I was recently asked: How many rejections have you gotten?
If I could count them all up and give you a specific number, I wouldn’t be an author. More than I can count, is the answer. In the beginning writers obsess over that crap. We count words and all sorts of little things that don’t necessarily have much baring on whether or not we get published.
I received 3 awesome acceptances recently and I knew they would be followed by a slew of rough rejections. They were. That’s the business. Not everything is going to take off at all; some pieces will in time.
The overall body of work is what matters most. The people who keep going and push further meet with more success. My inbox held 3 rejections this weekend (all received at different times from different places), this is NOT a record. I’ve had multiple in one day. It stings, but there was feedback which is always a gem, AND this morning some good new arrived. It usually does if you work hard enough.
I will be speaking at the Untitled Town event in Green Bay April 19th-22nd. This will be my first time at this event and I already have tons of ideas. If there’s anything I love more than writing, it’s talking about writing (and making fun of myself).
Getting out and enjoying the company of other word lovers always recharges me. Readers and writers are good listeners and I won’t disappoint. I will be super pregnant. Here are the different levels if you’re unfamilliar:
1. A little pregnant (Just found out)
2. Spread the news pregnant (The belly starts to show)
3. Round pregnant (The belly might as well be a bowling ball)
4. Very pregnant (Everything is sore and eating never stops)
5. Super Pregnant (People keep asking if it’s twins – NO IT’S NOT FUCKING TWINS!!!)
6. Ready to Pop (The kid will come any day)
My husband is from Green Bay and I love it there so I’m happy to get in one more trip before the kiddo comes and destroys my writing schedule. (I’ll need the break anyway)
Mark your calendars all you northerners. You can’t miss the opportunity to watch me get up there and entertain you all with my writerly wisdom, woes, and my crazy ability to touch my toes even while prego. (More details to come)
Jessica Marie Baumgartner 
I couldn’t possibly quantify the number of rejections I’ve received. Publishing queries notwithstanding, as a screenwriter, my agents here in Hollywood would routinely take my spec screenplays out to the marketplace — they’d be sent to all the studios and prodcos on a Friday afternoon for a weekend read in the hopes of finding a buyer — and it was painful as a inevitable flood of rejections came in on Monday, then a second wave on Tuesday, then a slow trickle of more nos through week’s end, till there was no one left to get back to you. A year’s worth of hard work, up in smoke over the course of a weekend. God, that sucked.
But it makes you resilient, that’s for sure. It’s part of the reason I don’t think it’s wise for newbie authors to go straight to self-publishing, because trying it the traditional way — getting your ass kicked and ego stomped — builds character. And it certainly makes you a better, more determined writer.
I couldn’t agree more. haha If you can’t take rejection, criticism, and being tugged around, how will your work really improve?