An article in this Saturday's Melbourne newspaper The Age on 'the upside of being turned down' brought a smile to my face. It reminded me (as if I needed a reminder) of the universal truth in publishing that nothing is ever as dreadful (or as inevitable) as the 'R' word - Rejection. For authors it is a fact of life. What drew a smile was one of the 'rejection remedies' the article proposed, namely submission to the Journal of Universal Rejection, where your work is guaranteed to be rejected, thereby bringing some sanity to the whole crazy publishing process.
I looked up the Journal of Universal Rejection online (http://www.universalrejection.org/) and here are some of benefits of submitting to them:
- You can send your manuscript there without suffering waves of anxiety regarding the eventual fate of your submission. You know with 100% certainty that it will not be accepted for publication.
- There are no page fees.
- You may claim to have submitted to the most prestigious journal (judged by acceptance rate)
- The JofUR is a one-of-a-kind. Merely submitting work to it may be considered a badge of honor.
- Decision are often (though not always) rendered within hours of submission.
The instructions for authors also made me chuckle. I particularly liked the statement that: "Rejection will follow as swiftly as a bird dropping from a great height after being struck by a stone. At other times rejection may languish like your email buried in the Editor-in-Chief's inbox. But it will come, swift or slow, as surely as death. Rejection."
They also reprint some of their rejection letters on their blog:)
For any writer, rejection is par for the course, but also the path to ultimate success. The only way to avoid rejection is take no risks and make no attempt to get published. But if you want to pursue your dream of being a published writer, rejection is inevitable (so why not enjoy submitting to a place where it is guaranteed!) What I liked was the fact that there are some out there willing to see an upside to rejection - who embrace it - and make us laugh.
So what remedies do you have for rejection?
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