So, informal poll time — is this a spoof/satire, or a legitimate author blog?
http://rejectionqueen.blogspot.com/
She mentions having a novel coming out, but I can’t find any info on it, which suggests spoof to me. I’m not sure, though. Most authors are fairly reasonable about rejections, but Rejection Queen wouldn’t be the first to flip out and shoot her career in the foot. With a bazooka. Just see this post from agent Colleen Lindsay:
http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2010/04/wh
That second one is an interesting case, as the idiocy comes from someone who has actually published with major houses. But if you look at his published work, you notice that each book was with a different publisher. Makes you wonder … did he storm off, or did the publisher exercise their “No a**hole” clause on subsequent books?
While some authors whine and moan, others actually do the work without expecting things to be handed to them on a golden platter. See Rae Carson and Jenn Reese, both of whom recently landed awesome book deals. Huge congratulations to them both!
But you know what? Ask anyone who has accomplished what Rae and Jenn have, and they’ll probably tell you they got rejected plenty of times before reaching that point. It’s normal. Get over it.
You know what most successful authors don’t do?
This.
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.
My Books
(August 2013)
Page Summary
spiziks : (no subject) [+5] - (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+1]
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- mtlawson : (no subject) [+4]
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- cebuscapucinus : (no subject) [+0]
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- klwilliams : (no subject) [+8]
- celestineangel : (no subject) [+1]
- stormsdotter : (no subject) [+3]
- jongibbs : (no subject) [+2]
- jennreese : (no subject) [+2]
- teriegarrison : (no subject) [+2]
- barbarienne : (no subject) [+9]
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maggielyons.blogspot.com : (no subject) [+3]
Comments
I blogged about this very thing at Book View Cafe a little while ago: http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2010/0
I suspect if your book is good enough, agents/editors will overlook a lot. I also suspect very few books are *that* good.
Thanks for the post!
Lyn South
::wanders off shaking head::
Lesson #1: Proofread your frothing rants.
Lesson #2: Remember Wheaton's Law.
Oh and typos. Oh my.
Some people have massive blind spots where their ability is concerned.
As long as you do it alone, in a sound-proof room.
If you insist on putting it in writing, either bury it afterward or do it on a computer not hooked up to the internet (to eliminate temptation) and delete the file afterward.
It's not a problem as long as no one else knows about it.
Though even then, I don't think I was ever quite this ... spoiled about it.
And yes, I've noticed that too, not just in these but in general.
Finally, a consensus seems to be building that her publisher is probably PublishAmerica, and if that's the case, she's possibly one of those who deserves it.
The PA bit wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. This sort of outraged, whiny entitlement plays right into their tactics.
I sometimes include my website and blog urls in my query letters. I do include them in a cover letter if agents have requested a partial or full.
It would be... foolish, let's say... to have such whiny drivel on my blog if an agent dropped by for a peek. But if queen wants to put it on hers - well, maybe that's just one less competitor to worry about, eh?
Some of them are. Well, to be more specific, those that like SF/F tend to be looking for the next science fiction book that they really love and believe they can sell. And they're looking for it in a neverending influx of hundreds of queries and manuscripts.
Not easy, no. But not impossible.
Another commenter mentioned that Rejection Queen is using a pseudonym, which might protect her from casual Google checks. Of course, said commenter also mentioned that folks have been able to narrow down who RQ is in real life...
raving wackosall kinds of different people, but I didn't realize there were quite so many people so very intent on making themselves look like losers.Grumbling, or even ranting, about rejections is fine. Is there any writer alive who has not done this? Taking rejections personally is bad, but inevitable -- I would bet most of us have done this, too. Identifying the people who've rejected your work, calling them horrible names, and threatening violence, in public, with your name (or a name, anyway) attached? Surely anyone with functioning frontal lobes should be able to figure out in about two seconds why this is the Worst Idea Ever. There are, in fact, times when "all publicity is good publicity" really doesn't apply.
So "Rejection Queen" almost has to be a spoof. Except ... for what purpose? I don't get it. I just can't quite believe that anyone genuinely trying to get a book published would behave in such a bizarrely unprofessional way.
The vast majority of authors I've known, both published and struggling, are not whiny, spoiled brats. We know rejection is a normal part of the process, even when we're discouraged as hell. But the handful of idiots can make an awful lot of noise.
I especially love the last one, who couldn't bother with proper spelling or punctuation, yet has so many offers he doesn't know what to do with them all.
On a slightly related note, I got my first rejection letter on Monday when I was Quite Ill. Do you think it's worth it to write a brief reply? (Politely, of course!)
I don't think there's a firm rule, but I tend to err on the side of not adding one more e-mail/letter to the editor's list of things to read.
I know rejection hurts, but what were these folks thinking?
Alas, it's probably real. And her publisher is almost guaranteed to be PA.
I wonder if she'll announce the book on the blog? I mean, if she has a real publisher now, she doesn't need all those bitchy, evil agents, right? So what if they know her name?
avoiding workthoroughness, I skimmed the earlier archives of her blog. In one comment, she says her publisher is Grand Central Publishing.Which makes the whole situation even weirder. Grand Central Publishing is not a tiny publisher. They pay advances. Why couldn't this twit get an agent based on that offer?
Me. I'm 600+ rejection in with no loss of enthusiasm for writing fiction.
And thanks so much for the shout-out!
I'm a long-time member of the Church of Don't Be An A**Hole. I've had my share of rejections (in fact I need to go poke some editors for the next round), but never would I don THAT. AND NEVER EVER NAME NAMES.
I hope that kind of stupidity is not contagious or genetic.
You know what really marks a writer as Likely To Fail? They blame other people for their rejections. Instead of saying "What is wrong with them?!?" every time a rejection comes in, they should be saying "What am I doing wrong?!?"
Because you know what? The person who takes the blame is the person responsible for a project's success or failure. Why would a writer want to give away all the power over their own career!
Unless quality isn't the issue. ;P
Cath
I sort of wonder if I might have poked at a hornet's nest. I'm probably just over-dramatizing, and others have probably come across it the same way and commented in the past, but the timing's making me feel a little squicky and a little bitchy. Not in a sleep-lost kind of way, but, you know.
The meltdown isn't a new thing. She's been getting comments similar to yours for months, if not years, and reacting to them ... well, about as you'd expect.
I can understand where the timing would make you feel squicky. I'm actually feeling a little guilty about the pile-on phenomenon now. But I definitely don't think it's something you need to lose sleep over, unless you were overly nasty in the comment (which I don't imagine you were).