Why the cruelty?

by Raychel Lane
(Kenya)

I thought I knew it all, and when I received my first rejection, from the hallowed house of Harlequins no less, I wept like a newborn. I quickly got over THAT fiasco when I realized {to my consternation} that I wasn’t the only writer languishing in the land of the rejected.
It took me 10 years to face the manuscript of Love’s Pendulum again, and after some careful editing and high on coffee, I resumed the querying process. Unfortunately, the time away had done little to spruce the etiquette of rejection, and with the onset of email responses, well, the rejections came harder and faster.

There were quotes like “I’m sorry, but your novel is too short for our current needs” to the ever ingratiating, “Your manuscript is not right for my list at this time.” If you ever received a “writing is a highly subjective art form, and your book may be just what another publisher is looking for,” please, join me in my scream.

Well, the latter was right. Devine Destinies picked up my novel within 48 hours of submitting a query, but oh! If I could spare my fellow writers from going through what I did. . .