Working through Rejection as a Writer

Over the past several years I have worked on a historical romance manuscript in an attempt to have it published. Others have urged me to forego traditional publication in lieu of self-publishing, but I feel I need the accountability of a traditional publisher, because I do not trust my own writing. I want to push myself to improve. Could I do that while self-publishing? Possibly, but I have found other authors' self-published works to be full of errors. I'm not a complete perfectionist, but I want my work to be polished and inspiring. I also want to write more books that will continue to improve upon the last. I may change my mind, but I feel I can best do this when held to the standards of a traditional publisher.

All that said, I have submitted my manuscript to publishers several times over the past few years and I have had to eat humble pie with each palm-sweating, stomach-turning, knee-jittering submittal. At first, I received no comments on my manuscript whatsoever, as I was simply rejected without comment. However, over the past year, I finally received two favorable rejections, as I have come to understand them. They are the first rejections that actually gave me in-depth critiques concerning showing vs. telling, spicing up the romance, and even rewriting my premise to make the plot more believable.

I have since completely revised my manuscript. Overhauled would be a more accurate description. And I have done so over twenty times. I am currently working to edit out 8,000 words so I can reach these two publishers' 80,000-word limit. My hope is to cut these words and prepare my second proposal to these publishers this month. To be honest, I dread resubmitting my proposal. The process fills me with anxiety, because I'll likely receive another "helpful" rejection. Do you know the feeling? Unfortunately, you probably do. Most writers know rejection all too well.

Now, allow me to vent my frustrations a little. As constructive as a publisher's critique can be, I want my manuscript to be accepted...for once. I want to be a true published author according to the writing industry's standards. So here I go, editing, preparing my proposal, and submitting...again. And to build myself up and brace for the impact of another rejection, I will tell myself again that rejections are yet another opportunity to improve my writing skills. Oh, and to remain humble as well.