July 19, 2010

In 1953 a fledgling business called Rocket Chemical Company set out to create a rust-prevention solvent for use in the aerospace industry. It took them 40 attempts to get the formula right.

Voila! WD-40, which stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt.

I find that inspiring! What if they’d given up on number 39? Then I wouldn’t have my favorite solution for unsticking locks and making my sliding glass doors actually slide.

WD-40 Your Manuscripts

No, don’t spray the greasy mist on your manuscript. But do take the WD-40 as your slogan. Don’t stop submitting until you also have tried many, many times!

In order to spur myself on to submit several book manuscripts that I had “retired” after just two rejections, yesterday I was reading in Ralph Keyes’ The Writer’s Book of Hope. I was encouraged by some very famous “WD-40″ kinds of authors who would have remained nameless if they’d given up so early.

• Despite being represented by a top literary agent and being read by prominent editors, John Knowles’s A Separate Peace was rejected by every major American publisher who saw it. (It was published in London.)
• Other famous books that went through multiple rejects include: Look Homeward, Angel; Love Story; A Wrinkle in Time; All Things Bright and Beautiful and many other novels that became classics and continue to sell decades later.
• Twenty major publishers thought Chicken Soup for the Soul had no commercial prospects, despite the authors being experienced speakers and aggressive marketers.
• Stephen King’s first four novels and sixty short stories were rejected.

Having your work turned down is no fun, and I won’t sing the praises of being rejected. I hate it too. But we must come to terms with it, accept it as part of the writing life, accept criticism if it has merit, and get on with it.

A Necessary Part

As Keyes puts it, “To working writers, rejection is like stings to a beekeeper: a painful but necessary part of their vocation.”

And now…in the spirit of the inventers of WD-40, I’m off to submit my manuscripts another 38 times.

[I'm curious about you. 'Fess up. How many rejections do you get on a manuscript before you give up on it?]

8 Comments »

1. 

   So right, Kristi. For some reason, I’ve never seen a writer who gave up and then got published. I guess all the published ones simply didn’t give up!

   Comment by Beth Mac — July 19, 2010 @ 3:48 pm

2. 

   My first children’s book, Substitute Groundhog, was rejected 32 times before being published by Albert Whitman in 2006. It went on to become a Junior Library Guild selection, was released in paperback and audio book by Scholastic, and was translated into French for the Canadian market. However, I reread and rewrote the story every time it was rejected until the 33rd version that was accepted was much different, and much better, than the first one. SO it wasn’t just persistence, but persistent revision/submission that won the day for my book.

   Comment by Pat Miller — July 19, 2010 @ 4:17 pm

3. 

   There’s one ms that has gotten a dozen *good* rejections, but it’s been out at least 2-3 times that. I’ve not given up on it. I’ve used it in the classroom and the kids and teachers love it, and I wish I could find the right publisher for it. He or she is out there, just needs to be a math nerd or something.

   Confession: I often give up far sooner though … sometimes only after 3-4 rejections. The thing is, I always have all these new ideas to work on, so the old stuff gets put aside. I should make time to dust them off and send some of them out.

   Comment by Vijaya — July 19, 2010 @ 6:26 pm

4. 

   Thanks for sharing this inspirational blogpost. We need to be reminded from time to time that in order to succeed we need to experience failure. I’ve been so close to giving up after having some of my stories rejected. However, I just use that energy to revisit and polish my stories. The result: Getting those stories published!

   Comment by Claudia Del Balso — July 19, 2010 @ 6:35 pm

5. 

   Kristi, I just stumbled on this website. I am totally overwhelmed!! I am a veterinarian in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Three years ago I developed an exercise and fitness program for a group of people and their dogs called Go Fetch Fitness. I trademarked the program and wrote several children’s stories about a dog named LuLu Lanigan who goes to Go Fetch Fitness. I have always wanted to publish these stories, but really have no idea about how to even try. Any advice for me??

   Comment by Elizabeth Bixby — July 21, 2010 @ 10:29 am

6. 

   Beth: Sometimes that is the ONLY difference! In fact, many writers who finally get published aren’t technically as good as those who’ve given up. They just didn’t quit!

   Pat: Your story is so inspiring! So few people would have made it to 32 times, and just see what you (and the world) would have missed if you’d quit earlier! Your book has had tremendous success!!! You made an EXCELLENT point that you didn’t just stick the book back in the mail, but took suggestions and made revisions, and what sold was the 33rd version! Very, VERY few writers are willing to do 33 versions. Thanks so much for sharing that story—so much truth there!

   Vijaya: Good luck with the manuscript that is looking for a “math nerd” home. Sounds like a winner manuscript there. I give up far too soon too. There was a period in my life where I was moving a lot, and things would get packed up, and then I just didn’t Unpack the manuscripts that had been rejected a couple of times. They need a LOT of work, I am discovering, but I still like them.

   Claudia: Your post is inspiring as well. So often it just takes ONE MORE revision and re-submission to make that sale. It can be difficult to find the energy to do it, but we all have to find it!

   Elizabeth: Welcome to Cedar Falls! I went to school there and lived there afterwards. Lovely city. Love the title of your business: Go Fetch Fitness. As far as publishing children’s stories and books: I took this writing course thirty years ago, and that’s all the training in writing that I had. The basic ICL course teaches you both how to write marketable stories, but how to find the markets to publish them. So read widely, but at least consider taking a writing course. It was one of the best investments I ever made—and I’ve certainly used it more than my elementary teaching degree!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — July 23, 2010 @ 3:59 pm

7. 

   Wow! I never knew that about WD-40! Too cool! I also never knew you had an elementary teaching degree. I do, too, but I still haven’t found a permanent job (2 and a half years later)! Beth’s comment made me think of my quote-for-the-month of July on my blog: by Joan Hiatt Harlow – “Professional writers are only amateurs who would not quit.” That’s me. I’m in the process of using ICL’s Book Markets for Children’s Writers 2010 to create a list in my Excel spreadsheet for each book idea I have so that I’ll be ready to send out to the next publisher on the list as soon as I get each rejection. I’m organized, but I’m SO SLOW!!!

   Comment by Christie Wright Wild — July 28, 2010 @ 10:16 pm

8. 

   Christie, love that quote! Yes! “Amateurs who would not quit…” That’s it in a nutshell.

   I did the same thing in the beginning with the ICL book market guide. I tried to have at least ten markets researched before submitting anything. It was too depressing to hunt for another market when something got rejected. It’s a good system–you’ll like it!

   Comment by Kristi Holl — July 29, 2010 @ 5:38 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website