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Raman on Rejection.

And speaking of Silverfish, the Bloke in Bangsar has quite a few words to say about rejection, which I think can be summed up as "deal with it". Of course, some might say that the rejection itself isn't the big deal here, but how the Bloke rejects people that's particularly irksome.

Anyhow, I found this part particularly interesting:
Another writer came into the store a few weeks ago and wondered why I was being flamed in one of the blogs - accused of not helping young writers. She mentioned a name. That rang a bell immediately. 'Is this the person,' I said, pulling out a 400-plus page POD volume which I had received from him some time back. Of course, it was.
Hmm. More on rejection in the comments of this post.
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Comments

  1. Artemis Hunt31/8/06 6:06 pm

    Hmmm. "Deal with it." I stll maintain it's HOW you reject someone. You have the power to shatter someone's dreams overnight, like a Dr telling a patient he has cancer. Even the Dr tells the patient gently and carefully, or he would be deemed unprofessional.

    Imagine the Dr telling the patient, "You have cancer, you have 2 months to live. Now deal with it."

    But I dunno. I'm no big time publisher. Maybe when you are a big time publisher, you have no time for the niceties and just want to get on with the job.

    But it's important to tell the person HOW to improve.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John Ling31/8/06 10:07 pm

    I agree with Xeus.

    It's one thing to tell a patient, "I can guarantee you are going to die. Give up all hope."

    It's another thing to say, "I'm sorry, you shouldn't get your hopes up, but we will continue to try our best."

    I've had my fair share of rejections. Several dozen ones, in fact. But never had any that you might consider rude or insensitive. All have been very constructive and polite.

    So, to be fair, most folks in the publishing industry do have tact. =)

    I dare say, I have learned more from rejections than I have from acceptances.

    It's all in the context.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bibliobibuli4/9/06 1:00 pm

    haha. only just seen this! well spotted ted

    the post speaks volumes about tact and support, dunnit?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ted Mahsun4/9/06 1:12 pm

    It's very bizarre. I keep wondering whose blog he's referring to...

    ReplyDelete
  5. bibliobibuli4/9/06 6:44 pm

    can't think! *LOL*

    ReplyDelete

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