At least let me know you GOT the damn thing.