Ralph Keyes in his book The Courage to Write, he writes, “Writing fears are nearly universal. But because they’re seldom discussed openly, we feel alone with ours’.
That's true of rejection by publishers, readers and agents too.
Your book might not sell or your readers may not like it.
Stephen King, Maya Angelou, Hemingway, Rowling, Bradbury, and on and on, have received many rejection letters.
Carrie by Stephen King was rejected by 30 publishers. “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell,” one rejection letter said.
It was finally published in 1974. When the paperback version was released a year later, it sold over a million copies in 12 months.
J.K. Rowling’s original manuscript was rejected by 12 different publishing houses. One literary agent warned, “You do realize, you will never make a fortune out of writing children’s books?”
Alexander Chee says, "Rejection is something that, in some ways, you have to work with as much as you work with language as a writer."
"Rejection is an enormous part of a writer’s life. It’s just the way it is. There are so many people out there wanting to show and sell their work. It’s easy to get lost and very difficult to get attention," says Sigrid Nunez.
To read more on dealing with rejection: