Another First; or, Rejection

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I have big news.  Really big.  My writer friends will get this better than some other readers, although I'm sure you can imagine and relate in some way.


I sent out my first ever query letters this week.  (Well, all e-queries, actually, but a body's gotta keep up with the times.)

Also, I got my first ever rejection today.

Normal writers are disheartened, upset, discouraged, etc. by the first rejection.  Not me.

The entire publishing world will tell you that rejections aren't always a bad thing.  Sometimes your writing needs more work, or the agency/publisher can't take on new clients right now, or your genre/word count/writing style isn't a good fit for that agency/publisher.  In my case, two and possibly three of the above apply.  There's also the fact that I know of zero authors who were accepted before they were rejected.  Plus the fact that I was practically expecting to be rejected my first try.  But none of that's the point.

My first official rejection makes me feel like a real, official writer.  No longer am I a wanna-be.  I'm still unpublished and very, very young and inexperienced in this publishing world.  But I'm not standing outside the window, gathering my courage to knock on the door.  No, *I* am now standing in the entryway, just waiting for God to usher me down the hallway that He has prepared for me.

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Gosh, I'm excited.  My first rejection.  Since everything's electronic, I may have to print it out.  I want to keep it.  Maybe I'll keep all my rejections in a file folder to admire someday.  Then again, that would use a lot of printer ink...