Misery loves company

Recently, there were some terrific videos making the rounds on the internet in which children's authors read terrible reviews of their books.

I'm going to confess that I loved these so much because:
a. They were very funny.
b. They made me feel better.

My immediate reaction was:

Oh, phew! Even really GOOD authors get terrible, icky, stupid, crazy-whacko, out-of-left-field reviews.

Misery loves company.

I am not alone in the universe. (Not that I have ever gotten any of those, of course. Just sayin')

So, that experience made me realize how comforting it can be to know that in whatever endeavor we try our hand at, we will be judged.

We won't please everyone.

We will fail from time to time.

We will fall from time to time.

We won't be as wonderful as we want to be.

Some will love us.

Some will hate us.

This is the way the world spins.

I also know that when we first dip our toes into a new experience, we feel vulnerable and unsure.

And when we are rejected, we feel alone.

So, I am dedicating this blog post to all the children's writers out there who are trying their best to write their best and publish a book.

Keep the faith.

You may not achieve success the first time or the 300th time.

But you will never achieve success if you give up.

So...for your reading pleasure, I present: 

My Partial Collection of Rejection Letters. 

Note: I was finally accepted by FSG and have been publishing with them for almost 20 years.