Highlighting Rejection: Louisa May Alcott

To my fellow authors, I know that rejection letter stings. I know that it sinks down into your mind and heart. It makes you doubt whether you should even continue writing. DON’T LET IT. Rejection now does not mean rejection later and it certainly does not mean rejection forever. Let me share with you some well-known authors who experienced rejection themselves!

Perhaps the name Louisa May Alcott rings a bell in your ears? Alcott was the author of Little Women. The novel follows the lives of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. These women are loosely based on the women in Alcott’s own life. According to VanityFair, “More than a century after it was first published, the March sisters still galvanize readers, writers, and Hollywood producers.”

However, Alcott received one of the harshest rejection letters of her time when Publisher James T. Fields rejected her work and advised her, “Stick to your teaching, Miss Alcott. You can’t write” (Boston Women’s Heritage Trail). If you saw the latest movie remake, Little Women, you saw first hand the treatment that Jo received for her writing.

What might have happened if Alcott had allowed these insults to change her mind? She never would have published her novels that still bless our screens today!

After her success, Louisa herself wrote, “Twenty years ago, I resolved to make the family independent if I could. At forty that is done. Debts all paid, even the outlawed ones, and we have enough to be comfortable. It has cost me my health, perhaps; but as I still live, there is more for me to do, I suppose” (Boston Women’s Heritage Trail).

Try and try again, it’s all that we can do!

Have you been rejected before, or does the world of traditional publishing seem too intimidating to venture into just yet? Let me know in the comments below!

©KaylaAnnAuthor2022

© KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com, 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Highlighting Rejection Day 3: Robert Galbraith (J.K. ROWLING)

To my fellow authors, I know that rejection letter stings. I know that it sinks down into your mind and heart. It makes you doubt whether you should even continue writing. DON’T LET IT. Rejection now does not mean rejection later and it certainly does not mean rejection forever. Let me share with you some well-known authors who experienced rejection themselves!

Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym used by J.K. Rowling who wished to separate her thriller novels from her famous children’s series, Harry Potter. Many people are already aware of both J.K. Rowling’s struggles as an author and of her success. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was turned down twelve times and the thirteenth editor only published it because his daughter wanted to know what happened next. He encouraged J.K. Rowling to “not quit her day job.“

In theaters alone, J.K. Rowling’s movie adaptations of her novels earned her 3.2 billion dollars (Movie Mojo). Quite obviously, Rowling could easily quit her day job and focus solely on her writing.

When Rowling finally wrapped up Harry Potter and decided to move on to other books, she used the name Robert Galbraith and was rejected AGAIN by one of the same publishing companies who TURNED HER DOWN BEFORE.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes, our work needs improvement (probably most of the time), but sometimes, the publishers aren’t the right fit. The hard part is, we rarely get to know the reasons behind the rejection so the best thing we can do is work to perfect our writing and be persistent in getting it out there!

Try and try again, it’s all that we can do!

Have you been rejected before, or does the world of traditional publishing seem too intimidating to venture into just yet? Let me know in the comments below!

©KaylaAnnAuthor2022

© KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com, 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Self-Doubt

Yup, I have it to.

I doubt my abilities to succeed. You want to know why?

Because what we are doing is HARD! It is hard to create a habit, whether that is eating correctly or going to the gym or forcing yourself to write. Every. Single. Day.

It is hard to promote our own work, our own creativity, in a world that ignores, criticizes, and insults.

It is hard to be an artist, to see the beauty where others only see the ugliness.

It is hard to be authentic when the world keeps telling us to conform.

It is hard to persevere when the world tells us that we will never succeed.

So yes, I have my own moments of doubt.

But guess what?

We don’t have to let those moments of self-doubt destroy our dreams! I finished my rough draft! The rough draft of a book that two years ago I never thought I would be writing. I got a publishing deal, something that I was told was “never likely to happen.” And guess what, maybe it won’t make me famous, maybe it won’t make me money, maybe it won’t sell as much as I’d like but that doesn’t matter.

I wrote a book. An entire book.

I got a contract, from a publishing company.

I wanted to become an author.

The world said I couldn’t, but I did.

And so can YOU.

Sometimes we all just need a little bit of Grace…

For ourselves!

This isn’t technically a writing Tip, or a blogging tip, or a college writing Tip, so who knows how I’m going to categorize this, but I still felt it was necessary to share.

So often, we are ready to extend our kindness, sympathy, and understanding to others and yet, we neglect ourselves. We expect ourselves to be perfect, never tiring, as we attempt to meet the various expectations we have set for ourselves.

Why are we so gracious with others and not with ourselves? For instance, my mind is strong but my body is sometimes weak. And I have to be okay with that. I have to give myself grace and know that sometimes I can’t be Wonder Woman. I can’t do everything I want to do. Some days I can accomplish all of the items on my “to-do” list, other days it’s half, some days, I can’t do anything.

But you know what? I’m okay with it because I’m learning to give myself as much grace as I give others.

I hope you all will learn to give yourselves the grace you deserve.

Writing Tip: Encourage Young Writers

So today, I am going to tell you a story. Today’s tip does not have to do with you, but rather how you can help another person’s writing journey.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to substitute at my old high school. It’s an interesting experience to say the least and I get hit with waves of nostalgia almost every time I go.

Anyway, one day I was there to substitute for 8th grade English. I was filling in for the very teacher that taught me and I was teaching the same lesson plan that I was taught. However, I specifically remember that when I was in 8th grade during this lesson plan, I was not paying attention. Instead, I was writing my fantasy novel in a notebook. Even back then, I knew that I wanted to be an author, but I also knew that my chances of becoming an author were slim to none.

On this day that I was substituting, we had inside lunch due to a storm and I started talking to the kids, asking them what they wanted to do when they grew up. One girl, very shyly and uncertainly said, “I want to write, but that won’t happen.”

“Like an author?” I encouraged her.

“Yea.” She shrugged.

She shrugged because even in her English class she probably expects to be told that the odds are against her, that no one can make a living from writing, that she needs to be putting her effort in elsewhere.

Yes, writing is hard! Yes, getting published in hard! Yes, being noticed is difficult!

BUT WHY DO WE TEACH CHILDREN TO LET GO OF THEIR DREAMS BECAUSE IT’S HARD?

I encourage you to encourage others around you in their writing. Remind them that although it is hard, it is not impossible. Specifically encourage the young adults in your life who are struggling to find their path. Remind them that they do not have to go the conventional route. Maybe they won’t succeed, but why cut them down before they’ve even had the chance to try?

©KaylaAnnAuthor

© KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to KaylaAnn and KaylaAnnAuthor.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.