Every writer who’s ever been published will have accepted rejection somewhere along the line, whether it’s one rejection or more than 100 rejections.

It’s not always easy but there are things you can do to help reduce the amount of rejections you get.

One is to be prepared. Research the people you query:

• Do they accept novels of your genre?
• Do they cater for your audience?
• Have a look at the books they have published and see if they are similar to yours.
• Are they even accepting submissions at the moment.
• Are they accepting new writers?
• What guidelines do they have for submission?

This is all basic stuff that most people know but it’s imperative to be followed.

When you’ve prepared all that you need to and your manuscript is out in the open whether it’s an email or post submission, you’re sat on your laurels waiting for a response. Do something else, prepare your manuscript for more agents or continue writing another project.

When my first rejection came through the post I was so excited to get a response, I scanned the rejection letter into the computer and put it in my blog. It was a standard rejection, which most are. It gave me nothing constructive to work on but it made me feel professional, like I was making progress.

The hardest rejection was the agency who asked to read my entire manuscript. I was so excited to send it off, knowing how positive this was that someone thought my manuscript was good enough to read in its entirety. They rejected me in the end, but I began sending it away to more agents straight away.

You can’t let it bring you down. You have to keep going, do the best you can and be determined.

Believe in your novel.

Some agents might reject it, not because the work is bad, but because it’s simply not right for them and it doesn’t fit in which what they’re currently publishing. Agents are incredibly busy and are very selective of what they publish.

Keep going. If you’ve exhausted the list of agent’s / publishers you had in mind, have you tried looking at American agencies? If all else fails try e-publishing. If that fails then give it away. One way or another you can publish your book. But the best thing you can do for your book? Make it a good one!

I wish you every success.