One day, after a discussion with my friend about manuscript rejections, she said to me, “We are just going to have to keep writing until we get it right.”
Part of me agreed with her until I woke the next morning thinking, Who says we don’t already have it right?
My daughter loves beets and I hate them. Which one of us is right? Or is the beet wrong for tasting the way it tastes? Sometimes, manuscript rejections might merely be an indication that we have not found the right match for our work – the person who will love our beets. Of course, this thought process doesn’t mean that I won’t keep trying to improve my craft. However, it does mean that I have decided not to let other people’s personal tastes make me doubt that I have it right. There are plenty of famous, extremely successful writers who were rejected numerous times before they found the right beet-eater.
I might not like beets, but I love black jellybeans. As far as other jellybeans go, red ones are okay, and green ones? Yuck! It is all a matter of taste for me. I think I would even reject the green ones if I were starving. I could take or leave the red ones. But I cannot resist a black jellybean. I had to taste a lot of jellybeans before I could determine which flavor I like. I had to taste beets before I could learn that I hate them. Who knows what writing flavor an agent or editor will love without first offering them a taste? Yes, we can do our best to research what they like. But sometimes, it is a matter of building a relationship and learning their literary tastes.
In the above image, there are very few black jellybeans.
Like an agent with manuscripts, I would have to reject a lot of colorful jellybeans to get to the flavor I like.
I have a friend who signed with an agent earlier this year. That same agent also rejected my friend’s first manuscript submission, and then another and another and another. My friend kept submitting manuscripts to this agent until she found the story that the agent could not resist. That story must have been a flavor the agent loves. Now, my friend is trying to rewrite the first rejected story to see if she can change the flavor enough to get her agent to take a bite.
I hope if you ever find yourself feeling dejected over a rejection that you will take any critique comments into consideration, but also keep in mind that sometimes rejections are nothing more than a matter of taste. Even the picture book/literary genius, Jane Yolen, gets manuscript rejections. This week, she shared on Facebook that she received a rejection from one of her favorite editors, and she will continue looking for the RIGHT editor for that particular book. To me, the RIGHT editor will be the one that loves the flavor of Ms. Yolen’s book.
OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE
TWELVE METHODS FOR COPING WITH REJECTIONS
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER: REJECTION POST #1
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER: REJECTION POST #2
ROMELLE BROAS – REJECTION LETTERS FROM A POSITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Alayne Kay Christian 
Great post, Alayne! I hate beets but I love black jellybeans too! 🙂
Glad you like the post, fellow black jellybean lover, Elaine.
Thanks, Alayne, for this accurate description of why rejections happen. And thanks for the story about your friend and her agent. Stories like that make me hopeful. 🙂 They encourage me. 🙂
It does my heart good to know that you feel more hopeful and encouraged after reading this post. Thank you for letting me know.
So true. Orange is my favourite. I wouldn’t touch black or yellow.
When you think in terms of jellybeans, it’s easy to see why some manuscripts might get rejected, isn’t it. What about beets? One friend actually shared that she loves beets and hates jellybeans. That was first for me 🙂
Red jellybeans and yay for beets! As a newbie, I don’t get too wacky over rejections, yet I do see many writers fretting and worse, doubting themselves. You’ve provided a positive come away here, Alayne, in that it might not be one’s story that’s off at all. That story could be fabulous, but it’s just got to land in the right inbox at the right time. :0)
Thanks, Donna. So, you are a red jellybean, beet lover. I keep thinking I should try beets again, now that I’m older, but I just can’t make my hand put that bite of beets to my mouth.
I really like your concept. I am going to put a jar of jellybeans next to the computer to remind myself (and hope I don’t eat them all straight away).
I love that idea, Yvonne. It will be a great reminder as long as you don’t find the jar empty in a week or two 🙂 Of course a empty jellybean jar could be a reminder of how subjective agent’s and editor’s choices are plus a reminder not to eat anymore jellybeans.
[…] BLACK JELLYBEANS, MANUSCRIPT REJECTIONS, AND BEETS […]
Great analogy, Alayne. Here’s to finding the editor or agent that loves the flavor of our stories!
Best of luck. It will happen!