Comments on: Disappointment

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:26:32 +0000

In reply to Regina. Go Regina!! That's awesome. Yes, wallowing is allowed but you have to get back into it. The one guarantee for not getting a contract is never submitting anything. Crack that whip, girl!

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:24:12 +0000

In reply to Jacqueline Burrows. Excellent attitude, Jacqueline! It can be a rough journey but it's so worth it to get there. Good luck with your sub!

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:23:09 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth Keysian. Hugs, Elizabeth. That's rotten timing. Sub your story anyway, I reckon.

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:22:09 +0000

In reply to Kirsty. I am! Go Kiwis!! Have you joined the RWNZ? Lots of support and encouragement there....

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:21:21 +0000

In reply to sally clements. Right with you, Sally. Sometimes rejection can lead to even better, bigger things. :-)

By: Regina

Regina — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:43:27 +0000

Jackie, beautifully put and very timely. I have so many friends who entered sytycw this year (I didn’t, as the only manuscript I have near completion just won the Blaze contest back in July). While several did make the top 50, more did not. I told my facebook writers’ group that those who didn’t final were allowed to wallow for 24 hours after that I was going to start kicking their as$&# again (I’m the group’s resident whip master). Disappointment is understandable. We’ve all been there. I’ve been there more times than I can count, with the same manuscript that won the Blaze contest. But we can’t let disappointment defeat us. Rock on!

By: Jacqueline Burrows

Jacqueline Burrows — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:06:32 +0000

Your words are truly inspiring. I think of rejection as stepping stones in a fast moving stream (wet, slippery and unpleasant?!) necessary to get to the other side. I didn’t final but still love my story and am still in love with my hero. Will do as you suggest and sub elsewhere. This competition has taught me so much by reading the work of fellow authors. This is not the end but the start of the next part of the journey. Bring it on!

By: Elizabeth Keysian

Elizabeth Keysian — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 11:19:58 +0000

Thank you soooo much for this, Jackie. I discovered I hadn’t been chosen while in bed ill and already feeling really low, so your words of encouragement have really helped stem the tears of self pity!

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 09:06:41 +0000

And I’m now even more encouraged and inspired since discovering you are a fellow Kiwi!

By: sally clements

sally clements — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 08:22:56 +0000

Well said, Jackie. This is very true. I can’t count the stories I’ve read in some of these competitions that were so good I couldn’t believe they had been picked – really great writing and fabulous voices. And rejection can feel like a rejection of not only your story, but you too, if you let yourself go there. I’d just like to add ‘never go there’. The criteria for picking one story over another aren’t known by the authors, but definitely include the publishers vision for the line. An author’s story may not tick all the boxes, but that certainly doesn’t mean its a bad story, it just needs to find another way to be read, be that another publisher or alternatively a good editor and then to be self published. I heard the other day that Katie Fforde was rejected by Harlequin 23 times….