On Rejection ~ By Marissa Campbell, AVELYNN author (Historical Romance)
Writing and Rejection
The sting of rejection! All writers suffer the painful realization that not everyone on the planet loves their words. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but rejections really go hand-in-hand with writing. From querying agents to submitting to publishers to publishing a book for reviewers to judge, rejection stalks a writer like a penumbra. I ask all my writerly friends for their take on rejection and how they deal, and when Marissa offered to write a tid-bit for the eerie blog, I knew exactly what I wanted to ask her. Like the awesome friend she is, she swung by and shared her thoughts on rejection and how she stays focused on the positive rather than negative
(On 8 Sept, her debut, an awesome historical romance called AVELYNN, burst onto Amazon, B&N, and every other bookly internet place.)
On Rejection
Oh the pain and suffering of rejection. When I was submitting and querying Avelynn, I had to develop a tough skin. At first, I checked my email constantly (honestly, it’s embarrassing how much I peeked to see if anyone had responded, or possibly even requested a partial or a full). I was a junkie looking for any tidbit of good news to sustain me through the long dark silence of submissions. But over time, I grew more and more relaxed, taking each form letter and each ‘thanks, but no thanks,’ in stride. Soon, I could leave my phone in my pocket unmolested. I’d beaten the rejection bug and won. I had this.
Let’s flash forward to my first negative review. Damn. That one sucked the lifeblood out of me. Confidence went down the toilet, and I began exploring whether I had what it takes to succeed in this career choice of mine.
While crying into my rather large magnum of wine, I asked a friend how he moved past the vicious self-doubt of rejection, to which he replied, “I’ll let you know when I do.”
Time, my friends. Time and perspective. These are the keys to climbing out of the whimpering puddle of existential questioning that arises when we as creative beings are thrust into the realm of self-doubt. They often say the path to publication is a numbers game. Perhaps if you submit to enough agents and editors, someone will finally snatch you up. Or maybe you’ll wake up one day and decide that your work would better suit self-publishing. Maybe you’ll google yourself and find a great review that helps neutralize some of the sting from the negative one. Time can be a powerful elixir, but in the end, it’s all about perspective. You need to remember why you started this crazy writing gig to begin with. You need to remember that creating incredible worlds and populating them with wild, funky people makes you happy.
A life of passion is not without struggle. Many people will try and dampen your spirit and douse your flame, but if you feel strongly about what you do, if you love and believe in your words and your stories, then those rejections and negative reviews are just white noise against the backdrop of your dancing feet beating a thrilling tattoo as you march to the sound of your own vibrant drums.
Write like nobody’s watching. 🙂
In gratitude,
Marissa xo
COME TO THE FACEBOOK RELEASE PARTY FOR TONS OF GIVEAWAYS!!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1609412299346581/
About the Book
AVELYNN
by Marissa Campbell
Release Date: 09/08/15
St. Martin’s Griffin
Summary:
One extraordinary Saxon noblewoman and her fearless Viking warrior find passion and danger in this dazzling and sensuous debut.
869. For eighteen years, Avelynn, the beautiful and secretly pagan daughter of the Ealdorman of Somerset, has lived in an environment of love, acceptance, and equality. Somerset has flourished under twenty years of peace. But with whispers of war threatening their security, Avelynn’s father makes an uncompromising decision that changes her life forever.
Forced into a betrothal with Demas, a man who only covets her wealth and status, Avelynn’s perception of independence is shattered. With marriage looming, she turns to her faith, searching for answers in an ancient ritual along the coast, only to find Alrik The Blood-Axe and sixty Viking berserkers have landed.
In a year of uncertainty that sees Avelynn discover hidden powers, stumble into a passionate love affair with Alrik, and lead men into battle, Avelynn must walk a fine line as her deceptions mount and Demas’ tactics to possess her become more desperate and increasingly brutal.
Avelynn and Alrik are caught in the throes of fate as they struggle to find the way back to themselves and onwards to each other.
Praise for Avelynn
“Marissa Campbell brings a long-forgotten era splendidly to life in this adventurous and passionate debut.”—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times bestselling author of The Winter Sea
“Avelynn is a captivating tale of star-crossed lovers. He is a Viking and she is a Saxon. Their struggle to be together will lead you on an exciting journey through a background filled with rich and detailed description.”—Connie Mason, New York Times bestselling author of Viking Warrior
“Marissa Campbell’s Avelynn is a fast-paced, rollicking historical novel whose irresistible heroine starts out as the willful daughter of a Saxon earl and evolves into a warrior and leader, as fierce as she is passionate. – Barbara Rogan, author of A Dangerous Fiction and Suspicion
“A hot-blooded tale of Viking invasion, Saxon valor, and a love that conquers kingdoms. Get ready to be bewitched by the bold, brave Avelynn.”—Barbara Kyle, author of The Queen’s Exiles
About Marissa Campbell:
Marissa Campbell is a published freelance author, and co-author of the award-winning, spiritual self-help book Life: Living in Fulfillment Every Day. Look for her debut historical fiction AVELYNN, coming September 8th, 2015, from St. Martin’s Press. She is now hard at work on the second book in the AVELYNN series. She is a proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Romance Writers of America, TRW, Writers’ Community of Durham Region, and local critique group B7. When she is not writing, she is busy looking after her wonderful children, spending time with her fantastic husband, hanging out with her awesome friends, teaching yoga, dancing, laughing, and having fun!
Social Media Links
Website: http://www.marissacampbell.com/
Facebook:: http://on.fb.me/1RE09kG
Twitter: http://bit.ly/1QUbjGW
Book Links
Amazon (US): http://amzn.to/1Nm2PD1
Amazon (Canada): http://amzn.to/1Hl6jok
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1FFCLfy
Chapters Indigo: http://bit.ly/1Nm2MqC
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1LAM6h7
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