There's a poll up in the sidebar about holiday rejections, and I really would like to know what you all think of this. We're in desk-clearing mode, but something in me cringes at the thought of sending out rejections during Christmas week. Is it better to do it then and get it over with, or wait until January and contribute to the plague of January winter blues?
(If you're on a feed reader, you have to click over to the actual blog to vote.)
Theresa
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13 comments:
Do it after Christmas. Don't ruin someone's holiday.
That was my thought, too. But then someone else told me a rejection is a rejection no matter when it arrives, and so I thought maybe I had it wrong. See, this is why I wanted to ask the blog!
Theresa
I've been going back and forth on this one. I sent out a pile yesterday, thinking as long as I got them done this week, and held off next week, which is actually Christmas week, I wouldn't be such a meanie.
In the long run, I decided if it were me, I'd want to know asap, rather than being made to wait until January.
If you send it actually *on* Christmas day? Then you totally deserve the coal.
This was tough poll, but as a writer..I would prefer to know sooner. There is something about waiting that makes me think that the longer it takes the closer editors are to selecting my work as opposed to rejecting it. I could be the only one that thinks this way.
However, getting a rejection in January would be a sad way to start the year.
I would prefer to know before the holiday. Or at least before January 1. I am a tad superstitious and would consider a rejection the first week of January a very bad way to start the year!
I'm the weirdo here again... My choice isn't listed 'cause I view rejections as being just one more step closer to finding the right place for my stuff. A person who rejects me isn't a meanie. They may not be real smart (*grin*), but they're doing me a favor by letting me move down my list.
I'd rather know right away. I'm tearing my hair out right now because an agent is taking her own sweet time to decide whether or not to represent me. It's a long story, but I'm really on the fence about whether or not I'll accept her offer of representation if she DOES extend it. I've been waiting for her decision for MONTHS (and have since moved on with other projects). At this point, I doubt I'll hear from her this year at all. If she waits until January (for example) to contact me either way, I'll just be steamed at the additional delay.
Wow, am I totally harshing your mellow now or what?
Do it straight away....please! Then I (oops! I mean the fictitious writer who's made the submission) can move on. I don't like rejections but I prefer them to come asap. And although it'd pretty much suck to get one on Christmas day, at least you'd have a great excuse to drown your sorrows :-). Also, because of the time difference between USA/NZ, I certainly wouldn't hate you if the big "R" arrived Christmas day!
Hey, I once got two on my birthday: one via email, and one via snailmail. I just shrugged and ate some cake...then sent out another sub. Most writers who are actively submitting and entering contests etc. are tough; we can take it on the chin.
Just my humble opinion...
I agree with Susan on this one - and besides, the rejection motif wall covering in my guest bath, isn't fully finished (darn, close though) - Hey, what can I say? It keeps me humble. But, hmm... now that I think about it - with my company due to arrive next week and those blank spots glaringly obvious, for one and all to see? Yikes! I'd rather be sent the extra material that I need to finish the job...so really, when you look at it this way, you'd actually be doing me a big favor, right?:).
At the end of the day? Why, it’s the Holidays, so there will be plenty of chocolate and wine to dig into, when I slide into that self deprecating mode, that polite rejections have a tendency to push me into:).
For me, the longer the wait, the more painful the rejection will be. Plus, most of us with half a brain will know you waited until after Christmas, which means you had made a decision weeks ago but didn't tell us.
Or we might not celebrate Christmas at all. ;)
If you're a writer who invests a lot of hope into submissions, the rejection will be a lot harder to deal with. I think I might keep back a rejection that got past the initial query stage - so if you've requested a full or passed it around and it _then_ gets rejected, the writer had reason to hope.
A form query, on the other hand, is not something I'd sit on - otherwise, you're giving the writer false hope.
I would prefer to know now. Sooner is definately better.
I'd certainly perfer sooner and would look at it as way to help me set goals and plans for the new year. It would be one less thing to be waiting on :)
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