It took 4 long hard years before I had a contract, hideous waiting time only for rejection to follow rejection, and I had to confront much negativity and really tactless comments from people who did not enjoy my work.  Just keep thinking Horses For Courses. Make it your mantra when you receive yet another ‘thanks but no thanks’.
I hated Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow and I couldn’t even make it through the first third of Captain Correlli and I gave up half way through Love In The Time of Cholera. That might make me sound like a completely uneducated lazy lump – but I’m not. Often, it’s simply down to taste. What you like to write might not be what someone else wants to read. But I promise you, for every one who says “don’t like it”, there’s another who’ll say “bloody love it”.  One publisher who rejected my first novel, Sally, actually wrote to me saying “You can’t start a book like that…”  And yet another publisher obviously thought, oh yes she can! – because Sally was published to great acclaim!
It’s very important not to become demoralized or complacent – but that’s easier said than done. Just try not to let it affect your writing. Keep writing. Just keep writing.

Tags | Advice