May 25, 2018- Rejection isn’t easy, but it’s a natural part of life. A lot of the time editors and publishers give very little insight/info about why your work was rejected.
Usually, there are a couple of major reasons why work is rejected-I’m speaking from my own personal experience about why I reject manuscripts.
- Your work isn’t ready to be submitted but you submitted it anyway.
- You queried me incorrectly, didn’t follow the guidelines, disregarded the submission process and were unprofessional.
Yikes! I know that this sounds harsh, but you deserve the truth. Now, I’m not saying that these are the ONLY two reasons, there are others. Let’s explore some of the additional reasons why editors/publishers reject submitted manuscripts.
Reasons for rejection are totally subjective, but here are some possibilities and additional reasons why I would reject something:
- Something was recently published that is similar. Simply put, someone already thought of it, and it’s on my desk at this moment in queue for publication.
- The timing is wrong. I’ve cut back on my list or maybe I’m at my max for whatever genre has been submitted. Maybe something has changed in the market or perhaps the manuscript submitted is not saleable.
- You have no author platform or you have major controversy surrounding your online presence. This is not always something that will disqualify you from getting a deal with my publishing house, but it’s a pretty big factor.
Keep these things in mind when you’ve been rejected and remember to never give up!
Happy Writing!
X LLB
