I’ve been rejected and had my fair share of failure (though what really is a fair share of failure anyway?) It sucks, but crying about it only makes it worse. One of the only things that’s certain about publishing is rejection, especially if you want to write fiction. Fiction is a fickle bitch and everyone thinks they have the next Harry Potter series on their laptop and if you could just get it into the right person’s hands the world would see your genius and you would be bigger than Beiber. But that’s not really the way it works except for one lucky lottery winner. There are literally millions and millions of creative people in the world and today’s technology makes it all too easy to write down that creativity and pitch it to publishers. Sifting through all that data almost ensures yours will get overlooked at least ten times.

The publishing market is flooded with people like you and I who want to get our stuff seen and published by big time publishers. Which means the barriers for entry into the big time publishing market are really really high. I know all those cliches about getting back on the horse and riding it because I tell those things to aspiring authors when they ask me what to do. While following that advice is hard, it’s true. Alone with the millions of creative people trying to get their manuscripts published are hundreds of new publishing houses looking for good writers. It’s not a question of IF you can get published, but rather by whom and when.

I can speak about this topic from experience. I was recently dumped by my agent and it’s been harder than breaking up with a Kardashian and staying out of the press. It’s a huge letdown, but the only thing I can do is drink, sulk a little, get the fuck over it and double down on my mission of establishing a successful writing career. I advise you to do the same.

Curmudgeonism: A Surly Man's Guide to Midlife