Image courtesy of Steve Johnson on Unsplash

On Tuesday, no fewer than three literary agents turned down my proposal to write a book that shows the Jonestown cult massacre of 1978, as incredible as it may sound, offers a hopeful lesson about political leadership. The rejections landed in my inbox in less than four hours, which must be some sort of a land-speed record.

As you might expect, I was, uh, chagrined. I have worked on the proposal full-time for nearly a year, drawing no salary, and have worked on it for eight years in total. All this work for nothing?!

I happen to be reading Courtney Maum’s Before and After the Book Deal, and her book has helped put things in perspective.

One writer received 50 rejections from agents in 2014 before finally receiving a book contract. (Fifty! … That’s a lot). The rejections sting, but as she notes, nobody outside your immediate family is sympathetic. Heck, some family members may even be happy for your misfortune. The jerk has been knocked down a peg!

I knew already that no writer can complain outside his or her circle without coming across as an out-of-touch loser. Oh, you didn’t get a book deal. Poor you! Let’s face it. Unless you’re famous like Stephen King, Gay Talese, or Michael Lewis, most Americans don’t respect writers fully. Their attitude is like the legendary Saturday Night Live fictional character Matt Foley.

I take two lessons from the week.

The first echoes the current conventional wisdom that rejection can be a good thing. After losing a few hours of sleep this week, I came up with a sharper, more aggressive angle for my book … So I got that going for me, which is nice.

The second lesson, and one I had not heard before, is writers must be mulish – you know, like the animals. Expect rejection. Don’t let it get to you. If you do, you’re done. No, the world doesn’t owe you a living, but as this Sunday’s Gospel reading states, you owe God what talent you have.

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