Question 14

Any suggestions for dealing with the massive amounts of rejections that come with querying?

You can find this mentor, Claudia Ambrose, here!

The one thing that truly worked for me (after 100+ rejections on 4 books) was to CARE LESS. You’re already brave for putting your art out there. You don’t have to make yourself miserable by constantly refreshing your inbox or stalking query tracker-especially as publishing moves at a glacial pace. Absolutely reward yourself when the good things happen (requests, personalized feedback) and allow yourself to dream! But expectations can break us, especially after hundreds of rejections. I think that’s often what makes people quit-when the journey doesn’t go as we expected it to.

If you can’t CARE LESS (and I get that-it took me years to land here) put your energy into the things you can control. Improve your craft by writing the next thing, apply for a mentorship program or take a class. Make friends to commiserate with. That last one is the most important. Social media can make it seem like everyone and their dog is getting book deals or signing with an agent, when reality is far different. Having friends to vent to is a lifesaver in every part of your writing career. Good luck querying, I’m rooting for you!