The year might be nearly half over, but there’s still plenty of time for rejections to pile up. However, you’ll never get rejected if you don’t submit!
In 2016, Lit Hub encouraged writers to aim for 100 rejections a year, arguing that quantity would eventually lead to quality:
In the book Art & Fear, authors David Bales and Ted Orland describe a ceramics class in which half of the students were asked to focus only on producing a high quantity of work while the other half was tasked with producing work of high quality. For a grade at the end of the term, the “quantity†group’s pottery would be weighed, and fifty pounds of pots would automatically get an A, whereas the “quality†group only needed to turn in one—albeit perfect—piece. Surprisingly, the works of highest quality came from the group being graded on quantity, because they had continually practiced, churned out tons of work, and learned from their mistakes. The other half of the class spent most of the semester paralyzed by theorizing about perfection, which sounded disconcertingly familiar to me—like all my cases of writer’s block.
This year, author and writing coach Sara Connell established the Publish 100 Challenge. Each writer sets a submission goal that will keep him or her focused on the number of submissions sent out in 2017, but only as a way to “write more, write better.” The group operates as a private Facebook group where members can support one another, share opportunities for submissions, and be part of a community dead-set on getting rejected so many times, publication becomes inevitable.
To sign up for the Publish 100 challenge, click here.
Members will receive a weekly video tip on publishing or the craft of writing. The group is FREE to join, and their goal is to have 100 writers participate.
Benefits include:
- Overcoming fear of rejection
- Improving writing skills
- Increasing productivity- write more!
- Increasing publication success
As an author and coach, Sara Connell has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The View, FOX Chicago, NPR, and Katie Couric. She has presented to a wide range of organizations from Fortune 500 Companies to local and national organizations such as: Avon, Estee Lauder – Origins, Johnson & Johnson, Jones Lang LaSalle, GE, Northwestern & Northwestern – Prentice Hospital for Women, Unilever & the Young President’s Organization. Her writing has appeared in local and national publications including The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Parenting, and many more. Her first book, Bringing In Finn, was nominated for ELLE magazine 2012 Book of the Year and is available in bookstores now. Learn more about her at www.saraconnell.com.
To join the Publish 100 Challenge, click here.
And here’s to making 2017 the year of mountains of rejections!