By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Rejection is a reality of the writing life that no one likes. As a writer, my pitches are rejected or answered with silence. Like other writers, I also get ghosted. Besides having written many books and articles for publication, I’m working at my third publishing house as an acquisitions editor. I get excited about an author’s book manuscript or proposal, then I present it to my colleagues and even secure them a contract. On a consistent basis for almost twelve years with Morgan James Publishing, authors will sign and return their contract. Yet as an editor, I also get rejected. There are many different ways for authors to get published and not everyone chooses to sign our contract. From my editor’s perspective, I want to give some rejection insights.

When I get rejected, I take a few minutes to mourn the loss. Through the years I’ve tried to take less and less time for mourning, but it still happens. Then I repeat a magic word to myself which I learned from the Chicken Soup for the Soulco-authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen: next. Notice the hope and optimism built into this single word: Next. You aren’t stuck in the past but are moving forward to the next opportunity. I encourage each of you to adopt this simple tool when you get rejected—and if you are staying in the publishing community, you will face rejection.

An article or query may be rejected for many different reasons. Maybe the publication has already purchased an article on that topic. Maybe they’ve recently assigned it to another author. Maybe they have an article on that topic coming in an issue which is already in production but not printed. There are many different reasons for rejection which are outside of your control as a writer. Take a minute and return to these different reasons—none of them other than timing are anything that you can control as a writer and the rejection has nothing to do with you or the quality of your writing or pitch. I’ve been writing these details, so you begin to understand the submission process is a journey to find the right fit for you and your writing.

Sometimes even a rejection brings an assignment. Several years ago, I had queried a number of magazines about writing on listening to the Bible on tape. I targeted the January issues of publications for this short how-to article. Every magazinerejected it. Several weeks later, I received a phone call from a new editor at one of the magazines which had rejected my query. “We’re sorting through some old queries,” she explained. “Would you be able to write 500 words on the topic in the next three weeks?” No problem. That little article turned into one of my most popular articles for reprint in other publications.

I prefer writing on assignment from the publication, and you can snag magazine assignments as you learn how to write a riveting query letter. You want the editor to read your letter and be compelled to pick up the phone and call you for more information or an assignment. Or you want that editor to open an email and write you immediately asking when you can have the article ready for their magazine. I hope you can see the importance of this skill as a writer.

Because I’ve been published repeatedly in different magazines, many mistakenly believe I was born this way. Wrong. I have received many rejections in this process.

Years ago, at Indiana University I took a magazine writing course. In this journalism class, we were required to write several ten-page magazine articles. My key mistake was a lack of understanding of the market or the audience for the publications. When you write your query letter, you have to focus on both of these aspects. You want the idea to be perfect for that particular publication and you want to think about the publication’s audience when you write the query. If you don’t handle these two basics, then I can almost guarantee rejection. My writing and my research for the college articles was right on target yet these articles were never published because they were written without a specific audience and market in mind. Don’t make that same mistake.

For book authors, I encourage you to read Noah Lukeman’s how-to book, First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile. To many people, it sounds cruel that in the first five pages the editor can determine if they want to read the rest of the manuscript. It’s true. If you stood in my place as an editor, when you read the first few pages, you would be able to glean a great deal of information about the author and their manuscript—and be able to determine if it’s right for your publishing situation. As an editor, I’m returning your submission with the standard rejection letter. I have no time to critique manuscripts and it’s not my role. Critique services are available for such matters. It is rarely discussed but the publishing world is subjective.

I love a manuscript and another editor can’t use it. It’s a matter of continuing to search for a connection and someone to champion your manuscript and get it published. And when you get rejected, say that magic single word: next, then move forward to your next opportunity. Each of us are on this publishing journey.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s newest book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com