Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Help! A Publisher has Dropped Me

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  1. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let’s begin the Fight
  2. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Rejection – The Ugly Word
  3. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Learning to Juggle
  4. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: To Dump or not to Dump
  5. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Keep the Faith
  6. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Finding Your Identity
  7. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Just for the love of it
  8. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: 5 Step plan for success
  9. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Planning Issue
  10. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Crossroads
  11. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Overwhelming Effect
  12. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Waiting Game
  13. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Reflection 2013
  14. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: New Year New Challenges
  15. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Am I a real Writer?
  16. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Taking The Next Step
  17. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Submission Phobia
  18. Setting Self Doubt On Fire: How To Get Ideas
  19. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Dealing with Fear
  20. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Only Guarantee
  21. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Doubts of others
  22. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let those positives shine
  23. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: First Draft Blues
  24. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Time-wasting issue
  25. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Embrace the bad ideas
  26. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writer or Author?
  27. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Negative Feedback; the double slap
  28. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Pat yourself on the back
  29. Setting Self Doubt On Fire: The Deflated Eureka Moment
  30. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The doomed quest for perfection
  31. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writing Group fears
  32. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Horror Tree Crew tackle Mr Self Doubt
  33. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Read aloud challenge
  34. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Find your inner belief
  35. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: NaNoWriMo and Self-Doubt
  36. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: We are NaNoWriMo winners
  37. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: New Year’s Resolutions for Writers
  38. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The benefits of organizing
  39. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Editing Strain
  40. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Writing Group Experience
  41. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Dealing with second stage fears
  42. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Reading aloud to an audience
  43. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Importance of perseverance
  44. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Self-Doubt or Gut Feeling
  45. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Get ready for NaNoEdMo
  46. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Benefits of Writing Goals
  47. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Rejection Gets Better
  48. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writers, take care of yourself!
  49. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: How to Boost Your Self-Confidence
  50. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Why You Should Go to a Writing Festival
  51. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Help! A Publisher has Dropped Me
  52. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Setting Self Doubt on Fire Challenge
  53. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: How to Prepare for a Book Reading Event
  54. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: It’s NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo Time
  55. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Help! I Didn’t Reach My NaNo Goal
  56. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let’s Beat Self-Doubt in 2017
  57. WIHM: Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Female Horror Writer and Proud
  58. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Don’t Let Self-Doubt Make You Miss Deadlines
  59. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Hey! Where’s My Book Reading Audience
  60. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: 5 Tips on How to Ignore the Negative Voices
  61. Video Refresh: Rejection – The Ugly Word
  62. Video Refresh: Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Learning to Juggle
  63. Video Refresh: To Dump or not to Dump
  64. Video Refresh: Keep The Faith
  65. Video Refresh: Finding Your Identity
  66. Video Refresh: 5 Step plan for success
  67. Video Refresh: The Planning Issue
  68. Video Refresh: The Crossroads
  69. Video Refresh: The Overwhelming Effect
  70. Video Refresh: The Waiting Game
  71. Video Refresh: Am I A Real Writer?
  72. Video Refresh: Taking The Next Step
  73. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Let’s Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway in 2019
  74. Video Refresh: Submission Phobia
  75. Video Refresh: Dealing With Fear
  76. WIHM: Setting Self Doubt on Fire: The Female Horror Author Reading Challenge
  77. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Writer or Author? Video Refresh
  78. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Beat the Fear of Self-Publishing
  79. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Do NaNoWriMo Differently This Year
  80. Setting Self Doubt on Fire: How Can Online Groups Help Writers?
  81. Setting Self-Doubt on Fire – AuthorTube – Learn How to Describe Emotion
  82. Setting Self-Doubt on Fire: How to Set Realistic Goals for NaNoWriMo

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Hi, All! I’m back. I know, it’s been a long time since my last post, but I’ve been wrestling with my day job, studies, and writing projects, plus so many other things. But I have now returned to share my self-doubt fighting advice.

 

So, what do I have for you today? Well, I will be talking about something that we all dread: being dropped by a publisher. This applies to those who’ve lost a book publisher, or a writer who’s had their story removed from a website. I thought it would be a good topic to discuss since I’ve recently had this happen to me, and it’s something that will definitely make you doubt yourself. In a way, being dropped is another form of rejection, and like rejection, it’s something we need to overcome.

 

So, how was I dropped? Well, I wasn’t physically dropped, and it wasn’t by a book publisher (I would need to have one first lol), but it was by a website that two of my stories were on. It was a website where readers can buy short stories to read. Before receiving the email, I had an inkling that my stories would be up for the chop. Apparently, due to poor sales the website would need to trim some of their authors. And since I hadn’t had many sales, I knew I might be one of those authors to go. However, it didn’t stop me from feeling like I had been ninja-kicked in the gut when I received that dreaded email. And of course, Mr Self Doubt decided to pop up and torment me. “Ha-ha! Your work sucks,” he said.

 

But instead of allowing Mr Self Doubt to win, I decided to fight back. And today I will be sharing with you how I managed to do that.

 

  • Allow yourself time to grieve. It hurts just like rejection does. In fact, it can feel a little worse because you think that once you’ve been accepted (especially a short story) you’ve achieved a goal. So having that ripped from you will hurt. So there’s no shame in being upset, but don’t let it stop you from writing.
  • You need to keep on writing. Write about how you feel. Dump all the emotions you are feeling onto a character. Writing is a great way to unload. And after you’re done, you might have a story that could get published.
  • See it as an opportunity. My story wasn’t being read, and no one was buying it. So instead of it staying on a website alone and unloved, I can now try to find my stories a home where they can be read.
  • See it as a fresh start. If it’s a story that’s been dropped, now would be a perfect time to read the story again and see how you can improve it. If a book publisher or agent has dropped you, now would be the time to decide what kind of writer you want to be – you might even want to change genres.
  • Talk to other writers. Only writers understand what writers go through. So talk to your writer friend, members in your writing group, or write about it on your blog. It’s at times like this that you will need support, so don’t be afraid to ask for it.

 

As you can see being dropped by a publisher sucks, but it isn’t the end of the world. As long as you have the determination and perseverance, you will get over this and continue with your writing journey. And just like with rejection, you need to take a deep breath, fix your armour, and continue with the battle.

Keep writing folks.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“If the book is true, it will find an audience that is meant to read it.” –Wally Lamb

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