Dealing with rejection by a publisher. Some say it’s an author’s worst nightmare. But it happens to thousands of manuscripts by thousands of authors every week of the year. An author pours his heart into a story and is convinced it’s going to appeal to everyone who reads it. Then he gets rejected by not one, not two, but five or more publishers. Are the publishers crazy? Or is his work truly awful? His manuscript probably wasn’t rejected for either of those reasons, but it still stings nonetheless.
If you submit a manuscript to publishers and it gets rejected, what are you to do? The first step is to revise your work and try to improve it. There are many ways to do this. Sometimes the publisher will tell you why your work was rejected and give you a place to start, but usually not. You can also seek the constructive criticism of trusted friends and fellow authors, and you can take an honest look at your work yourself. After you’ve revised, you resubmit. But what if this only results in more rejection letters? Is there anything else you can do?
Dealing with Rejection: The Self-Publishing Solution
You don’t need the backing of a major publisher to successfully sell your book. What you do need is drive and motivation. If you have the time and are willing to put forth the effort, you can self-publish. Self-publishing opens the door for many authors, and lots of them achieve great success and profit through self-publishing. Beyond self-publishing, there is a specific method that makes things even more possible for more authors: print on demand (POD). Print on demand is a way to self-publish without requiring a significant amount of money up front to purchase hundreds of copies of your book. It’s a way to self-publish in which your book is only printed when someone buys it. It’s that simple.
Why POD?
With POD you’re assuming a much less significant risk in self-publishing. If no one wants to buy your book, you aren’t out all of the upfront costs of offset publishing and left with a huge inventory taking up room in your basement. It helps you maximize your profits. POD publishers will also help you get your book listed on Amazon and available through brick-and-mortar bookstores. Best of all, most POD publishers won’t judge your book or reject it. They’ll print it for you, but it’s up to you to do the necessary marketing. If you don’t succeed, POD publishers don’t lose anything. There are lots of great POD publishers out there. Two of the major players are Lightning Source and CreateSpace. Rather than hoping that a major publisher picks you, with POD you have the luxury of choosing your publisher and creating your own book deal.
It’s very disheartening when your manuscript is continually rejected, but don’t forget that you have other options. You don’t necessarily need the backing of a major publisher or an agent to get your book out there and turn a profit. If you’re tired of getting rejected and are ready to just get on with things, self-publishing through print on demand may be just the thing for you.
After you’ve used a grammar checker, Life Coach Ben Sharp recommends you overcome the sting of a publisher’s rejection by publishing your book on your own. Once you outgrow print on demand, check out Associated Printing Productions, Inc.
Thank you so much for confirming my instincts. I think all aspiring authors fear of rejection can be strangling. “Who would want to read my stuff?”… to then find bravery followed by… “They think I stink.” Being one who has never dipped her toe in the conventional publishing pool, the self publishing baby pool seems best for me. POD and ebooks have come a long way. I know. I used to be on the software side of the industry when it was crazy to think major pub houses would offer Encyclopedias online. The path for independent writers are now paved, and proven.
I was just talking to a colleague about some issue where something didn’t work out. He said “stop beating yourself up.. We make money if one out of 10 ideas get any success.. 2 or 3 break even and 5-6 loose money”
This math has worked for publisher for years. They don’t have the sweat and tears in the writing.
At least now the author has some control.. He can use content in many ways, with many partners, publishing old school, online, whatever to make a success