Aiming for Rejection

(But Hoping to Miss)

A 20-year-old me once wrote a short bucket list of things I’d like to do just so I could say I did. “Ride an elephant” and “go to a monster truck show” were among the ones I have been lucky enough to actually accomplish.

Close to the top of the list was one that was half tongue-in-cheek, half serious: “Get a rejection letter from a publisher.”

Not, “Get published”, but “Get rejected.”

Rejection was the goal. But actually, it wasn’t. Effort was the goal. Having a finished product was the goal. Taking a chance was the goal.

Like so many people, I struggle against the urge to walk away from things after a failure. I knew that most writers face years of rejection before getting a “yes” from a traditional publisher. I didn’t want to set myself up to break my heart into a thousand tiny little pieces when I heard those infamous words: “ . . . we regret to inform you that your manuscript is not right for [insert publishing house name] at this time . . .”, so I set a goal for myself that was doable, and completely within my control to achieve. It was also a goal I knew I would have to reach before I achieved the unwritten goal of publication.

Last week, I submitted two pieces to two different publications, so I am finally well on my way to checking that item off of my bucket list (granted, at the time that I wrote that list I thought my manuscript would be a novel, but that’s another story).

I am expecting rejection. I would be thrilled if one or both were published, but I no more expect it than I would expect to perform a perfect triple-toe-loop the first time that I put on skates. I am expecting rejection because it’s a part of the process, like falling is a part of the process of walking.