Rejection Notes

Tinkers, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Paul Harding

E.W. Count sent me the heads up on this article in the New York Times, Mr. Cinderella: From Rejection Notes to the Pulitzer, and I was very grateful she did. The timing couldn’t have been better. The story essentially concerns writer Paul Harding and his book, Tinkers, an apparently literary (as opposed to crassly commercial) work about the last days of a dying father, and a work that was turned hands down by every literary agent and major publisher Harding approached. All rejections had nothing to do with his writing. As Harding put it, he was told that no one “wants to read a slow, contemplative, meditative, quiet book.”

Tinkers languished in a drawer for three years before it found a home with Bellevue Literary Press, a tiny upstart that hasn’t been around too long, one that had the insight, the guts and the freedom to publish a piece it loved. Long story short, Tinkers has now won the Pulitzer and is being served up as a source of inspiration to writers who all share one thing in common–rejection, yours truly being one of them.

The last rejection my agent forwarded me was a classic example of a “rave rejection.” The editor loved the writing but saw no place for Black Orchid Blues “on our list.” I admit I was a bit unsettled. OK. More than a bit unsettled. It was clear the editor had really read the manuscript. She picked up all the cultural references (many of which I myself didn’t even recognize until she pointed them out); stated how wonderfully the book was written (“lovely” was the term she used), but ultimately gave a resounding no. “We’d have a hard time finding the right spot for it on our list.”

Hmmm.

You can see why I was unsettled, can’t you? If someone who actually liked the book rejected it, what hope is there?

I sat around in the doldrums for a while about this, and I debated whether to write about it. I mean, who wants to air their “rejections” in public? But … why pretend? I’d rather have my readers think I’m trying to achieve something rather than sitting around on my duff.

What I finally came up with was this: I’ll call it the Curious Case of Mr. Sour and Mr. Sweet.

For a while there, I worked as a real estate agent. I sold townhouses. I did it for four years. In that short time, I came to recognize a pattern.

A potential buyer, let’s call him Mr. Sweet, would come in and just love the place. He would clap his hands with delight. He would dash from room to room, exuding enthusiasm. There was no point in my pointing out the advantages of the place because he saw them on his own, sometimes even pointed out new ones I hadn’t seen myself.

“This is absolutely perfect,” Mr. Sweet would rave. “Lovely, just lovely.”

The first couple of times I encountered a Mr. Sweet, my little heart fluttered with relief and delight. A sale was in the offing! Later, I knew better. This kind of buyer, after gliding through the property, would then glide right out the door, never to be heard from again.

Then there was Mr. Sour. Unlike Mr. Sweet, who dawdled in every room, Mr. Sour moved quickly, and turned his nose up at everything. No matter what I said, he responded with either criticism or indifference.

The Mr. Sours were exhausting. The first time I encountered one, I felt as though I were talking to a wall. But I quickly learned that it was the Mr. Sours who made the deal. Within hours of their leaving, their agents would be in contact with a solid offer.

In retrospect, I think they were critical because they were really thinking about purchasing. They loved the property enough to see its possible limitations, to look beyond them and see what they could do with it; then they had the courage to actually do it.

So I decided not to be upset by the apparent contradiction inherent in “rave rejections.” This last one wasn’t my first and it surely won’t be my last. I’ll take comfort from stories such as Harding’s and keep on writing.

In these times, it’s harder than ever to sell anything. But, as Catherine Maiorisi said, “You only need one to say yes.”