Barbara J. Hamby

sign-up for our email list

Writer’s Home Companion - Rejection

I don’t get any rejection letters these days, but that’s not the good news. It doesn’t mean I’m selling writing. It means I’m not sending any out. The good news is I’m making progress with my memoirs.

Even if I never get another rejection letter, due to my sloth, I have a small collection. My favorite is one from the New Yorker, with a handwritten note on it.  “Sorry to disappoint. Thanks for trying.” Since I can only imagine the huge number of submissions the New Yorker receives, the fact that an editor took the time to scrawl that much on the bottom of their printed rejection slip impressed me.

About half of the rejection letters I’ve received in the past have personal notes on them, so I treasure them. I keep all the letters and notes, just to prove to myself I’ve not always been so lazy.

The memoirs are moving along. So far I’ve not had to resort to therapy to get through the difficult parts of my life. The fact that I survived some very traumatic times helps my self-esteem