This writer's life: From rejection to letters from readers

Something I didn't know before? There's an invisible thread connecting rejection letters and reader letters. I wish someone had told me this years earlier.

You have to get the first kind of letter to get the second kind. 

There's probably no getting around this. You have to read the books on writing. Let others critique your work. Keep practicing. Try new things. Experiment. And yes, accumulate a few rejections.
Rejection is part of the experience so you can just say to yourself, "Wow, this rejection is part of the process - part of the experience so I will keep going until things come full circle."

I would tell all young writers that if I could.

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Feb 1, 2011
Dear Author,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your work. Unfortunately, we did not feel your project was a right fit for our agency. But we do wish you the best of luck.

Please forgive the form letter, but the enormous volume of inquiries we receive obliges us to respond in this manner. Thank you, and again, best wishes in your future endeavors

Feb 11, 2011
Dear Karen,

Thank you for your interest in our agency. While we appreciate the opportunity to review your work, ultimately we have decided to pass as we did not find your project to be a good fit for our agency at this time.

Sorry this did not work out; we wish you the best of luck as you continue your search for representation.


Mar 8, 2011
Dear Author,
Thank you for sharing your work with me. Unfortunately, I feel that in today's market, I cannot take on projects unless I feel strongly about them. I'm sorry to say that it didn't happen with this one.


Apr 19, 2014
Dear Ms. Harrington,
    I am fourteen years old.  I have just finished reading your book, Sure Signs of Crazy, and really wanted to let you know how much I loved reading it.  It is now one of my favorites, right at the top of the list with Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice.  I want to be a writer someday and your book has only intensified that yearning.  I want to write a book that touches someone and makes him laugh out loud the way your book has done to me.  Even if that someone is a quirky fourteen year old girl who reads while the rest of the world sleeps.
     I had a journal sitting on the edge of my desk for a while, waiting to be filled, and you inspired me to fill it with words and their definitions because I, like Sarah and Finn, am completely obsessed with words.  Another thing in common between Sarah and me is that we would both rather a boy notice the book we were reading and tell us he liked it too, rather than experiencing a kiss some French guy invented.
     One thing I have been wondering since it was mentioned in the book is what the two songs were that Finn added to Sarah's iPod?  If you can answer that question please do.  
     Something I have come to realize is that the best books don't ever leave you.  They find a place inside you and stay there forever.  They are always there when you need them.  Sure Signs of Crazy has wormed its way inside me and I don't think  it'll ever leave.  Thank you for a marvelous book.
     Happy Easter,
          Lucy