Do you feel like a Reject from all the Submission Rejections?

I'm going to share a huge secret with you, that I have never been able to admit to anyone. Not even myself. I fear rejection. And I don't just mean that as in being slightly afraid. I mean, I really FEAR rejection, to the point where it has ruled many aspects of my life. I have taken side roads to avoid rejection, sometimes just not bothering to take action due to that fear. I honestly believe I would be further in life right now if it was not for fear of rejection.

This brings me to my writing and how I have managed to conquer, in some way, that fear. You see, there are two things I cannot live with in my life: Fear and Addiction. I hate both of them. If I find myself being obsessive about something or addicted to something, I try and cut it down as much as possible. If I feel fear, I find a way to overcome it. I do not rule by fear, and I will not let fear rule me.

As a book and screenplay writer, rejection is something I have had to swallow hard. I've learnt the nature of rejection and that it is not as bad as it seems. Like so many writers out there, I have had my handful of rejections by traditional publishers, turning down my manuscripts because it was not what THEY wanted at that time. "Your story is great, but there is no market for this at the moment." Or when my books were published, and I approached book stores. "Sorry, we love your story, but we only deal with books that sell well and established authors. Like Clive Cussler and JRR Tolkien."

No one has ever turned me down because I am a bad writer or don't have a good story. They just did not seeing my work making THEM any money. For that's all they are focused on. Profit and bottom line. If I had come to them and my books were selling a million copies a month, they would take me in a heartbeat. They would take me if I was already established, not to help me to become established. But, if I am established as a multi-million rand bestseller, why would I need them?

Now, what happens next determines the type of person you are. Do you let the rejection sink you down, or does it make you rise up? I didn't know this answer until I had had enough of rejections. I did not know what my core was made of until now. I no longer submit my work to publishers for consideration. I started my own private publishing company and now publish not only my books, but those of other writers and anthologies of short stories. We even have a Guinness World Record coming up of 108 short stories in 1 volume, and the writers that have been featured have been interviewed by newspapers, podcasts and radio stations because of it.

Rejection is such a standard by publishing companies that they are usually measured these days by the ratio of rejections they issue. There's this site, I won't mention Submission Grinder by name (whoops), which is one of many that actually asks you what your ratio of rejection is. Apparently you are a good publisher if you can show that you actually reject submissions. It shows some sort of intellectual application towards the acceptance of submissions.

So sad, but true. Let's investigate another avenue where rejection has been prevalent for me. Adapting stories from one medium to another. As in my requests to adapt certain games into novels or films (Skyrim, Diablo 3 and Dying Light being high on these lists). Fortunately, I managed to obtain the permission to write the Silent Hill fanfiction novels just before Silent Hills was cancelled and Konami seemed to abandon the Silent Hill franchise forever. Which is a lengthy discussion on its own. The others had the same response like it was a template they all used: "Sorry, but we are not interested in pursuing other avenues for the game just yet."

But it isn't about what you want, surely? Shouldn't it be about your fans? Who can say no to other merchandising and revenue?

Many others simply ignore me and don't bother replying, which is a form of rejection by itself. Did I let this get me down? Do I abandon all hope, just stop writing and forget I am an author?

No. I am too intelligent and creative for that. Malum: Rise of the Deadly Sins is inspired by the Diablo series, and I have other book ideas inspired by Fallout 4 and Skyrim. Why should I have to rely on acceptance, adapt an IP that is already there, when I can create my own intellectual property? I know one day in the future, when I get approached to turn my novels into movies and games (and have a chance to reject THEM), I will remember when I used to beg to adapt to book. Instead, they will be asking to adapt my books. And not because I am vain or full of myself, because I fully believe I am capable of it. And you should value yourself enough to believe that you can too.

So my main message is: don't let rejection be something negative. Instead, let it be something constructive that builds you up to something bigger. The more the bridges fall, the more you can use the rubble to build yourself something stronger to cross the great divide.

Do you have rejection or success stories to share? Feel free to do so in the comments, or share links to your posts on the matter.

Image Source: Pixabay

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Kind regards

Shaun M Jooste

Joint-Owner: AIR Entertainment (https://airentertainment.biz)
Director: Celenic Earth Publications (https://celenicearthpublications.wordpress.com)
Author, Screenwriter, Gamewriter, Journalist (https://celenicearth.wordpress.com)