Blogging does bring out the personal! Thinking about how to handle rejection, I immediately thought of a book I made for my sister to celebrate her anniversary. I had a ball putting it together and got very creative, using inventive typography, foil cut-outs, and photos of her with her handsome husband. I was sure she'd love it! Time went by and my sister hadn't acknowledged getting the book. When I asked if she'd received it, the response was along the lines of "yes." I was crushed and stopped making little books. About a year later, my sister divorced that handsome husband, and some time later I realized that the book had arrived at a very bad time in her life and was not about something she wanted to celebrate. My work was rejected—but the rejection had nothing to do with the intrinsic merit of the piece. Similarly you could send your art or writing to a friend, an agent, or an editor and receive an impersonal "it's not right" response. Does this mean it is poorly written? If it is not right for one person, is it not right for all people? Check out Dan Gutman's website and see the revenge of an author who persisted through more than seven rejections to publish a popular series. Read about your favorite writers and artists and see the negativity they endured. In most cases, I think you'll find that the ones who made it got lots of rejection—and kept bouncing back.
How do you deal with rejection?
Barbara Lalicki
SVP and Editorial Director, HarperCollins Children's Books
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