My Worst Rejection

I’m not going to cite one rejection but instead talk about some of the rejections (and I have many over the twenty-three years I’ve been actively writing) I’ve received that have bothered me the most. Two types of rejections stand out in the crowd. The first one is the very impersonal one. We all labor over our work, and when we receive a form letter telling us nothing but that they didn’t want our book, that is hard. Feedback, especially an editor’s, is helpful to a writer. But I think the worse kind is the rejection where you nearly sell the book and miss by a hair. Of course, there are comforting aspects to that kind of rejection, but to be so close and not make it, leaves a more lasting impression (hope mixed with lots of frustration) than any other type of rejection in my opinion.