50 Rejection Challenge

I am nearing the end of the dreaded edits on “The Novel” (not really dreaded. I’ve kinda enjoyed the process). But finishing up means it’s time to start the next step—querying.

This is the part that is most scary for me. This is the part that has all the questions running through my head. You know the ones. “Will they like it?” “Is it really any good?” “Did I spell everything right?” It’s almost enough to make me toss it in a drawer never to see the light of day.

But rejections aren’t really a bad thing. It’s not something to be afraid of. I have to remind myself that not everyone is going to like my story or my voice (proven point—I entered my first 5 pages in a contest, one judge hated it, one judge was semi-indifferent, and the last judge gave me an almost perfect score).

My “50 rejections challenge” came about while listening to the podcast Elise Gets Crafty (haven’t listen yet? you probably should. Just do it.) I’m kicking myself because I can’t remember who or what episode, but one of Elise’s guests mentioned a freelancer that plans on asking 100 people/bloggers/etc for X (collaborations, guest posts, etc). The thought was, to be proactive. Do actually be doing something and not get bogged down with the “no’s”.

Why couldn’t this be applied to the query process? “No’s” can be discouraging, so why not make a game—a goal of it? So my first goal is 50 rejections. Maybe I’ll make it to 50 and come up with a new goal, maybe I won’t (oooh it would be nice not to reach this goal . . .) The point is not to get so discouraged that I quit. To keep going. Keep my eyes on the big prize and keep striving for it. Reaching for it.

What are some of your ways to deal with rejections?